■2^ 


.>^^ 


j^% 


^ 


N^ 


/ 


r^\i 


.jf\ 


FROM 'THE -LIBRARY' OF- 
A.    W.    Ryder 


^  ^t 


Illustrated  Sterling  edition 


Anne  of  Geierstein 

OR 

THE   MAIDEN    OF   THE   MIST 


Count  Robert  of  Paris 


BY 
SIR   WALTER   SCOTT,    BART. 


BOSTON 
DANA    ESTES   &    COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 


»     P-^irv^^       \W-e.         w,\o 


-•^ 


'^  % 


Oy.VXJ  .^      A 


^^.^ 


,«     *  *,'  t  t 


1 


AS 

LIST   OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


ANNE   OF   GEIERSTEIN 

PAGE 

Philipson  and  the  German  Innkeeper  .  .  Frontispiece 
" '  The  third  killed  the  poor  bird  as  it  rose  in  the 

AIR'" 47 

"  To  the  general  greeting,  he  answered,  '  I  thank 

you,  my  brave  comrades'" 112 

The  General,  or  Public  Stubs,   or  Room  of  Public 

Entertainment 234 

«'I   SET   AT   ALL,'   SAID    THE   DARING   YOUNG   SwiSS '*   .  .      351 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF   PARIS 

"The  Saxon  did  not  wait  until  he  was  desired  a 
second  time,  but  took  off  the  contents  without 
hesitation" 44 

"He  had,  therefore,  time  to  make  his  prostrations 

BEFORE    A    huge      ANIMAL,     THEN      UNKNOWN     TO     THE 
WESTERN    world" 152 

"The  herald,  after  the  flourish   op   trumpets  was 

FINISHED,    commenced    IN    THESE    WORDS  "       .  .  .       267 

«'I     have     been     TEMPTED,'     HE    SAID,     DROPPING     ON     HIS 

KNEEB,   <AND  I  HAVE   FALLEN '"      «  •  •  .  .     365 


ivi29083 


INTRODUCTION  TO  ANNE  OF  OEIERSTEIK 

This  novel  was  written  at  a  time  when  circumstances  did  not 
place  within  my  reach  the  stores  of  a  library  tolerably  rich 
in  historical  works,  and  especially  the  memoirs  of  the  middle 
ages,  amidst  which  T  bad  been  accustomed  to  Dursue  the 
composition  of  my  fictitious  narratives.  In  other  words,  it 
was  chiefly  the  work  of  leisure  hours  in  Edinburgh,  not  of 
quiet  mornings  in  the  country.  In  consequence  of  trusting 
to  a  memory  strongly  tenacious  certainly,  but  not  less  ca- 
pricious in  its  efforts,  I  have  to  confess  on  this  occasion  more 
violations  of  accuracy  in  historical  details  than  can  perhaps 
be  alleged  against  others  of  my  novels.  In  truth,  often  as 
I  have  been  complimented  on  the  strength  of  my  memory,  I 
have  through  life  been  entitled  to  adopt  old  Beattie  of  Meik- 
ledale's  answer  to  his  parish  minister,  when  eulogizing  him 
with  respect  to  the  same  faculty.  '*  No,  doctor,'^  said  the 
honest  border-laird,  "  I  have  no  command  of  my  memory  : 
it  only  retains  what  happens  to  hit  my  fancy,  and  like 
enough,  sir,  if  you  were  to  preach  to  me  for  a  couple  of  hours 
on  end,  I  might  be  unable  at  the  close  of  the  discourse  to 
remember  one  word  of  it.'*  Perhaps  there  are  few  men 
whose  memory  serves  them  with  equal  fidelity  as  to  many 
different  classes  of  subjects  ;  but  I  am  sorry  to  say  that,  while 
mine  has  rarely  failed  me  as  to  any  snatch  of  verse  or  trait 
of  character  that  had  once  interested  my  fancy,  it  has 
generally  been  a  frail  support,  not  only  as  to  names,  and 
dates,  and  other  minute  technicalities  of  history;  but  as  to 
many  more  important  things. 

I  hope  this  apology  will  suffice  for  one  mistake  which  has 
been  pointed  out  to  me  by  the  descendant  of  one  of  the 
persons  introduced  to  this  story,  and  who  complains  with 
reason  that  I  have  made  a  peasant  deputy  of  the  ancestor  of 
a  distinguished  and  noble  family,  none  of  whom  ever  de- 
clined from  the  high  rank  to  which,  as  far  as  my  pen  trenched 
on  it,  I  now  beg  leave  to  restore  them.  The  name  of  the 
person  who  figures  as  deputy  of  Soleure  in  these  pages  was 
always,  it  seems,  as  it  is  now,  that  of  a  patrician  house.  I 
»m  reminded  by  the  same  correspondent  of  another  slip,  prob- 


vi  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

ably  of  less  consequence.  The  Emperor  of  the  days  my 
norel  refers  to,  though  the  representative  of  that  Leopold 
who  fell  in  the  great  battle  of  Sempach,  never  set  up  any 
pretensions  against  the  liberties  of  the  gallant  Swiss,  but,  on 
the  contrary,  treated  with  uniform  prudence  and  forbearance 
such  of  that  nation  as  had  established  their  independence, 
and  with  wise,  as  well  as  generous,  kindness  others  who  still 
continued  to  acknowledge  fealty  to  the  imperial  crown. 
Errors  of  this  sort,  however  trivial,  ought  never,  in  my 
opinion,  to  be  pointed  out  to  an  author  without  meeting  with 
a  candid  and  respectful  acknowledgment. 

With  regard  to  a  general  subject  of  great  curiosity  and 
interest,  in  the  eyes  at  least  of  all  antiquarian  students, 
upon  which  I  heve  touched  at  some  length  in  this  narrative, 
I  mean  the  Vehmic  tribunals  of  Westphalia,  a  name  so  awful 
in  men's  ears  during  many  centuries,  and  which,  through  the 
genius  of  Goethe,  has  again  been  revived  in  public  fancy  with 
a  full  share  of  its  ancient  terrors,  I  am  bound  to  state  my 
opinion  that  a  wholly  new  and  most  important  light  has  been 
thrown  upon  this  matter  since  Amie  of  Geier stein  first  ap- 
peared, by  the  elaborate  researches  of  my  ingenious  friend, 
Mr.  Francis  Palgrave,  whose  proof-sheets,  containing  the 
passages  I  allude  to,  have  been  kindly  forwarded  to  me,  and 
whose  complete  work  will  be  before  the  public  ere  this  In- 
troduction can  pass  through  the  press. 

In  Germany,  says  this  very  learned  writer,  there  existed  a  singu- 
lar jurisdiction,  which  claimed  a  direct  descent  from  the  pagan 
policy  and  mystic  ritual  of  the  earlier  Teutons, 

We  learn  from  the  historians  of  Saxony,  that  the  freyfeldgericht 
[or  Free  Field  Court]  of  Corbey  was,  in  pagan  times,  under  the 
supremacy  of  the  priests  of  the  Eresburgh,  the  temple  which  con- 
tained the  Irminsule,  or  pillar  of  Irmin.  After  the  conversion  of 
the  people,  the  possessions  of  the  temple  were  conferred  by  Louis 
the  Pious  upon  the  abbey  which  arose  upon  its  site.  The  court  was 
composed  of  sixteen  persons,  who  held  their  offices  for  life.  The 
senior  member  presided  as  the  gerefa  or  graff ;  the  junior  performed 
the  humbler  duties  of  frohner,  or  summoner  ;  the  remaining  four- 
teen acted  as  the  echevins,  and  by  them  all  judgments  were  pro- 
nounced or  declared.  When  any  one  of  these  died,  a  new  member 
was  elected  by  the  priests,  from  amongst  the  twenty-two  septs  or 
families  inhabiting  the  gau  or  district,  and  who  included  all  the 
hereditary  occupants  of  the  soil.  Afterwards,  the  selection  was 
made  by  the  monks,  but  always  with  the  assent  of  the  graff  and  of 
the  frohner. 

The  seat  of  judgment,  the  king's  seat,  or  konigsstuhl,  was  always 
established  on  the  greensward ;  and  we  collect  from  the  context, 
that  the  tribunal  was  also  raised  or  appointed  in  the  common  fields 
of  the  gau,  for  the  purpose  of  deciding  disputes  relating  to  the  land 


INTBOBXTCTION  TO  ANNE  OF  GEIEBSTEIN  vU 

within  its  precinct.  Such  a  "  king's  seat  "  was  a  plot  sixteen  feet 
in  length  and  sixteen  feet  in  breadth  ;  and  when  the  ground  was 
first  consecrated,  the  frohner  dug  a  grave  in  the  center,  in  which 
*ach  of  the  free  echevins  threw  a  handful  of  ashes,  a  coal,  and  a 
iile.  If  any  doubt  arose  whether  a  place  of  judgment  had  been 
duly  hallowed,  the  judges  sought  for  the  tokens.  If  they  were  not 
found,  then  all  the  judgments  which  had  been  given  became  null 
and  void.  It  was  also  of  the  very  essence  of  the  court,  that  it 
should  be  held  beneath  the  sky,  and  by  the  light  of  the  sun.  All 
the  ancient  Teutonic  judicial  assemblies  were  held  in  the  open  air  ; 
but  some  relic  of  solar  worship  may  perhaps  be  traced  in  the  usage 
and  in  the  language  of  this  tribunal.  The  forms  adopted  in  the 
Free  Field  Court  also  betray  a  singular  affinity  to  the  doctrines  of 
the  British  bards  respecting  their  gorseddau,  or  con venf  ions,  which 
were  "  always  held  in  the  open  air,  in  the  eye  of  the  h^ht,  and  in 
face  of  the  sun."  * 

When  a  criminal  was  to  be  judged,  or  a  cause  to  be  decided,  the 
graff  and  the  free  echevins  assembled  around  the  konigsstuhl ;  and 
the  frohner,  having  proclaimed  silence,  opened  the  proceedings  by 
reciting  the  following  rhymes : 

Sir  graff,  with  permission, 

I  beg  you  to  say. 
According  to  law,  and  without  delay, 

If  I,  your  knave. 

Who  judgment  crave, 
With  your  good  grace. 
Upon  the  king's  seat  this  seat  may  place. 

To  this  address  the  graff  replied  : 

While  the  sun  shines  with  even  light 
Upon  masters  and  knaves,  I  shall  declare 
The  law  of  might,  according  to  right. 
Place  the  king's  seat  true  and  square, 
Let  even  measure,  for  justice's  sake. 
Be  given  in  sight  of  God  and  man. 
That  the  plaintiff  his  complaint  may  make, 
And  the  defendant  answer, — if  he  can. 

In  conformity  to  this  permission,  the  frohner  placed  the  seat  of 
judgment  in  the  middle  of  the  plot,  and  then  he  spake  for  the 
Becond  time : 

Sir  graff,  master  brave, 
I  remind  you  of  your  honor,  here, 
And  moreover  that  I  am  your  knave ; 
Tell  me,  therefore,  for  law  sincere, 
If  these  mete-wands  are  even  and  sure, 
Fit  for  the  rich  and  fit  for  the  poor, 
Both  to  measure  land  and  condition  ; 
Tell  me  as  you  would  eschew  perdition. 

*  Owen  Pugh's  ^^egries  of  Lewarch  Hen,  Prof.,  p.  46.  The  place 
of  these  meetings  was  set  apart  by  forming  a  circle  of  stones  round 
the  maen  Oorsedd,  or  stone  of  the  Gorsedd. 


rHi  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

And  so  gpeaking.  he  laid  the  mete-wand  on  the  ground.  The  graff 
then  began  to  try  the  measure,  by  placing  his  right  foot  agamst 
the  wand,  and  he  was  followed  by  the  other  free  echevms  m  ranK 
and  order,  according  to  seniority.  The  length  of  the  mete-wand 
being  thus  proved,  the  frohner  spake  for  the  third  time  : 

Sir  graflf,  I  ask  by  permission. 
If  I,  with  your  mete-wand  may  mete 
Openly,  and  without  displeasure, 
Here  the  king's  free  judgment  seat? 

And  the  graff  replied : 

I  permit  right. 

And  I  forbid  wrong, 

Under  the  pains  and  penalties 

That  to  the  old  known  laws  belong. 

Now  was  the  time  of  measuring  the  mystic  plot ;  it  was  meas- 
ured by  the  mete-wand  along  and  athwart,  and  when  the  dimen- 
sions were  found  to  be  true,  the  graff  placed  himself  in  the  seat  of 
judgment,  and  gave  the  charge  to  the  assembled  free  echevins, 
warning  them  to  pronounce   judgment    according   to  right  and 

justice. 

On  this  day,  with  common  consent, 

And  under  the  clear  firmament, 

A  free  field  court  is  established  here, 

In  the  open  eye  of  day ; 

Enter  soberly,  ye  who  may. 

The  seat  in  its  place  is  pight, 

The  mete-wand  is  found  to  be  right ; 

Declare  your  judgments  without  delay : 

And  let  the  doom  be  truly  given. 

Whilst  yet  the  sun  shines  bright  in  heaven. 

fudgment  was  given  by  the  free  echevins  according  to  plurality 
or  voices. 

After  observing  that  the  Author  of  Anne  of  Geier stein 
had,  by  what  he  calls  a  ''very  excusable  poetical  license," 
transferred  something  of  these  judicial  rhymes  from  the 
Free  Field  Court  of  the  abbey  of  Corbey  to  the  free  Vehmic 
tribunals  of  Westphalia,  Mr.  Palgrave  proceeds  to  correct 
many  vulgar  errors,  in  which  the  novel  he  remarks  on  no 
doubt  had  shared,  with  respect  to  the  actual  constitution  of 
those  last  named  courts.  ''The  protocols  of  their  proceed- 
ings,'' he  says,  "  do  not  altogether  realize  the  popular  idea 
of  their  terrors  and  tyranny.'*  It  may  be  allowed  to  me  to 
question  whether  the  mere  protocols  of  such  tribunals  are 
quite  enough  to  annul  all  the  import  of  tradition  respecting 
them  ;  but  in  the  following  details  there  is  no  doubt  much 
that  will  instruct  the  antiquarian,  as  well  as  amuse  the 
popular  reader  i — 


INTRODUCTION  TO  ANNE  OF  QEIEB STEIN  ix 

The  court,  says  Mr.  Palgrave,  was  held  with  known  and  notor- 
ious publicity  beneath  the  "eye  of  light;"  and  the  sentences, 
though  speedy  and  severe,  were  founded  upon  a  regular  system  of 
established  jurisprudence,  not  so  strange,  even  to  England,  as  it 
may  at  first  sight  appear. 

Westphalia,  according  to  its  ancient  constitution,  was  divided 
into  districts  called  freygraffschafften,  each  of  which  usually  con- 
tained one  and  sometimes  many,  Vehmic  tribunals,  whose  bound- 
aries were  accurately  defined.  The  right  of  the  stuhlherr,  or  lord, 
was  of  a  feudal  nature,  and  could  be  transferred  \>y  the  ordinary- 
modes  of  alienation ;  and  if  the  lord  did  not  choose  to  act  in  his 
own  person,  he  nominated  a  freigraff  to  execute  the  office  in  his 
stead.  The  court  itself  was  composed  of  freyschoppfen,  scabini,  or 
ichevins,  nominated  by  the  graff ,  and  who  were  divided  into  two 
classes:  the  ordinary  and  the  wissenden  or  "  witan,"  who  were  ad- 
mitted under  a  strict  and  singular  bond  of  secrecy. 

The  initiation  of  these,  the  participators  in  all  the  mysteries  of 
the  tribunal,  could  only  take  place  upon  the  "  red  earth,"  or  within 
the  limits  of  the  ancient  duchy  of  Westphalia.  Bareheaded  and 
ungirt,  the  candidate  is  conducted  before  the  dread  tribunal.  He 
is  interrogated  as  to  his  qualifications,  or  rather  as  to  the  absence 
of  any  disqualification.  He  must  be  free  born,  a  Teuton,  and  clear 
of  any  accusation  cognizable  by  the  tribunal  of  which  he  is  to  be- 
come a  member.  If  the  answers  are  satisfactory,  he  then  takes 
the  oath,  swearing  by  the  Holy  Law  that  he  will  conceal  the  secrets 
of  the  Holy  Vehme  from  wife  and  child,  from  father  and  mother, 
from  sister  and  brother,  from  fire  and  water,  from  every  creature 
upon  which  the  sun  shines,  or  upon  which  the  rain  falls,  from  every 
being  between  earth  and  heaven. 

Another  clause  relates  to  his  active  duties. '  He  further  swears, 
that  he  will "  say  forth  "  to  the  tribunal  all  crimes  or  offenses  which 
fall  beneath  the  secret  ban  of  the  Emperor,  which  he  knows  to  be 
true,  or  which  he  has  heard  from  trustworthy  report ;  and  that  he 
will  not  forbear  to  do  so,  for  love  nor  for  loathing,  for  gold  nor  for 
silver  nor  precious  stones.  This  oath  being  imposed  upon  him,  the 
new  freischopff  was  then  intrusted  with  the  secrets  of  the  Vehmic 
tribunal.  He  received  the  password  by  which  he  was  to  know  his 
fellows,  and  the  grip  or  sign  by  which  they  recognized  each  other 
in  silence  ;  and  he  was  warned  of  the  terrible  punishment  awaiting 
the  perjured  brother. — If  he  discloses  the  secrets  of  the  court,  he 
is  to  expect  that  he  will  be  suddenly  seized  by  the  ministers  of  venge- 
ance. His  eyes  are  bound,  he  is  cast  down  on  the  soil,  his  tongue 
is  torn  out  through  the  back  of  his  neck,  and  he  is  then  to  be 
hanged  seven  times  higher  than  any  other  criminal.  And,  Whether 
restrained  by  the  fear  of  punishment  or  by  the  stronger  ties  of 
mystery,  no  instance  was  ever  known  of  any  violation  of  the  secrets 
of  the  tribunal. 

Thus  connected  by  an  invisible  bond,  the  members  of  the  Holy 
Vehme  became  extremely  numerous.  In  the  14th  century,  the 
league  contained  upwards  of  one  hundred  thousand  members. 
Persons  of  every  rank  sought  to  be  associated  to  this  powerful  com- 
munity, and  to  participate  in  the  immunities  which  the  brethren 
possessed.  Princes  were  eager  to  allow  their  ministers  to  become 
the  members  of  this  mysterious  and  holy  alliance ;  and  the  cities 


X  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

of  the  Empire  were  equally  anxious  to  enroll  their  magistrates  i» 
the  Vehmic  union. 

The  supreme  government  of  the  Vehmic  tribunals  was  vested  in 
the  great  or  general  chapter,  composed  of  the  freegraves  and  all 
the  other  initiated  members,  high  and  low.  Over  this  assembly 
the  Emperor  might  preside  in  person,  but  more  usually  by  his 
deputy,  the  stadtholder  of  the  ancient  duchy  of  Westphalia— an 
office  which,  after  the  fall  of  Henry  the  Lion,  Duke  of  Brunswick 
[Saxony],  was  annexed  to  the  archbishopric  of  Cologne. 

Before  the  general  chapter,  all  the  members  were  liable  to  ac- 
count for  their  acts.  And  it  appears  that  the  freegraves  reported 
the  proceedings  wliich  had  taken  place  within  their  jurisdictions 
in  the  course  of  the  year.  Unworthy  members  were  expelled,  or 
sustained  a  severer  punishment.  Statutes,  or  "reformations"  as 
they  were  called,  were  here  enacted  for  the  regulation  of  the  courts, 
and  the  amendment  of  any  abuses  ;  and  new  and  unforeseen  cases, 
for  which  the  existing  laws  did  not  provide  a  remedy,  received 
their  determination  in  the  Vehmic  Parliament. 

As  the  echevins  were  of  two  classes,  uninitiated  and  initiated,  so 
the  Vehmic  courts  had  also  a  twofold  character  :  the  offenbare  ding 
was  an  open  court  or  folkmoot ;  but  the  heimliche  acht  was  the  far- 
famed  secret  tribunal. 

The  first  was  held  three  times  in  each  year.  According  to  the 
ancient  Teutonic  usage,  it  usually  assembled  on  Tuesday,  anciently 
called  dingstag  or  court-day,  as  well  as  diensttag,  or  serving-day, 
the  first  open  or  working  day  after  the  two  great  weekly  festivals 
of  sun-day  and  moon-day.  Here  all  the  householders  of  the  district, 
whether  free  or  bond,  attended  as  suitors.  The  offenbare  ding  ex- 
ercised a  civil  jurisdiction ;  and  in  this  folkmoot  appeared  any 
complainant  or  appellant  who  sought  to  obtain  the  aid  of  the 
Vehmic  tribunal  in  those  cases  when  it  did  not  possess  that  sum- 
mary jurisdiction  from  which  it  has  obtained  such  fearful  celebrity. 
Here  also  the  suitors  of  the  district  made  presentments  or  wroge,  as 
they  are  termed,  of  any  offenses  committed  within  their  knowl- 
edge, and  which  were  to  be  punished  by  the  graff  and  echevins. 

The  criminal  jurisdiction  of  the  Vehmic  tribunal  took  the  widest 
range.  The  Vehme  could  punish  mere  slander  and  contumely. 
Any  violation  of  the  Ten  Commandments  was  to  be  restrained  by 
the  echevins.  Secret  crimes,  not  to  be  proved  by  the  ordinary  tes- 
timony of  witnesses,  such  as  magic,  witchcraft,  and  poison,  were 
particularly  to  be  restrained  by  the  Vehmic  judges  ;  and  they 
sometimes  designated  their  jurisdiction  as  comprehending  every 
offense*  against  the  honor  of  man  or  the  precepts  of  religion. 
Such  a  definition,  if  definition  it  can  be  called,  evidently  allowed 
them  to  bring  every  action  of  which  an  individual  might  complain 
within  the  scope  of  their  tribunals.  The  forcible  usurpation  of 
land  became  an  offense  against  the  Vehme.  And  if  the  property  of 
an  humble  individual  was  occupied  by  the  proud  burghers  of  the 
Hanse,  the  power  of  the  defendants  might  afford  a  reasonable  ex- 
cuse for  the  interference  of  the  Vehmic  power. 

The  echevins,  as  conservators  of  the  ban  of  the  Empire,  were 
bound  to  make  constant  circuits  within  their  districts,  by  night 
and  by  day.  If  they  could  apprehend  a  thief,  a  murderer,  or  the 
perpetrator  of  any  other  heinous  crime  in  possession  of  the  mainour^ 
or  in  the  very  act,  or  if  his  own  mouth  confessed  the  deed,  they 


INTRODUCTION  TO  ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  xi 

hung  him  upon  the  next  tree.  But  to  render  this  execution  legal, 
the  following  requisites  were  necessary  :  fresh  suit,  or  the  appre- 
hension and  execution  of  the  offender  before  daybreak  or  nightfall ; 
the  visible  evidence  of  the  crime  ;  and  lastly,  that  three  echevins, 
at  least,  should  seize  the  offender,  testify  against  him,  and  judge 
of  the  recent  deed. 

If,  without  any  certain  accuser,  and  without  the  indication  of 
crime,  an  individual  was  strongly  and  vehemently  suspected,  or 
when  the  nature  of  the  offense  was  such  as  that  its  proof  could 
only  rest  upon  opinion  and  presumption,  the  offender  then  became 
subject  to  what  the  German  jurists  term  the  inquisitorial  proceed- 
ing :  it  became  the  duty  of  the  echevin  to  denounce  the  leumundy 
or  manifest  evil  fame  to  the  secret  tribunal.  If  the  echevins 
and  the  freygraff  were  satisfied  with  the  presentment  either  from 
their  own  knowledge  or  from  the  information  of  their  compeer,  the 
offender  was  said  to  be  verfdmbt — his  life  was  forfeited  ;  and 
wherever  he  was  found  by  the  brethren  of  the  tribunal,  they  ex- 
ecuted him  without  the  slightest  delay  or  mercy.  An  offender  who 
had  escaped  from  the  echevins  was  liable  to  the  same  punishment ; 
and  such  also  was  the  doom  of  the  party  who,  after  having  been 
summoned  pursuant  to  an  appeal  preferred  in  open  court,  made 
default  in  appearing.  But  one  of  the  wissenden  was  in  no  respect 
liable  to  the  summary  process  or  to  the  inquisitorial  proceeding, 
unless  he  had  revealed  the  secrets  of  the  court.  He  was  presumed 
to  be  a  true  man ;  and  if  accused  upon  vehement  suspicion,  or 
leumund,  the  same  presumption  or  evil  repute  which  was  fatal  to 
the  uninitiated  might  be  entirely  rebutted  by  the  compurgatory 
oath  of  the  free  echevin.  If  a  party,  accused  by  appeal,  did  not 
shun  investigation,  he  appeared  in  the  open  court,  and  defended 
himself  according  to  the  ordinary  rules  of  law.  If  he  absconded, 
or  if  the  evidence  or  presumptions  were  against  him,  the  accusation 
then  came  before  the  judges  of  the  secret  court,  who  pronounced 
the  doom.  The  accusatorial  process,  as  it  was  termed,  was  also,  in 
many  cases,  brought  in  the  first  instance  before  the  heimliche 
acht.  Proceeding  upon  the  examination  of  witnesses,  it  possessed 
no  peculiar  character,  and  its  forms  were  those  of  the  ordinary 
courts  of  justice.  It  was  only  in  this  manner  that  one  of  the  wis- 
senden or  witan  could  be  tried ;  and  the  privilege  of  being  ex- 
empted from  the  summary  process,  or  from  the  effects  of  the  leu- 
mund, appears  to  have  been  one  of  the  reasons  which  induced  so 
many  of  those  who  did  not  tread  the  "  red  earth"  to  seek  to  be 
included  in  the  Vehmic  bond. 

There  was  no  mystery  in  the  assembly  of  the  heimliche  acht. 
Under  the  oak,  or  under  the  lime-tree,  the  judges  assembled  in 
broad  daylight,  and  before  the  eye  of  heaven  ;  but  the  tribunal  de- 
rived its  name  from  the  precautions  which  were  taken  for  the 
purpose  of  preventing  any  disclosure  of  its  proceedings  which 
might  enable  the  offender  to  escape  the  vengeance  of  the  Vehme. 
Hence  the  fearful  oath  of  secrecy  which  bound  the  echevins.  And 
if  any  stranger  was  found  present  in  the  court,  the  unlucky  in- 
truder instantly  forfeited  his  life  as  a  punishment  for  his  temerity. 
If  the  presentment  or  denunciation  did  chance  to  become  known 
to  the  offender,  the  law  allowed  him  a  right  of  appeal.  But  the 
permission  was  of  very  little  utility,  it  was  a  profitless  boon,  for 
the  Vehmic  judges  always  labored  to  conceal  the  judgment  from 


^i  WAVEBLET  NOVELS 

the  hapless  criminal,  who  seldom  was  aware  of  his  sentence  until 
his  neck  was  encircled  by  the  halter. 

Charlemagne,  according  to  the  traditions  of  Westphalia,  was  the 
founder  of  the  Vehmic  tribunal ;  and  it  was  supposed  that  he 
instituted  the  court  for  the  purpose  of  coercing  the  Saxons,  ever 
ready  to  relapse  into  the  idolatry  from  which  they  had  been  re- 
claimed, not  by  persuasion,  but  by  the  sword.  This  opinion,  how- 
ever, is  not  confirmed  either  by  documentary  evidence  or  by  con- 
temporary historians.  And  if  we  examine  the  proceedings  of  the 
Vehmic  tribunal,  we  shall  see  that,  in  principle,  it  differs  in  no 
essential  character  from  the  summary  jurisdiction  exercised  in  the 
townships  and  hundreds  of  Anglo-Saxon  England.  Amongst  us, 
the  thief  or  the  robber  was  equally  liable  to  summary  punishment, 
if  apprehended  by  the  men  of  the  township  ;  and  the  same  rules 
disqualified  them  from  proceeding  to  summary  execution.  An 
English  outlaw  was  exactly  in  the  situation  of  him  who  had  es- 
caped from  the  hands  of  tlie  echevins,  or  who  had  failed  to  appear 
before  the  Vehmic  court :  he  was  condemned  unheard,  nor  was 
he  coi^ronted  with  his  accusers.  The  inquisitorial  proceedings,  as 
they  {ft-e  termed  by  the  German  jurists,  are  identical  with  our 
ancient  presentments.  Presumptions  are  substituted  for  proofs, 
and  general  opinion  holds  the  place  of  a  responsible  accuser.  He 
who  was  untrue  to  all  the  people  in  the  Saxon  age,  or  liable  to  the 
malecredence  of  the  inquest  at  a  subsequent  period,  was  scarcely 
more  fortunate  than  he  who  was  branded  as  leumund  by  the 
Vehmic  law. 

In  cases  of  open  delict  and  of  outlawry,  there  was  substantially 
no  difference  whatever  between  the  English  and  the  Vehmic  pro- 
ceedings. But  in  the  inquisitorial  process,  the  delinquent  was 
allowed,  according  to  our  older  code,  to  run  the  risk  of  the  ordeal. 
He  was  accused  by  or  before  the  hundred,  or  the  thanes  of  the 
wapentake  ;  and  his  own  oath  cleared  him,  if  a  true  man  ;  but  he 
"bore  the  iron"  if  unable  to  avail  himself  of  the  credit  derived 
from  a  good  and  fair  reputation.  The  same  course  may  have  been 
originally  adopted  in  Westphalia ;  for  the  wissend,  when  accused, 
could  exculpate  himself  by  his  compurgatory  oath,  being  presumed 
to  be  of  good  fame  ;  and  it  is,  therefore,  probable  that  an  uniniti- 
ated offender,  standing  a  stage  lower  in  character  and  credibility, 
was  allowed  the  last  resort  of  the  ordeal.  But  when  the  "  judg- 
ment of  god"  was  abolished  by  the  decrees  of  the  Church,  it  did 
not  occur  to  the  Vehmic  judges  to  put  the  offender  upon  his  second 
trial  by  the  visne,  which  now  forms  the  distinguishing  character- 
istic of  the  English  law,  and  he  was  at  once  considered  as  con7 
domned.  The  heimliche  acht  is  a  presentment  not  traversable  by 
the  offender. 

The  Vehmic  tribunals  can  only  he  considered  as  the  original  juris- 
dictions of  the  Old  Savons,  which  survived  the  subjugation  of  their 
country.  The  singular  and  mystic  forms  of  initiation,  the  system  of 
enigm,atical  phrases,  the  use  of  the  signs  and  symbols  of  recognition, 
may  probably  be  ascribed  to  the  period  when  the  whole  system  was 
united  to  the  worship  of  the  deities  of  vengeance,  and  when  the 
sentence  tvas  promulgated  by  the  doomsmen,  assembled,  like  the  Asi 
of  old,  before  the  altars  of  Thor  or  Woden.  Of  this  connection  with 
ancient  pagan  policy,  so  clearly  to  be  traced  in  the  Icelandic  courts, 
the  English  territorial  jurisdictions  offer  some  very  faint  vestiges  ; 


INTRODUCTION  TO  ANNE  OF  GEIER STEIN       xiil 

but  the  mystery  had  long  been  dispersed,  and  the  whole  system 
passed  into  the  ordinary  machinery  of  the  law. 

As  to  the  Vehraic  tribunals,  it  is  acknowledged  that,  in  a  truly 
barbarous  age  and  country,  their  proceedings,  however  violent, 
were  not  without  utility.  Their  severe  and  secret  vengeance  often 
dete;rred  the  rapacity  of  the  noble  robber,  and  protected  the  humble 
suppliant ;  the  extent,  and  even  the  abuse,  of  their  authority  was 
in  some  measure  justified  in  an  Empire  divided  into  numerous  in- 
dependent jurisdictions,  and  not  subjected  to  any  paramount 
tribunal,  able  to  administer  impartial  justice  to  the  oppressed. 
But  as  the  times  improved,  the  Vehmic  tribunals  degenerated. 
The  echevins,  chosen  from  the  inferior  ranks,  did  not  possess  any 
personal  consideration.  Opposed  by  the  opulent  cities  of  the  Hanse, 
and  objects  of  the  suspicion  and  the  enmity  of  the  powerful  aris- 
tocracy, the  tribunals  of  some  districts  were  abolished  by  law,  and 
others  took  the  form  of  ordinary  territorial  jurisdictions;  the 
greater  number  fell  into  desuetude.  Yet  as  late  as  the  middle  of 
the  18th  century,  a  few  Vehmic  tribunals  existed  in  name,  though, 
as  it  may  be  easily  supposed,  without  possessing  any  remnant  of 
their  pristine  power. — Palgrave  on  the  Rise  and  Progress  of  the 
English  Commonwealth  :  Proofs  and  Illustrations,  pp.  cxliv.-clvii. 

I  have  marked  by  italic  letters  the  most  important  passage 
of  the  above  quotation.  The  view  it  contains  seems  to  me  to 
have  every  appearance  of  truth  and  justice  ;  and  if  such 
should,  on  maturer  investigation,  turn  out  to  be  the  fact,  it 
will  certainly  confer  no  small  honor  on  an  English  scholar 
to  have  discovered  the  key  to  a  mystery  which  had  long  exer- 
cised in  vain  the  laborious  and  profound  students  of  German 
antiquity. 

There  are  probably  several  other  points  on  which  I  ought 
to  have  embraced  this  opportunity  of  enlarging  ;  but  the 
necessity  of  preparing  for  an  excursion  to  foreign  countries, 
in  quest  of  health  and  strength,  that  have  been  for  some 
time  sinking,  makes  me  cut  short  my  address  upon  the  pres- 
ent occasion. 

Although  I  had  never  been  in  Switzerland,  and  numerous 
mistakes  must  of  course  have  occurred  in  my  attempts  to 
describe  the  local  scenery  of  that  romantic  region,  I  must 
not  conclude  without  a  statement  highly  gratifying  to  myself, 
that  the  work  met  with  a  reception  of  more  than  usual  cor- 
diality among  the  descendants  of  the  Alpine  heroes  whose 
manners  I  had  ventured  to  treat  of ;  and  I  have  in  particular 
to  express  my  thanks  to  the  several  Swiss  gentlemen  who 
have,  since  the  novel  was  published,  enriched  my  little  collec- 
tion of  armor  with  specimens  of  the  huge  weapon  that  sheared 
the  lances  of  the  Austrian  chivalry  at  Sempach,  and  was  em- 
ployed with  equal  success  on  the  bloody  days  of  Granson  and 
Morat.   Of  the  ancient  double-handed  esjpadons  of  the  Switzer, 


xiv 


WAVERLEY  NOVELS 


I  have,  in  this  way,  received,  I  think,  not  less  than  six,  in 
excellent  preservation,  from  as  many  different  individuals, 
who  thus  testified  their  general  approbation  of  these  pages. 
They  are  not  the  less  interesting,  that  gigantic  swords  of 
nearly  the  same  pattern  and  dimensions  were  employed,  in 
their  conflicts  with  the  bold  knights  and  men-at-arms  of 
England,  by  Wallace  and  the  sturdy  foot-soldiers  who,  under 
his  guidance,  laid  the  foundations  of  Scottish  independence. 
The  reader  who  wishes  to  examine  with  attention  the 
historical  events  of  the  period  which  the  novel  embraces, 
will  find  ample  means  of  doing  so  in  the  valuable  works  of 
Zschokke  and  M.  de  Barante — which  last  author's  account 
of  the  Dukes  of  Burgundy  is  among  the  most  valuable  of 
recent  accessions  of  European  literature — and  in  the  new 
Parisian  edition  of  Froissart,  which  has  not  as  yet  attractef^ 
so  much  attention  in  this  country  as  it  well  deserves  to  do. 

W.  S. 
Abbotsford,  Sept.  17,  1831. 

*  fS«e  J.  G.  Lockhart,  Life  of  Scott,  vol.  ix.  pp.  321-^383.] 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN 

OR 

THE  MAIDEN  OF  THE  MIST 
CHAPTER  I 

The  mists  boil  up  around  the  glaciers ;  clouds 
Rise  curling  fast  beneath  me,  white  and  sulphurous, 
Like  foam  from  the  roused  opean. 
....  I  am  giddy. 

Manfred, 

The  course  of  four  centuries  has  wellnigh  elapsed  since  the 
series  of  events  which  are  related  in  the  following  chapters 
took  place  on  the  Continent.  The  records  which  contained 
the  outlines  of  the  history,  and  might  be  referred  to  as 
proof  of  its  veracity,  were  long  preserved  in  the  superb 
library  of  the  monastery  of  St.  Gall,  but  perished,  with  many 
of  the  literary  treasures  of  that  establishment,  when  the  con- 
vent was  plundered  by  the  French  revolutionary  armies. 
The  events  are  fixed,  by  historical  date,  to  the  middle  of  the 
15th  century — that  important  period  when  chivalry  still 
shone  with  a  setting  ray,  soon  about  to  be  totally  obscured, 
in  some  countries  by  the  establishment  of  free  institutions, 
in  others  by  that  of  arbitrary  power,  which  alike  rendered 
useless  the  interference  of  those  self-endowed  redressers  of 
wrongs  whose  only  warrant  of  authority  was  the  sword. 

Amid  the  general  light  which  had  recently  shone  upon 
Europe,  France,  Burgundy,  and  Italy,  but  more  especially 
Austria,  had  been  made  acquainted  with  the  character  of  a 
people  of  whose  very  existence  they  had  before  been  scarcely 
conscious.  It  is  true  that  the  inhabitants  of  those  countries 
which  lie  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Alps,  that  immense  barrier, 
were  not  ignorant,  that,  notwithstanding  their  rugged  and 
desolate  appearance,  the  secluded  valleys  which  winded 
among  those  gigantic  mountains  nourished  a  race  of  hunters 
and  shepherds — men  who,   living  in   a  state   of  primeval 


S      '  WA.VERLEY  NOVELS 

simplicity,  -compGlled'  from  the  soil  a  subsistence  gained  by 
severe  labor,  followed  the  chase  over  the  most  savage  preci- 
pices and  through  the  darkest  pine  forests,  or  drove  their 
cattle  to  spots  which  afforded  them  a  scanty  pasturage,  even 
in  the  vicinage  of  eternal  snows.  But  the  existence  of  such 
a  people,  or  rather  of  a  number  of  small  communities  who 
followed  nearly  the  same  poor  and  hardy  course  of  life,  had 
seemed  to  the  rich  and  powerful  princes  in  the  neighborhood 
a  matter  of  as  little  consequence  as  it  is  to  the  stately 
herds  which  repose  in  a  fertile  meadow  that  a  few  half- 
starved  goats  find  their  scanty  food  among  the  rocks  whick 
overlook  their  rich  domain. 

But  wonder  and  attention  began  to  be  attracted  towards 
these  mountaineers  about  the  middle  of  the  14th  century, 
when  reports  were  spread  abroad  of  severe  contests,  in 
which  the  G-erman  chivalry,  endeavoring  to  suppress  insur- 
rections among  their  Alpine  vassals,  had  sustained  repeated 
and  bloody  defeats,  although  having  on  their  side  numbers 
and  discipline,  and  the  advantage  of  the  most  perfect  mili- 
tary equipment  then  known  and  confided  in.  Great  was  the 
wonder  that  cavalry,  which  made  the  only  efficient  part  of 
the  feudal  armies  of  these  ages,  should  be  routed  by  men  on 
foot ;  that  warriors  sheathed  in  complete  steel  should  be 
overpowered  by  naked  peasants  who  wore  no  defensive  ar- 
mor, and  were  irregularly  provided  with  pikes,  halberts,  and 
clubs,  for  the  purpose  of  attack  ;  above  all,  it  seemed  a 
species  of  miracle  that  knights  and  nobles  of  the  highest 
birth  should  be  defeated  by  mountaineers  and  shepherds. 
But  the  repeated  victories  of  the  Swiss  atLaupen,  Sempach, 
and  on  other  less  distinguished  occasions,  plainly  intimated 
that  a  new  principle  of  civil  organization,  as  well  as  of  mili- 
tary movements,  had  arisen  amid  the  stormy  regions  of  the 
Helvetia. 

Still,  although  the  decisive  victories  which  obtained  liberty 
for  the  Swiss  cantons,  as  well  as  the  spirit  of  resolution  and 
wisdom  with  which  the  members  of  the  little  confederation 
had  maintained  themselves  against  the  utmost  exertions 
of  Austria,  had  spread  their  fame  abroad  through  all  the 
neighboring  countries,  and  although  they  themselves  were 
conscious  of  the  character  and  actual  power  which  repeated 
victories  had  acquired  for  themselves  and  their  country,  yet 
down  to  the  middle  of  the  15th  century,  and  at  a  later  date, 
the  Swiss  retained  in  a  great  measure  the  wisdom,  modera- 
tion, and  simplicity  of  their  ancient  manners  ;  so  much  so, 
that  those  who  were  entrusted  with  the  command  of  the 


ANNE  OF  GEIEB8TEIN  3 

troops  of  the  republic  in  battle  were  wont  to  resume  the 
shepherd's  staff  when  they  laid  down  the  truncheon^  and, 
like  the  Eoman  dictators,  to  retire  to  complete  equality  with 
their  fellow-citizens  from  the  eminence  of  military  command 
to  which  their  talents,  and  the  call  of  their  country,  had 
raised  them. 

It  is  then  in  the  Forest  Cantons  of  Switzerland,  in  the 
autumn  of  1474,  while  these  districts  were  in  the  rude  and 
simple  state  we  have  described,  that  our  tale  opens. 


Two  travelers,  one  considerably  past  the  prime  of  life,  the 
other  probably  two  or  three  and  twenty  years  old,  had  passed 
the  night  at  the  little  town  of  Lucerne,  the  capital  of  the 
Swiss  state  of  the  same  name,  and  beautifully  situated  on  the 
Lake  of  the  Four  Cantons.  Their  dress  and  character  seemed 
those  of  merchants  of  a  higher  class,  and  while  they  them- 
selves journeyed  on  foot,  the  character  of  the  country  ren- 
dering that  by  far  the  most  easy  mode  of  pursuing  their 
route,  a  young'peasant  lad,  from  the  Italian  side  of  the  Alps, 
followed  them  with  a  sumpter  mule,  laden  apparently  with 
their  wares  and  baggage,  which  he  sometimes  mounted,  but 
more  frequently  led  by  the  bridle. 

The  travelers  were  uncommonly  fine-looking  men,  and 
seemed  connected  by  some  very  near  relationship — probably 
that  of  father  and  son  ;  for  at  the  little  inn  where  they  lodged 
on  the  preceding  evening  the  great  deference  and  respect 
paid  by  the  younger  to  the  elder  had  not  escaped  the  obser- 
vation of  the  natives,  who,  like  other  sequestered  beings, 
were  curious  in  proportion  to  the  limited  means  of  informa- 
tion which  they  possessed.  They  observed  also  that  the  mer- 
chants, under  pretense  of  haste,  declined  opening  their  bales 
or  proposing  traffic  to  the  inhabitants  of  Lucerne,  alleging  in 
excuse  that  they  had  no  commodities  fitted  for  the  market. 
The  females  of  the  town  were  the  more  displeased  with  the 
reserve  of  the  mercantile  travelers,  because  they  were  given 
to  understand  that  it  was  occasioned  by  the  wares  in  which 
they  dealt  being  too  costly  to  find  customers  among  the  Hel- 
vetian mountains ;  for  it  had  transpired,  by  means  of  their 
attendant,  that  the  strangers  had  visited  Venice,  and  had 
there  made  many  purchases  of  rich  commodities,  which  were 
brought  from  India  and  Egypt  to  that  celebrated  emporium, 
as  to  the  common  mart  of  the  Western  World,  and  thence 
dispersed  into  all  quarters  of  Europe.     Now  the  Swiss  maid  • 


i  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

ens  had  of  late  made  the  discovery  that  gauds  and  gems  were 
fair  to  look  npon,  and,  though  without  the  hope  of  being  able 
to  possess  themselves  of  such  ornaments,  they  felt  a  natural 
desire  to  review  and  handle  the  rich  stores  of  the  merchants, 
and  some  displeasure  at  being  prevented  from  doing  so. 

It  was  also  observed  that,  though  the  strangers  were  suffi- 
ciently courteous  in  their  demeanor,  they  did  not  evince  tha 
studious  anxiety  to  please  displayed  by  the  traveling  peddlers 
or  merchants  of  Lombardy  or  Savoy,  by  whom  the  inhabit- 
ants of  the  mountains  were  occasionally  visited ;  and  who 
had  been  more  frequent  in  their  rounds  of  late  years,  since 
the  spoils  of  victory  had  invested  the  Swiss  with  some  wealth, 
and  had  taught  many  of  them  new  wants.  Those  peripatetic 
traders  were  civil  and  assiduous,  as  their  calling  required ; 
but  the  new  visitors  seemed  men  who  were  indifferent  to 
traffic,  or  at  least  to  such  slender  gains  as  could  be  gathered 
in  Switzerland. 

Curiosity  was  further  excited  by  the  circumstance  that 
they  spoke  to  each  other  in  a  language  which  was  certainly 
neither  German,  Italian,  nor  French,  but  from  which  an  old 
man  serving  in  the  cabaret,  who  had  once  been  as  far  as 
Paris,  supposed  they  might  be  English — a  people  of  whom 
it  was  only  known  in  these  mountains  that  they  were  a  fierce 
insular  race,  at  war  with  the  French  for  many  years,  and  a 
large  body  of  whom  had  long  since  invaded  the  Forest  Can- 
tons, and  sustained  such  a  defeat  in  the  valley  of  Eusswyl  as 
was  well  remembered  by  the  gray-haired  men  of  Lucerne,  who 
received  the  tale  from  their  fathers. 

The  lad  who  attended  the  strangers  was  soon  ascertained 
to  be  a  youth  from  the  Grison  country,  who  acted  as  their 
guide,  so  far  as  his  knowledge  of  the  mountains  permitted. 
He  said  they  designed  to  go  to  Bdle,  but  seemed  desirous  to 
travel  by  circuitous  and  unfrequented  routes.  The  circum- 
stances just  mentioned  increased  the  general  desire  to  know 
more  of  the  travelers  and  of  their  merchandise.  Not  a  bale, 
however,  was  unpacked,  and  the  merchants,  leaving  Lucerne 
next  morning,  resumed  their  toilsome  journey,  preferring  a 
circuitous  route  and  bad  roads  through  the  peaceful  cantons 
of  Switzerland  to  encountering  the  exactions  and  rapine  of 
the  robber  chivalry  of  Germany,  who,  like  so  many  sovereigns, 
made  war  each  at  his  own  pleasure^  and  levied  tolls  and  taxes 
on  every  one  who  passed  their  domains  of  a  mile's  breadth, 
with  all  the  insolence  of  petty  tyranny. 

For  several  hours  after  leaving  Lucerne,  the  journey  of 
our  travelers  was  successfully  prosecuted.     The  road,  though 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  ff 

precipitous  and  difficult,  was  rendered  interesting  by  those 
splendid  phenomena  which  no  country  exhibits  in  a  more 
astonishing  manner  than  the  mountains  of  Switzerland, 
where  the  rocky  pass,  the  verdant  valley,  the  broad  lake, 
and  the  rushing  torrent,  the  attributes  of  other  hills  as  well 
as  these,  are  interspersed  with  the  magnificent  and  yet 
fearful  horrors  of  the  glaciers,  a  feature  peculiar  to  them- 
Belves. 

It  was  not  an  age  in  which  the  beauties  or  grandeur  of  a 
landscape  made  much  impression  either  on  the  minds  of 
those  who  traveled  through  the  country  or  who  resided  in  it. 
To  the  latter,  the  objects,  however  dignified,  were  familiar, 
and  associated  with  daily  habits  and  with  daily  toil ;  and 
the  former  saw,  perhaps,  more  terror  than  beauty  in  the 
wild  region  through  which  they  passed,  and  were  rather 
solicitous  to  get  safe  to  their  night's  quarters  than  to  com- 
ment on  the  grandeur  of  the  scenes  which  lay  between  them 
and  their  place  of  rest.  Yet  our  merchants,  as  they  pro- 
ceeded on  their  journey,  could  not  help  being  strongly  im- 
pressed by  the  character  of  the  scenery  around  them.  Their 
road  lay  along  the  side  of  the  lake,  at  times  level  and  close 
on  its  very  margin,  at  times  rising  to  a  great  height  on  the 
side  of  the  mountain,  and  winding  along  the  verge  of  prec- 
ipices which  sunk  down  to  the  water  as  sharp  and  sheer  as 
the  walls  of  a  castle  descending  upon  the  ditch  which  de- 
fends it.  At  other  times  it  traversed  spots  of  milder  character 
— delightful  green  slopes,  and  lowly  retired  valleys,  affording 
both  pasturage  and  arable  ground,  sometimes  watered  by 
small  streams,  which  winded  by  the  hamlet  of  wooden  huts 
with  their  fantastic  little  church  and  steeple,  meandered 
round  the  orchard  and  the  mount  of  vines,  and  murmur- 
ing gently  as  they  flowed,  found  a  quiet  passage  into  the 
lake. 

'*  That  stream,  Arthur, '*  said  the  elder  traveler,  as  with 
one  consent  they  stopped  to  gaze  on  such  a  scene  as  I 
have  described,  '^'resembles  the  life  of  a  good  and  a  happy 
man.'* 

"And  the  brook,  which  hurries  itself  headlong  down  yon 
distant  hill,  marking  its  course  by  a  streak  of  white  foam,'' 
answered  Arthur,  ''what  does  that  resemble  ?" 

''  That  of  a  brave  and  unfortunate  one,''  replied  his  father. 

''  The  torrent  for  me,"  said  Arthur  :  ''  a  headlong  course 
which  no  human  force  can  oppose,  and  then  let  it  be  as  brief 
as  it  is  glorious." 

"  It  is  a  young  man's  thought,"  replied  his  father ;  *'  but 


^  WA VERLET  NOVELS 

I  am  well  aware  that  it  is  so  rooted  in  thy  heart  that  noth- 
ing but  the  rude  hand  of  adversity  can  pluck  it  up." 

^^As  yet  the  root  clings  fast  to  my  hearths  strings,"  said 
the  young  man  ;  "  and  methinks  adversity's  hand  hath  had 
a  fair  clasp  of  it/' 

"  You  speak,  my  son,  of  what  you  little  understand,"  said 
his  father.  '^Know  that,  till  the  middle  of  life  be  passed, 
men  scarce  distinguish  true  prosperity  from  adversity,  or 
rather  they  court  as  the  favors  of  fortune  what  they  should 
more  justly  regard  as  the  marks  of  her  displeasure.  Look 
at  yonder  mountain,  which  wears  on  its  shaggy  brow  a  dia- 
dem of  clouds,  now  raised  and  now  depressed,  while  the  sun 
glances  upon  but  is  unable  to  dispel  it ;  a  child  might 
believe  it  to  be  a  crown  of  glory,  a  man  knows  it  to  be  the 
signal  of  tempest." 

Arthur  followed  the  direction  of  his  father's  eye  to  the 
dark  and  shadowy  eminences  of  Mount  Pilatre  [Pilatus]. 

"  Is  the  mist  on  yonder  wild  mountain  so  ominous,  then  ?  " 
asked  the  young  man. 

*'  Demand  of  Antonio,"  said  his  father  ;  *'  he  will  tell  you 
the  legend." 

The  young  merchant  addressed  himself  to  the  Swiss  lad 
who  acted  as  their  attendant,  desiring  to  know  the  name  of 
the  gloomy  height,  which,  in  that  quarter,  seems  the  leviathan 
of  the  huge  congregation  of  mountains  assembled  about 
Lucerne. 

The  lad  crossed  himself  devoutly,  as  he  recounted  the 
popular  legend,  that  the  wicked  Pontius  Pilate,  Proconsul 
of  Judea,  had  here  found  the  termination  of  his  impious  life  ; 
having,  after  spending  years  in  the  recesses  of  that  mountain 
which  bears  his  name,  at  length,  in  remorse,  and  despair 
rather  than  in  penitence,  plunged  into  the  dismal  lake  which 
occupies  the  summit.  Whether  water  refused  to  do  the  exe- 
cutioner's duty  upon  such  a  wretch,  or  whether,  his  body 
being  drowned,  his  vexed  spirit  continued  to  haunt  the 
place  where  he  committed  suicide,  Antonio  did  not  pretend 
to  explain.  But  a  form  was  often,  he  said,  seen  to  emerge 
from  the  gloomy  waters,  and  go  through  the  action  of  one 
washing  his  hands  ;  and  when  he  did  so,  dark  clouds  of  mist 
gathered  jBrst  round  the  bosom  of  the  Infernal  Lake  (such 
it  had  been  styled  of  old),  and  then,  wrapping  the  whole 
upper  part  of  the  mountain  in  darkness,  presaged  a  tem- 
pest or  hurricane,  which  was  sure  to  follow  in  a  short  space. 
He  added,  that  the  evil  spirit  was  peculiarly  exasperated  at 
the  audacity  of  such  strangers  as  ascended  the  mountain  te 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  7 

gaze  at  its  place  of  punishment,  and  that,  in  consequence, 
the  magistrates  of  Lucerne  had  prohibited  any  one  from  ap- 
proaching Mount  Pilatre,  under  severe  penalties.  An- 
tonio once  more  crossed  himself  as  he  finished  his  legend  ;  in 
which  apt  of  devotion  he  was  imitated  by  his  hearers,  too 
good  Catholics  to  entertain  any  doubt  of  the  truth  of  the 
story. 

'^ How  the  accursed  heathen  scowls  upon  us!*'  said  the 
younger  of  the  merchants,  while  the  cloud  darkened  and 
seemed  to  settle  on  the  brow  of  Mount  Pilatre.  ''  Vade  retro 
— be  thou  defied,  sinner  !  " 

A  rising  wind,  rather  heard  than  felt,  seemed  to  groan 
forth,  in  the  tone  of  a  dying  lion,  the  acceptance  of  the  suf- 
fering spirit  to  the  rash  challenge  of  the  young  Englishman. 
The  mountain  was  seen  to  send  down  its  rugged  sides  thick 
wreaths  of  heaving  mist,  which,  rolling  through  the  rugged 
chasms  that  seamed  the  grisly  hill,  resembled  the  torrents  of 
rushing  lava  pouring  down  from  a  volcano.  The  ridgy  prec- 
ipices, which  formed  the  sides  of  these  huge  ravines,  showed 
their  splintery  and  rugged  edges  over  the  vapor,  as  if  divid- 
ing from  each  other  the  descending  streams  of  mist  which 
rolled  around  them.  As  a  strong  contrast  to  this  gloomy  and 
threatening  scene,  the  more  distant  mountain  range  of  Eighi 
shone  brilliant  with  all  the  hues  of  an  autumnal  sun. 

While  the  travelers  watched  this  striking  and  varied  con- 
trast, which  resembled  an  approaching  combat  betwixt  the 
powers  of  light  and  darkness,  their  guide,  in  his  mixed  jar- 
gon of  Italian  and  German,  exhorted  them  to  make  haste  on 
their  journey.  The  village  to  which  he  proposed  to  conduct 
them,  he  said,  was  yet  distant,  the  road  bad  and  difficult  to 
find,  and  if  the  Evil  One  (looking  to  Mount  Pilatre  and  cross- 
ing himself)  should  send  his  darkness  upon  the  valley,  the 
path  would  be  both  doubtful  and  dangerous.  The  travelers, 
thus  admonished,  gathered  the  capes  of  their  cloaks  close 
round  their  throats,  pulled  their  bonnets  resolvedly  over  their 
brows,  drew  the  buckle  of  their  broad  belts  which  fastened 
their  mantles,  and  each  with  a  mountain  staff  in  his  hand, 
well  shod  with  an  iron  spike,  they  pursued  their  journey  with 
unabated  strength  and  undaunted  spirit. 

With  every  step  the  scenes  around  them  appeared  to  change. 
Each  mountain,  as  if  its  firm  and  immutable  form  were  flex- 
ible and  varying,  altered  in  appearance,  like  that  of  a  shadowy 
apparition,  as  the  position  of  the  strangers  relative  to  them 
changed  with  their  motions,  and  as  the  mist,  which  continued 
slowly  though  constantly  to  descend,  influenced  the  rugged 


8  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

aspect  of  the  hills  and  valleys  which  it  shrouded  with  itg 
vapory  mantle.  The  nature  of  their  progress,  too,  never 
direct,  but  winding  by  a  narrow  path  along  the  sinuosities  of 
the  valley,  and  making  many  a  circuit  round  precipices  aad 
other  obstacles  which  it  was  impossible  to  surmount,  added 
to  the  wild  variety  of  a  journey  in  which  at  last  the  travelers 
totally  lost  any  vague  idea  which  they  had  previously  enter- 
tained concerning  the  direction  in  which  the  road  led  them. 

"  I  would,"  said  the  elder,  ^'  we  had  that  mystical  needle 
which  mariners  talk  of,  that  points  ever  to  the  north,  and 
enables  them  to  keep  their  way  on  the  waters,  when  there  is 
neither  cape  nor  headland,  sun,  moon,  nor  stars,  nor  any 
mark  in  heaven  or  earth,  to  tell  them  how  to  steer/' 

*'  It  would  scarce  avail  us  among  these  mountains,"  an- 
swered the  youth  ;  "  for,  though  that  wonderful  needle  may 
keep  its  point  to  the  northern  pole-star,  when  it  is  on  a  flat 
surface  like  the  sea,  it  is  not  to  be  thought  it  would  do  so 
when  these  huge  mountains  arise  like  walls  betwixt  the  steel 
and  the  object  of  its  sympathy." 

"  I  fear  me,"  replied  the  father,  '^  we  shall  find  our  guide, 
who  has  been  growing  hourly  more  stupid  since  he  left  his 
own  valley,  as  useless  as  you  suppose  the  compass  would  be 
among  the  hills  of  this  wild  country.  Canst  tell,  my  boy," 
said  he,  addressing  Antonio  in  bad  Italian,  "if  we  be  in  the 
road  we  purposed  ?  " 

*'  If  it  please  St.  Antonio,"  said  the  guide,  who  was  ob- 
viously too  much  confused  to  answer  the  question  directly. 

"  And  that  water,  half  covered  with  mist,  which  glimmers 
through  the  fog,  at  the  foot  of  this  huge  black  precipice,  is 
it  still  a  part  of  the  Lake  of  Lucerne,  or  have  we  lighted 
upon  another  since  we  ascended  that  last  hill  ?  " 

Antonio  could  only  answer  that  they  ought  to  be  on  the 
Lake  of  Lucerne  still,  and  that  he  hoped  that  what  they  saw 
below  them  was  only  a  winding  branch  of  the  same  sheet  of. 
water.     But  he  could  say  nothing  with  certainty. 

''Dog  of  an  Italian  ! "  exclaimed  the  younger  traveler, 
*'  thou  deservest  to  have  thy  bones  broken,  for  undertaking 
a  charge  which  thou  art  as  incapable  to  perform  as  thou  art 
to  guide  us  to  Heaven  ! " 

''Peace,  Arthur,"  said  his  father ;  "if  you  frighten  the 
lad,  he  runs  off,  and  we  lose  the  small  advantage  we  might 
have  by  his  knowledge  ;  if  you  use  your  baton,  he  rewards 
you  with  the  stab  of  a  knife,  for  such  is  the  humor  of  a  re- 
vengeful Lombard.  Either  way,  you  are  marred  instead  of 
helped.     Hark  thee  hither,  my  boy,"  he  continued,  in  his 


ANNE  OF  GEIEBSTEIN  9 

indifferent  Italian,  '^  be  not  afraid  of  that  hot  youngster, 
whom  I  will  not  permit  to  injure  thee  ;  but  tell  me,  if  thou 
canst,  the  names  of  the  villages  by  which  we  are  to  make  our 
journey  to-day  ? '' 

The  gentle  mode  in  which  the  elder  traveler  spoke  reas- 
sured the  lad,  who  had  been  somewhat  alarmed  at  the  harsh 
tone  and  menacing  expressions  of  his  younger  companion  ; 
and  he  poured  forth,  in  his  patois,  a  flood  of  names,  in 
which  the  German  guttural  sounds  were  strangely  inter- 
mixed with  the  soft  accents  of  the  Italian,  but  which  carried 
to  the  hearer  no  intelligible  information  concerning  the  ob- 
ject of  his  question  ;  so  that,  at  length,  he  was  forced  to 
conclude,  "  Even  lead  on,  in  Our  Lady's  name,  or  in  St. 
Antonio's,  if  you  like  it  better ;  we  shall  but  lose  time,  I 
see,  in  trying  to  understand  each  other/' 

They  moved  on  as  before,  with  this  difference,  that  the 
guide,  leading  the  mule,  now  went  first,  and  was  followed 
by  the  other  two,  whose  motions  he  had  formerly  directed  by 
calling  to  them  from  behind.  The  clouds  meantime  became 
thicker  and  thicker,  and  the  mist,  which  had  at  first  been  a 
thin  vapor,  began  now  to  descend  in  the  form  of  a  small 
thick  rain,  which  gathered  like  dew  upon  the  capotes  of  the 
travelers.  Distant  rustling  and  groaning  sounds  were  heard 
among  the  remote  mountains,  similar  to  those  by  which  the 
Evil  Spirit  of  Mount  Pilatre  had  seemed  to  announce  the 
storm.  The  boy  again  pressed  his  companions  to  advance, 
but  at  the  same  time  threw  impediments  in  the  way  of  their 
doing  so,  by  the  slowness  and  indecision  which  he  showed  in 
leading  them  on. 

Having  proceeded  in  this  manner  for  three  or  four  miles, 
which  uncertainty  rendered  doubly  tedious,  the  travelers 
were  at  length  engaged  in  a  narrow  path,  running  along  the 
verge  of  a  precipice.  Beneath  was  water,  but  of  what  de- 
scription they  could  not  ascertain.  The  wind,  indeed,  which 
began  to  be  felt  in  sudden  gusts,  sometimes  swept  aside  the 
mist  so  completely  as  to  show  the  waves  glimmering  below  ; 
but  whether  they  were  those  of  the  same  lake  on  which  their 
morning  journey  had  commenced,  whether  it  was  another 
and  separate  sheet  of  water  of  a  similar  character,  or  whether 
it  was  a  river  or  large  brook,  the  view  afforded  was  too  in- 
distinct to  determine.  Thus  far  was  certain,  that  they  were 
not  on  the  shores  of  the  Lake  of  Lucerne,  where  it  displays 
its  usual  expanse  of  waters  ;  for  the  same  hurricane  gusts 
which  showed  them  water  in  the  bottom  of  the  glen  gave 
them  a  transient  view  of  the  opposite  side,  at  what  exact 


10  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

distance  they  could  not  well  discern,  but  near  enough  to 
show  tall  abrupt  rocks  and  shaggy  pine  trees,  here  united  in 
groups,  and  there  singly  anchored  among  the  cliffs  which 
overhung  the  water.  This  was  a  more  distinct  landscape 
than  the  farther  side  of  the  lake  would  have  offered,  had 
they  been  on  the  right  road. 

Hitherto  the  path,  though  steep  and  rugged,  was  plainly 
enough  indicated,  and  showed  traces  of  having  been  used 
both  by  riders  and  foot  passengers.  But  suddenly,  as  An- 
tonio with  the  loaded  mule  had  reached  a  projecting  emi- 
nence, around  the  peak  of  which  the  path  made  a  sharp  turn, 
he  stopped  short,  with  his  usual  exclamation,  addressed  to 
his  patron  saint.  It  appeared  to  Arthur  that  the  mule  shared 
the  terrors  of  the  guide  :  for  it  started  back,  put  forwards 
its  fore  feet  separate  from  each  other,  and  seemed,  by  the 
attitude  which  it  assumed,  to  intimate  a  determination  to 
resist  every  proposal  to  advance,  at  the  same  time  expressing 
horror  and  fear  at  the  prospect  which  lay  before  it. 

Arthur  pressed  forward,  not  only  from  curiosity,  but  that 
he  might  if  possible  bear  the  brunt  of  any  danger  before  his 
father  came  up  to  share  it.  In  less  time  than  we  have  taken 
to  tell  the  story,  the  young  man  stood  beside  Antonio  and 
the  mule,  upon  a  platform  of  rock  on  which  the  road  seemed 
absolutely  to  terminate,  and  from  the  farther  side  of  which 
a  precipice  sunk  sheer  down,  to  what  depth  the  mist  did 
not  permit  him  to  discern,  but  certainly  uninterrupted  for 
more  than  three  hundred  feet. 

The  blank  expression  which  overcast  the  visage  of  the 
younger  traveler,  and  traces  of  which  might  be  discerned  in 
the  physiognomy  of  the  beast  of  burden,  announced  alarm 
and  mortification  at  this  unexpected,  and,  as  it  seemed,  in- 
surmountable, obstacle.  Nor  did  the  looks  of  the  father, 
who  presently  after  came  up  to  the  same  spot,  convey  either 
hope  or  comfort.  He  stood  with  the  others  gazing  on  the 
misty  gulf  beneath  them,  and  looking  all  around,  but  in 
vain,  for  some  continuation  of  the  path,  which  certainly  had 
never  been  originally  designed  to  terminate  in  this  summary 
manner.  As  they  stood  uncertain  what  to  do  next,  the  son 
in  vain  attempting  to  discover  some  mode  of  passing  onward, 
and  the  father  about  to  propose  that  they  should  return  by 
the  road  which  had  brought  them  hither,  a  loud  howl  of  the 
wind,  more  wild  than  they  had  yet  heard,  swept  down  the 
valley.  All  being  aware  of  the  danger  of  being  hurled  from 
the  precarious  station  which  they  occupied,  snatched  at 
pushes  and  rocks  by  which  to  secure  themselves,  and  even 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  11 

the  poor  mule  seemed  to  steady  itself  in  order  to  with- 
stand the  approaching  hurricane.  The  gust  came  with  such 
unexpected  fury,  that  it  appeared  to  the  travelers  to  shake 
the  very  rock  on  which  they  stood,  and  would  have  swept 
them  from  its  surface  like  so  many  dry  leaves,  had  it  not 
been  for  the  momentary  precautions  which  they  had  taken 
for  their  safety.  But  as  the  wind  rushed  down  the  glen,  it 
completely  removed  for  the  space  of  three  or  four  minutes 
the  veil  of  mist  which  former  gusts  had  only  served  to  agitate 
or  discompose,  and  showed  them  the  nature  and  cause  of  the 
interruption  which  they  had  met  with  so  unexpectedly. 

The  rapid  but  correct  eye  of  Arthur  was  then  able  to 
ascertain  that  the  path,  after  leaving  the  platform  of  rock 
on  which  they  stood,  had  originally  passed  upwards  in  the 
same  direction  along  the  edge  of  a  steep  bank  of  earth,  which 
had  then  formed  the  upper  covering  of  a  stratum  of  pre- 
cipitous rocks.  But  it  had  chanced,  in  some  of  the  con- 
vulsions of  nature  which  take  place  in  those  wild  regions, 
where  she  works  upon  a  scale  so  formidable,  that  the  earth 
had  made  a  slip,  or  almost  a  precipitous  descent,  from  the 
rock,  and  been  hurled  downwards  with  the  path,  which  was 
traced  along  the  top,  and  w^ith  bushes,  trees,  or  whatever 
grew  upon  it,  into  the  channel  of  the  stream  ;  for  such  they 
could  now  discern  the  water  beneath  them  to  be,  and  not  a 
lake,  or  an  arm  of  a  lake,  as  they  had  hitherto  supposed. 

The  immediate  cause  of  this  phenomenon  might  probably 
have  been  an  earthquake,  not  unfrequent  in  that  country. 
The  bank  of  earth,  now  a  confused  mass  of  ruins  inverted  in 
its  fall,  showed  some  trees  growing  in  a  horizontal  position, 
and  others  which,  having  pitched  on  their  heads  in  their 
descent,  were  at  once  inverted  and  shattered  to  pieces,  and 
lay  a  sport  to  the  streams  of  the  river  which  they  had  here- 
tofore covered  with  gloomy  shadow.  The  gaunt  precipice 
which  remained  behind,  like  the  skeleton  of  some  huge 
monster  divested  of  its  flesh,  formed  the  wall  of  a  fearful 
abyss,  resembling  the  face  of  a  newly-wrought  quarry,  more 
dismal  of  aspect  from  the  rawness  of  its  recent  formation, 
and  from  its  being  as  yet  uncovered  with  any  of  the  vegeta- 
tion with  which  nature  speedily  mantles  over  the  bare 
surface  even  of  her  sternest  crags  and  precipices. 

Besides  remarking  these  appearances,  which  tended  to 
show  that  this  interruption  of  the  road  had  been  of  recent 
occurrence,  Arthur  was  able  to  observe,  on  the  further  side 
of  the  river,  higher  up  the  valley,  and  rising  out  of  the  pine 
forests,  interspersed  with  rocks,  a  square  building  of  con- 


12  WAVEBLET  NOVELS, 

iiderable  height,  like  the  ruins  of  a  Gothic  tower.  He 
pointed  out  this  remarkable  object  to  Antonio,  and  demanded 
if  he  knew  it,  justly  conjecturing  that,  from  the  peculiarity 
of  the  site,  it  was  a  landmark  not  easily  to  be  forgotten  by 
any  who  had  seen  it  before.  Accordingly,  it  was  gladly  and 
promptly  recognized  by  the  lad,  who  called  cheerfully  out 
that  the  place  was  Geierstein — that  is,  as  he  explained  it, 
the  Rock  of  the  Vultures.  He  knew  it,  he  said,  by  the  old 
tower,  as  well  as  by  a  huge  pinnacle  of  rock  which  arose 
near  it,  almost  in  the  form  of  a  steeple,  to  the  top  of  which 
the  lammergeier  (one  of  the  largest  birds  of  prey  known  to 
exist)  had  in  former  days  transported  the  child  of  an  ancient 
lord  of  the  castle.  He  proceeded  to  recount  the  vow  which 
was  made  by  the  knight  of  Geierstein  to  Our  Lady  of 
Einsiedlen  ;  and,  while  he  spoke,  the  castle,  rocks,  woods, 
and  precipices  again  faded  in  mist.  But  as  he  concluded 
his  wonderful  narrative  with  the  miracle  which  restored  the 
infant  again  to  its  father's  arms,  he  cried  out  suddenly, 
"  Look  to  yourselves — the  storm  ! — the  storm  ! "  It  came 
accordingly,  and,  sweeping  the  mist  before  it,  again  bestowed 
on  the  travelers  a  view  of  the  horrors  around  them. 

"Ay  ! "  quoth  Antonio,  triumphantly,  as  the  gust  abated, 
"  old  Pontius  loves  little  to  hear  of  Our  Lady  of  Einsiedlen  ; 
but  she  will  keep  her  own  with  him.     Ave  Maria  ! " 

''  That  tower,''  said  the  young  traveler,  ^'  seems  unin- 
habited. I  can  descry  no  smoke,  and  the  battlement  appears 
ruinous." 

"  It  has  not  been  inhabited  for  many  a  day,"  answered  the 
guide.  "  But  I  would  I  were  at  it,  for  all  that.  Honest 
Arnold  Biederman,  the  landamman  (chief  magistrate)  of 
the  canton  of  Unterwalden,  dwells  near,  and  I  warrant  you 
distressed  strangers  will  not  want  the  best  that  cupboard  and 
cellar  can  find  them  wherever  he  holds  rule." 

"  I  have  heard  of  him,"  said  the  elder  traveler,  whom 
Antonio  had  been  taught  to  call  Seignor  Philipson — ''  a  good 
and  hospitable  man,  and  one  who  enjoys  deserved  weight 
with  his  countrymen." 

"You  have  spoken  him  right,  seignor,"  answered  the 
guide ;  "and  I  would  we  could  reach  his  house,  where  you 
should  be  sure  of  hospitable  treatment,  and  a  good  direction 
for  your  next  day's  journey.  But  how  we  are  to  get  to  the 
Vulture's  Castle,  unless  we  had  wings  like  the  vulture,  is  a 
question  hard  to  answer." 

Arthur  replied  by  a  daring  proposal,  which  the  reader 
will  find  in  the  next  chapter. 


CHAPTER  II 

Away  with  me. 
The  clouds  grow  thicker — there — now  lean  on  me. 
Place  your  foot  here — here,  take  this  staff,  and  cling 
A  moment  to  that  shrub — now,  give  me  your  hand. 

The  chalet  will  be  gained  in  half  an  hour. 

Manfred. 

After  surveying  the  desolate  scene  as  accurately  as  the 
stormy  state  of  the  atmosphere  would  permit,  the  younger 
of  the  travelers  observed,  '^  In  any  other  country  I  should 
say  the  tempest  begins  to  abate,  but  what  to  expect  in  this 
land  of  desolation  it  were  rash  to  decide.  If  the  apostate 
spirit  of  Pilate  be  actually  on  the  blast,  these  lingering  and 
more  distant  howls  seem  to  intimate  that  he  is  returning  to 
his  place  of  punishment.  The  pathway  has  sunk  with  the 
ground  on  which  it  was  traced  :  I  can  see  part  of  it  lying 
down  in  the  abyss,  marking,  as  with  a  streak  of  clay,  yonder 
mass  of  earth  and  stone.  But  I  think  it  possible,  with  your 
permission,  my  father,  that  I  could  still  scramble  forward 
along  the  edge  of  the  precipice,  till  I  come  in  sight  of  the 
habitation  which  the  lad  tells  us  of.  If  there  be  actually 
such  a  one,  there  must  be  an  access  to  it  somewhere  ;  and  if 
I  cannot  find  the  path  out,  -I  can  at  least  make  a  signal  to 
those  who  dwell  near  the  Vulture^s  Nest  yonder,  and  obtain 
some  friendly  guidance. '' 

"  I  cannot  consent  to  your  incurring  such  a  risk,'^  said  his 
father  ;  "let  the  lad  go  forward,  if  he  can  and  will.  He  is 
mountain-bred,  and  I  will  reward  him  richly.^' 

But  Antonio  declined  the  proposal  absolutely  and  decid- 
edly. '^  I  am  mountain-bred,^'  he  said,  "but  I  am  no 
chamois-hunter  ;  and  I  have  no  wings  to  transport  me  from 
cliff  to  cliff,  like  a  raven — gold  is  not  worth  life." 

"  And  God  forbid,''  said  Seignor  Philipson,  "  that  I  should 
tempt  thee  to  weigh  them  against  each  other  !  Go  on,  then, 
my  son — I  follow  thee." 

"  Under  your  favor,  dearest  sir,  no,"  replied  the  young 
man ;  "  it  is  enough  to  endanger  the  life  of  one,  and  mine, 

13 


14  WAVEELEY  NOVELS 

far  the  most  worthless,  should,  by  all  the  rules  of  wisdom 
as  well  as  nature,  be  put  first  in  hazard." 

^'  No,  Arthur,'^  replied  his  father,  in  a  determined  voice 
— '^  no,  my  son  :  I  have  survived  much,  but  I  will  not  sur- 
vive thee." 

''  I  fear  not  for  the  issue,  father,  if  you  permit  me  to  go 
alone  ;  but  I  cannot — dare  not — undertake  a  task  so  perilous, 
if  you  persist  in  attempting  to  share  it,  with  no  better  aid 
than  mine.  While  I  endeavored  to  make  a  new  advance,  I 
should  be  ever  looking  back  to  see  how  you  might  attain  the 
station  which  I  was  about  to  leave.  And  bethink  you, 
dearest  father,  that,  if  I  fall,  I  fall  an  unregarded  thing,  of 
as  little  moment  as  the  stone  or  tree  which  has  toppled  head- 
long down  before  me.  But  you — should  your  foot  slip  or 
your  hand  fail,  bethink  you  what  and  how  much  must  needs 
fall  with  you  !  " 

"  Thou  art  right,  my  child,"  said  the  father.  ''  I  still 
have  that  which  binds  me  to  life,  even  though  I  were  to  lose 
in  thee  all  that  is  dear  to  me.  Our  Lady  and  Our  Lady^s 
knight  bless  thee  and  prosper  thee,  my  child  !  Thy  foot  is 
young,  thy  hand  is  strong  ;  thou  hast  not  climbed  Plynlim- 
mon  in  vain.  Be  bold,  but  be  wary ;  remember  there  is  a 
man  who,  failing  thee,  has  but  one  act  of  duty  to  bind  him 
to  the  earth,  and,  that  discharged,  who  will  soon  follow  thee." 

The  young  man  accordingly  prepared  for  his  journey,  and, 
stripping  himself  of  his  cumbrous  cloak,  showed  his  well- 
proportioned  limbs  in  a  jerkin  of  gray  cloth,  which  sat  close 
to  his  person.  The  father's  resolution  gave  way  when  his 
son  turned  round  to  bid  him  farewell.  He  recalled  his  per- 
mission, and  in  a  peremptory  tone  forbade  him  to  proceed. 
But  without  listening  to  the  prohibition,  Arthur  had  com- 
menced his  perilous  adventure.  Descending  from  the  plat- 
form on  which  he  stood,  by  the  boughs  of  an  old  ash-tree 
which  thrust  itself  out  of  the  cleft  of  a  rock,  the  youth  was 
enabled  to  gain,  though  at  great  risk,  a  narrow  ledge,  the 
very  brink  of  the  precipice,  by  creeping  along  which  he 
hoped  to  pass  on  till  he  made  himself  heard  or  seen  from  the 
habitation,  of  whose  existence  the  guide  had  informed  him. 
His  situation,  as  he  pursued  this  bold  purpose,  appeared  so 
precarious,  that  even  the  hired  attendant  hardly  dared  to 
draw  breath  as  he  gazed  on  him.  The  ledge  which  supported 
him  seemed  to  grow  so  narrow  as  he  passed  along  it  as  to 
become  altogether  invisible,  while  sometimes  with  his  face 
to  the  precipice,  sometimes  looking  forward,  sometimes 
glancing  his  eyes  upward,  but  never  venturing  to  cast  a  look 


I 


i 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  15 

below,  lest  his  brain  should  grow  giddy  at  a  sight  so  appal- 
ling, he  wound  his  way  onward.  To  his  father  and  the  at- 
tendant, who  beheld  his  progress,  it  was  less  that  of  a  man 
advancing  in  the  ordinary  manner,  and  resting  by  aught  con- 
nected with  the  firm  earth,  than  that  of  an  insect  crawling 
along  the  face  of  a  perpendicular  wall,  of  whose  progressive 
movement  we  are  indeed  sensible,  but  cannot  perceive  the 
means  of  its  support.  And  bitterly,  most  bitterly,  did  the 
miserable  parent  now  lament  that  he  had  not  persisted  in  his 
purpose  to  encounter  the  baffling,  and  even  perilous,  measure 
of  retracing  his  steps  to  the  habitation  of  the  preceding 
night.  He  should  then,  at  least,  have  partaken  the  fate  of 
the  son  of  his  love. 

Meanwhile,  the  young  man's  spirits  were  strongly  braced 
for  the  performance  of  his  perilous  task.  He  laid  a  powerful 
restraint  on  his  imagination,  which  in  general  was  sufficiently 
active,  and  refused  to  listen,  even  for  an  instant,  to  any  of 
the  horrible  insinuations  by  which  fancy  augments  actual 
danger.  He  endeavored  manfully  to  reduce  all  around  him 
to  the  scale  of  right  reason,  as  the  best  support  of  true  cour- 
age. *'  This  ledge  of  rock,^'  he  urged  to  himself,  "  is  but 
narrow,  yet  it  has  breadth  enough  to  support  me  ;  these 
cliffs  and  crevices  in  the  surface  are  small  and  distant,  but 
the  one  affords  as  secure  a  resting-place  to  my  feet,  the  other 
as  available  a  grasp  to  my  hands,  as  if  I  stood  on  a  platform 
of  a  cubit  broad,  and  rested  my  arm  on  a  balustrade  of  marble. 
My  safety,  therefore,  depends  on  myself.  If  I  move  with 
decision,  step  firmly,  and  hold  fast,  what  signifies  how  near 
I  am  to  the  mouth  of  an  abyss  ?  " 

Thus  estimating  the  extent  of  his  danger  by  the  measure 
of  sound  sense  and  reality,  and  supported  by  some  degree  of 
practise  in  such  exercise,  the  brave  youth  went  forward  on 
his  awful  journey,  step  by  step,  winning  his  way  with  a  cau- 
tion, and  fortitude,  and  presence  of  mind  which  alone  could 
have  saved  him  from  instant  destruction.  At  length  he 
gained  a  point  where  a  projecting  rock  formed  the  angle  of 
the  precipice,  so  far  as  it  had  been  visible  to  him  from  the 
platform.  This,  therefore,  was  the  critical  point  of  his  un- 
dertaking ;  but  it  was  also  the  most  perilous  part  of  it.  The 
rock  projected  more  than  six  feet  forward  over  the  torrent, 
which  he  heard  raging  at  the  depth  of  a  hundred  yards 
beneath,  with  a  noise  like  subterranean  thunder.  He  exam- 
ined the  spot  with  the  utmost  care,  and  was  led,  by  the 
existence  of  shrubs,  grass,  and  even  stunted  trees,  to  believe 
that  this  rock  marked  the  farthest  extent  of  the  slip  or  slide 


16  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

of  earth,  and  that,  could  he  but  turn  round  the  angle  of 
which  it  was  the  termination,  he  might  hope  to  attain  the 
continuation  of  the  path  which  had  been  so  strangely  inter- 
rupted by  this  convulsion  of  nature.  But  the  crag  jutted 
out  so  much  as  to  afford  no  possiblility  of  passing  either 
under  or  around  it ;  and  as  it  rose  several  feet  above  the 
position  which  Arthur  had  attained,  it  was  no  easy  matter 
to  climb  over  it.  This  was,  however,  the  course  which  he 
chose,  as  the  only  mode  of  surmounting  what  he  hoped 
might  prove  the  last  obstacle  to  his  voyage  of  discovery.  A 
projecting  tree  afforded  him  the  means  of  raising  and  swing- 
ing himself  up  to  the  top  of  the  crag.  But  he  had  scarcely 
planted  himself  on  it,  had  scarcely  a  moment  to  congratulate 
himself  on  seeing,  amid  a  wild  chaos  of  cliffs  and  wood,  the 
gloomy  ruins  of  Geierstein,  with  smoke  arising,  and  indicat- 
ing something  like  a  human  habitation  beside  them,  when, 
to  his  extreme  terror,  he  felt  the  huge  cliff  on  which  he 
stood  tremble,  stoop  slowly  forward,  and  gradually  sink 
from  its  position.  Projecting  as  it  was,  and  shaken  as  its 
equilibrium  had  been  by  the  recent  earthquake,  it  lay  now 
so  insecurely  poised,  that  its  balance  was  entirely  destroyed 
even  by  the  addition  of  the  young  man^s  weight. 

Aroused  by  the  imminence  of  the  danger,  Arthur,  by  an 
instinctive  attempt  at  self-preservation,  drew  cautiously 
back  from  the  falling  crag  into  the  tree  by  which  he  had 
ascended,  and  turned  his  head  back  as  if  spellbound,  to 
watch  the  descent  of  the  fatal  rock  from  which  he  had  just  re- 
treated. It  tottered  for  two  or  three  seconds,  as  if  uncer- 
tain which  way  to  fall ;  and  had  it  taken  a  sidelong  direction, 
must  have  dashed  the  adventurer  from  his  place  of  refuge, 
or  borne  both  the  tree  and  him  headlong  down  into  the  river. 
After  a  moment  of  horrible  uncertainty,  the  power  of 
gravitation  determined  a  direct  and  forward  descent.  Down 
went  the  huge  fragment,  which  must  have  weighed  at  least 
twenty  ton,  rending  and  splintering  in  its  precipitate  course 
the  trees  and  bushes  which  it  encountered,  and  settling  at 
length  in  the  channel  of  the  torrent,  with  a  din  equal  to  the 
discharge  of  a  hundred  pieces  of  artillery.  The  sound  was 
re-echoed  from  bank  to  bank,  from  precipice  to  precipice, 
with  emulative  thunders  ;  nor  was  the  tumult  silent  till  it 
rose  into  the  region  of  eternal  snows,  which,  equally  insensi- 
ble to  terrestrial  sounds  and  unfavorable  to  animal  life, 
heard  the  roar  in  their  majestic  solitude,  but  suffered  it  to 
die  away  without  a  responsive  voice. 

What,  in  the  meanwhile,  were  the  thoughts  of  the  dis« 


ANNE  OF  GEIEESTEIN  17 

tracted  father,  who  saw  the  ponderous  rock  descend,  but 
could  not  mark  whether  his  only  son  had  borne  it  company 
in  its  dreadful  fall  !  His  first  impulse  was  to  rush  forward 
along  the  face  of  the  precipice  which  he  had  seen  Arthur  so 
lately  traverse ;  and  when  the  lad  Antonio  withheld  him, 
by  throwing  his  arms  around  him,  he  turned  on  the  guide 
with  the  fury  of  a  bear  which  had  been  robbed  of  her  cubs. 

^^  Unhand  me,  base  peasant, ''  he  exclaimed, ''  or  thou  diest 
on  the  spot  ! '' 

''  Alas  !  "  said  the  poor  boy,  dropping  on  his  knees  before 
him,  '^I  too  have  a  father  \" 

The  appeal  went  to  the  heart  of  the  traveler,  who  instantly 
let  the  lad  go,  and,  holding  up  his  hands  and  lifting  his 
eyes  towards  heaven,  said,  in  accents  of  the  deepest  agony, 
mingled  with  devout  resignation,  '^  Fiat  voluntas  tua!  He 
was  my  last,  and  loveliest,  and  best  beloved,  and  most  worthy 
of  my  love  ;  and  yonder,^'  he  added — '^^  yonder  over  the  glen 
soar  the  birds  of  prey  who  are  to  feast  on  his  young  blood. 
But  I  will  see  him  once  more,''  exclaimed  the  miserable 
parent,  as  the  huge  carrion  vulture  floated  past  him  on  the 
thick  air — ^'^I  will  see  my  Arthur  once  more,  ere  the  wolf 
and  the  eagle  mangle  him — I  will  see  all  of  him  that  earth 
still  holds.  Detain  me  not ;  but  abide  here,  and  watch  me 
as  I  advance.  If  I  fall,  as  is  most  likely,  I  charge  you  to 
take  the  sealed  papers  which  you  will  find  in  the  valise,  and 
carry  them  to  the  person  to  whom  they  are  addressed,  with 
the  least  possible  delay.  There  is  money  enough  in  the 
purse  to  bury  me  with  my  poor  boy,  and  to  cause  masses  be 
said  for  our  souls,  and  yet  leave  you  a  rich  recompense  for 
your  journey.'' 

The  honest  Swiss  lad,  obtuse  in  his  understanding,  but 
kind  and  faithful  in  his  disposition,  blubbered  as  his  em- 
ployer spoke,  and,  afraid  to  oifer  farther  remonstrance  or 
opposition,  saw  his  temporary  master  prepare  himself  to 
traverse  the  same  fatal  precipice  over  the  verge  of  which 
his  ill-fated  son  had  seemed  to  pass  to  the  fate  which,  with 
all  the  wildness  of  a  parent's  anguish,  his  father  was  hasten- 
ing to  share. 

Suddenly  there  was  heard,  from  beyond  the  fatal  angle 
from  which  the  mass  of  stone  had  been  displaced  by  Arthur's 
rash  ascent,  the  loud  hoarse  sound  of  one  of  those  huge  horns 
made  out  of  the  spoils  of  the  urus,  or  wild  bull,  of  Switzer- 
land, which  in  ancient  times  announced  the  terrors  of  the 
charge  of  these  mountaineers,  and,  indeed,  served  them  iu 
war  instead  of  all  musical  instruments. 


IS  WAVERLET  NOVELS 

^'Hold,  sir — hold  !'*  exclaimed  the  Grison,  ^'yonder  is  a 
Bignal  from  Geierstein.  Some  one  will  presently  come  to 
our  assistance,  and  show  us  the  safer  way  to  seek  for  your 
son.  And  look  you — at  yon  green  bush  that  is  glim- 
mering through  the  mist,  St.  Antonio  preserve  me,  as  I  see 
a  white  cloth  displayed  there  I  It  is  just  beyond  the  point 
where  the  rock  fell." 

The  father  endeavored  to  fix  his  eyes  on  the  spot,  but  they 
filled  so  fast  with  tears,  that  they  could  not  discern  the  ob- 
ject which  the  guide  pointed  out.  *'  It  is  all  in  vain/'  he 
said,  dashing  the  tears  from  his  eyes  :  "  I  shall  never  see 
more  of  him  than  his  lifeless  remains.'' 

^'You  will — ^you  will  see  him  in  life/'  said  the  Grison. 
*^  St.  Antonio  wills  it  so.     See,  the  white  cloth  waves  again.'* 

"  Some  remnant  of  his  garments,"  said  the  despairing 
father — "some  wretched  memorial  of  his  fate.  No,  my  eyes 
see  it  not.  I  have  beheld  the  fall  of  my  house  ;  would  that 
the  vultures  of  these  crags  had  rather  torn  them  from  their 
sockets  ! " 

**  Yet  look  again/*  said  the  Swiss  ;  "the  cloth  hangs  not 
loose  upon  a  bough  :  I  can  see  that  it  is  raised  on  the  end  of 
a  staff,  and  is  distinctly  waved  to  and  fro.  Your  son  makes 
a  signal  that  he  is  safe/' 

"  And  if  it  be  so,"  said  the  traveler,  clasping  his  hands 
together,  "blessed  be  the.  eyes  that  see  it,  and  the  tongue 
that  tells  it  !  If  we  find  my  son,  and  find  him  alive,  this  day 
shall  be  a  lucky  one  for  thee  too." 

"Nay,"answered  the  lad,  "  I  only  ask  that  you  will  abide 
still,  and  act  by  counsel,  and  I  will  hold  myself  quit  for  my 
services.  Only,  it  is  not  creditable  to  an  honest  lad  to  have 
people  lose  themselves  by  their  own  wilfulness  ;  for  the 
blame,  after  all,  is  sure  to  fall  upon  the  guide,  as  if  he  could 
prevent  old  Pontius  from  shaking  the  mist  from  his  brow, 
or  banks  of  earth  from  slipping  down  into  the  valley  at  a 
time,  or  young  hare-brained  gallants  from  walking  upon 
precipices  as  narrow  as  the  edge  of  a  knife,  or  madmen, 
whose  gray  hairs  might  make  them  wiser,  from  drawing  dag- 
gers like  bravos  in  Lombardy/' 

Thus  the  guide  ran  on,  and  in  that  vein  he  might  have 
long  continued,  for  Seignor  Philipson  heard  him  not.  Each 
throb  of  his  pulse,  each  thought  of  his  heart,  was  directed 
towards  the  object  which  the  lad  referred  to  as  a  signal  of 
his  son's  safety.  He  became  at  length  satisfied  that  the 
signal  was  actually  waved  by  a  human  hand  ;  and,  as  eager 
in  the  glow  of  reviving  hope  as  he  had  of  late  been  undej 


ANNE  OF  GEIER STEIN  19 

the  influence  of  desperate  grief,  he  again  prepared  for  the 
attempt  of  advancing  towards  his  son,  and  assisting  him,  if 
possible,  in  regaining  a  place  of  safety.  But  the  entreaties 
and  reiterated  assurances  of  his  guide  induced  him  to  pause. 

"  Are  you  fit/' he  said,  ''to  go  on  the  crag?  Can  you 
repeat  your  credo  and  ave  without  missing  or  misplacing  a 
word  ?  for  without  that  our  old  men  say  your  neck,  had  you 
a  score  of  them,  would  be  in  danger.  Is  your  eye  clear,  and 
your  feet  firm  ?  I  trow  the  one  streams  like  a  fountain,  and 
the  other  shakes  like  the  aspen  which  overhangs  it !  Rest 
here  till  those  arrive  who  are  far  more  able  to  give  your  son 
help  than  either  you  or  I  are.  I  judge,  by  the  fashion  of 
his  blowing,  that  yonder  is  the  horn  of  the  goodman  of 
Geierstein,  Arnold  Biederman.  He  hath  seen  your  song's 
danger,  and  is  even  now  providing  for  his  safety  and  ours. 
There  are  cases  in  which  the  aid  of  one  stranger,  well  ac- 
quainted with  the  country,  is  worth  that  of  three  brothers 
who  know  not  the  crags.'' 

''  But  if  yonder  horn  really  sounded  a  signal,''  said  tne 
traveler,  "  now  chanced  it  that  my  son  replied  not  ?" 

''And  if  he  did  so,  as  is  most  likely  he  did,"  rejoined  the 
Grison,  "  how  should  we  have  heard  him  ?  The  bugle  of 
Uri  itself  sounded  amid  these  horrible  dins  of  water  and  tem- 
pest like  the  reed  of  a  shepherd  boy  ;  and  how  think  you  we 
should  hear  the  halloo  of  a  man  ?  " 

"  Yet,  methinks,"  said  Seignor  Philipson,  "I  do  hear 
something  amid  this  roar  of  elements  which  is  like  a  human 
voice  ;  but  it  is  not  Arthur's.'* 

"  I  wot  well,  no,"  answered  the  Grison :  "  that  is  a 
woman's  voice.  The  maidens  will  converse  with  each  other 
in  that  manner  from  cliff  to  cliff,  through  storm  and  tem- 
pest, were  there  a  mile  between." 

"  Now,  Heaven  be  praised  for  this  providential  relief ! " 
said  Seignor  Philipson  ;  "  I  trust  we  shall  yet  see  this  dread- 
ful day  safely  ended.     I  will  halloo  in  answer." 

He  attempted  to  do  so,  but,  inexperienced  in  the  art  of 
making  himself  heard  in  such  a  country,  he  pitched  his  voice 
in  the  same  key  with  that  of  the  roar  of  wave  and  wind  ;  so 
that,  even  at  twenty  yards  from  the  place  where  he  was  speak- 
ing, it  must  have  been  totally  indistinguishable  from  that  of 
the  elemental  war  around  them.  The  lad  smiled  at  his 
patron's  ineffectual  attempts,  and  then  raised  his  voice  him- 
self in  a  high,  wild,  and  prolonged  scream,  which,  while 
produced  with  apparently  much  less  effort  than  that  of  the 
Englishman,  was,  neverthless,  a  distinct  sound,  separated 


80  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

from  others  by  the  key  to  which  it  was  pitched,  and  waa 
probably  audible  to  a  very  considerable  distance.  It  was 
presently  answered  by  distant  cries  of  the  same  nature, 
which  gradually  approached  the  platform,  bringing  renovated 
hope  to  the  anxious  traveler. 

If  the  distress  of  the  father  rendered  his  condition  an  ob- 
ject of  deep  compassion,  that  of  the  son,  at  the  same  mo- 
ment, was  sufficiently  perilous.  We  have  already  stated  that 
Arthur  Philipson  had  commenced  his  precarious  journey 
along  the  precipice  with  all  the  coolness,  resolution,  and 
unshaken  determination  of  mind  which  was  most  essential 
to  a  task  where  all  must  depend  upon  firmness  of  nerve. 
But  the  formidable  accident  which  checked  his  onward  prog- 
ress was  of  a  character  so  dreadful  as  made  him  feel  all  the 
bitterness  of  a  death  instant,  horrible,  and,  as  it  seemed, 
inevitable.  The  solid  rock  had  trembled  and  rent  beneath 
his  footsteps,  and  although,  by  an  effort  rather  mechanical 
than  voluntary,  he  had  withdrawn  himself  from  the  instant 
ruin  attending  its  descent,  he  felt  as  if  the  better  part  of 
him,  his  firmness  of  mind  and  strength  of  body,  had  been 
rent  away  with  the  descending  rock,  as  it  fell  thundering, 
with  clouds  of  dust  and  smoke,  into  the  torrents  and  whirl- 
pools of  the  vexed  gulf  beneath.  In  fact,  the  seaman  swept 
from  the  deck  of  a  wrecked  vessel,  drenched  in  the  waves, 
and  battered  against  the  rocks  on  the  shore,  does  not  differ 
more  from  the  same  mariner  when,  at  the  commencement 
of  the  gale,  he  stood  upon  the  deck  of  his  favorite  ship, 
proud  of  her  strength  and  his  own  dexterity,  than  Arthur, 
when  commencing  his  journey,  from  the  same  Arthur,  while 
clingingto  the  decayed  trunk  of  an  old  tree,  from  which,  sus- 
pended between  heaven  and  earth,  he  saw  the  fall  of  the 
crag  which  he  had  so  nearly  accompanied.  The  effects  of 
his  terror,  indeed,  were  physical  as  well  as  moral,  for  a  thou- 
sand colors  played  before  his  eyes ;  he  was  attacked  by  a 
sick  dizziness,  and  deprived  at  once  of  the  obedience  of  those 
limbs  which  had  hitherto  served  him  so  admirably  ;  his  arms 
and  hands,  as  if  no  longer  at  his  own  command  clung  to  the 
branches  of  the  tree,  with  a  cramp-like  tenacity  over  which  he 
seemed  to  possess  no  power,  and  now  trembled  in  a  state  of 
such  complete  nervous  relaxation  as  led  him  to  fear  that 
they  were  becoming  unable  to  support  him  longer  in  his 
position. 

An  incident,  in  itself  trifling,  added  to  the  distress  occa- 
sioned by  this  alienation  of  his  powers.  All  living  things  in 
the  neighborhood  had,  as  might  be  supposed,  been  startled 


ANNE  OF  GEIEBSTEIN  2\ 

by  tlie  tremendous  fall  to  which  his  progress  had  given  oc- 
casion. Flights  of  owls,  bats,  and  other  birds  of  darkness, 
compelled  to  betake  themselves  to  the  air,  had  lost  no  time 
in  returning  into  their  bowers  of  ivy,  or  the  harbor  afforded 
them  by  the  rifts  and  holes  of  the  neighboring  rocks.  One 
of  this  ill-omened  flight  chanced  to  be  a  lammergeier,  or 
Alpine  vulture,  a  bird  larger  and  more  voracious  than  the 
eagle  himself,  and  which  Arthur  had  not  been  accustomed 
to  see,  or  at  least  to  look  upon  closely.  With  the  in- 
stinct of  most  birds  of  prey,  it  is  the  custom  of  this  crea- 
ture, when  gorged  with  food,  to  assume  some  station  of  in- 
accessible security,  and  there  remain  stationary  and  motion- 
less for  days  together,  till  the  work  of  digestion  has  been  ac- 
complished, and  activity  returns  with  the  pressure  of  ap- 
petite. Disturbed  from  such  a  state  of  repose,  one  of  these 
terrific  birds  had  risen  from  the  ravine  to  which  the  species 
gives  its  name,  and  having  circled  unwillingly  round,  with 
a  ghastly  scream  and  a  flagging  wing,  it  had  sunk  down  upon 
the  pinnacle  of  a  crag,  not  four  yards  from  the  tree  in  which 
Arthur  held  his  precarious  station.  Although  still  in  some 
degree  stupified  by  torpor,  it  seemed  encouraged  by  the  ma- 
tionless  state  of  the  young  man  to  suppose  him  dead  or  dy- 
ing, and  sat  there  and  gazed  at  him,  without  displaying  any 
of  that  apprehension  which  the  fiercest  animals  usually  en- 
tertain from  the  vicinity  of  man. 

As  Arthur,  endeavoring  to  shake  off  the  incapacitating 
effects  of  his  panic  fear,  raised  his  eyes  to  look  gradually  and 
cautiously  around,  he  encountered  those  of  the  voracious 
and  obscene  bird,  whose  head  and  neck  denuded  of  feathers, 
her  eyes  surrounded  by  an  iris  of  an  orange-tawny  color,  and 
a  position  more  horizontal  than  erect,  distinguished  her  as 
much  from  the  noble  carriage  and  graceful  proportions  of 
the  eagle  as  those  of  the  lion  place  him  in  the  ranks  of  crea- 
tion above  the  gaunt,  ravenous,  grisly,  yet  dastard  wolf. 

As  if  arrested  by  a  charm,  the  eyes  of  young  Philipson  re- 
mained bent  on  this  ill-omened  and  ill-favored  bird,  with- 
out his  having  the  power  to  remove  them.  ,  The  apprehen- 
sion of  dangers,  ideal  as  well  as  real,  weighed  upon  his 
weakened  mind,  disabled  as  it  was  by  the  circumstances  ol 
his  situation.  The  near  approach  of  a  creature  not  more 
loathsome  to  the  human  race  than  averse  to  come  within 
their  reach  seemed  as  ominous  as  it  was  unusual.  Why  did 
it  gaze  on  him  with  such  glaring  earnestness,  projecting  its 
disgusting  form,  as  if  presently  to  alight  upon  his  person  ? 
The  foul  bird,  was  she  the  demon  of  the  place  to  which  her 


22  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

name  referred,  and  did  she  come  to  exult  that  an  intruder 
on  her  haunts  seemed  involved  amid  their  perils,  with  little 
hope  or  chance  of  deliverance  ?  Or  was  it  a  native  vulture 
of  the  rocks,  whose  sagacity  foresaw  that  the  rash  traveler 
was  soon  destined  to  become  its  victim  ?  Could  the  crea- 
ture, whose  senses  are  said  to  be  so  acute,  argue  from  cir- 
cumstances the  stranger^s  approaching  death,  and  wait,  like 
a  raven  or  hooded  crow  by  a  dying  sheep,  for  the  earliest 
opportunity  to  commence  her  ravenous  banquet  ?  Was  he 
doomed  to  feel  its  beak  and  talons  before  his  hearths  blood 
should  cease  to  beat  ?  Had  he  already  lost  the  dignity  of 
humanity,  the  awe  which  the  being  formed  in  the  image  of 
his  Maker  inspires  into  all  inferior  creatures  ? 

Apprehensions  so  painful  served  more  than  all  that  reason 
could  suggest  to  renew  in  some  degree  the  elasticity  of  the 
young  man's  mind.  By  waving  his  handkerchief,  using, 
however,  the  greatest  precaution  in  his  movements,  he  suc- 
ceeded in  scaring  the  vulture  from  his  vicinity.  It  rose  from 
its  resting-place,  screaming  harshly  and  dolefully,  and  sailed 
on  its  expanded  pinions  to  seek  a  place  of  more  undisturbed 
repose,  while  the  adventurous  traveler  felt  a  sensible  pleas- 
ure at  being  relieved  of  its  disgusting  presence. 

With  more  collected  ideas,  the  young  man,  who  could  ob- 
tain, from  his  position,  a  partial  view  of  the  platform  he  had 
left,  endeavored  to  testify  his  safety  to  his  father,  by  display- 
ing, as  high  as  he  could,  the  banner  by  which  he  had  chased 
off  the  vulture.  Like  them,  too,  he  heard,  but  at  a  less  dis- 
tance, the  burst  of  the  great  Swiss  horn,  which  seemed  to 
announce  some  near  succor.  He  replied  by  shouting  and 
waving  his  flag,  to  direct  assistance  to  the  spot  where  it  was 
so  much  required  ;  and,  recalling  his  faculties,  which  had 
almost  deserted  him,  he  labored  mentally  to  recover  hope,  and 
with  hope  the  means  and  motive  for  exertion. 

A  faithful  Catholic,  he  eagerly  recommended  himself  in 
prayer  to  Our  Lady  of  Einsiedlen,  and  making  vows  of  pio- 
pitation,  besought  her  intercession  that  he  might  be  delivered 
from  his  dreadful  condition.  '^  Or,  gracious  Lady,''  he  con- 
cluded his  orison,  ''  if  it  is  my  doom  to  lose  my  life  like  a 
hunted  fox  amidst  this  savage  wilderness  of  tottering  crags, 
restore  at  least  my  natural  sense  of  patience  and  courage, 
and  let  not  one  who  has  lived  like  a  man,  though  a  sinful 
one,  meet  death  like  a  timid  hare  !  " 

Having  devoutly  recommended  himself  to  that  protectress, 
of  whom  the  legends  of  the  Catholic  Church  form  a  picture 
go  amiable,  Arthur,  though  es^ery  nerve  still  shook  with  his 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  23 

late  agitation,  and  his  heart  throbbed  with  a  violence  that 
threatened  to  suffocate  him,  turned  his  thoughts  and  obser- 
vation to  the  means  of  effecting  his  escape.  But,  as  he 
looked  around  him,  he  became  more  and  more  sensible  how 
much  he  was  enervated  by  the  bodily  injuries  and  the  mental 
agony  which  he  had  sustained  during  his  late  peril.  He 
could  not,  by  any  effort  of  which  he  was  capable,  fix  his  giddy 
and  bewildered  eyes  on  the  scene  around  him  :  they  seemed 
to  reel  till  the  landscape  danced  along  with  them,  and  a 
motley  chaos  of  thickets  and  tall  cliffs,  which  interposed  be- 
tween him  and  the  ruinous  Castle  of  Geierstein,  mixed  and 
whirled  round  in  such  confusion,  that  nothing  save  the  con- 
sciousness that  such  an  idea  was  the  suggestion  of  partial 
insanity  prevented  him  from  throwing  himself  from  the  tree, 
as  if  to  join  the  wild  dance  to  which  his  disturbed  brain  had 
given  motion. 

'^  Heaven  be  my  protection  ! "  said  the  unfortunate  young 
man,  closing  his  eyes,  in  hopes,  by  abstracting  himself  from 
the  terrors  of  his  situation,  to  compose  his  too  active  imag- 
ination, ^'  my  senses  are  abandoning  me  ! " 

He  became  still  more  convinced  that  this  was  the  case, 
when  a  female  voice,  in  a  high-pitched  but  eminently  musi- 
cal accent,  was  heard  at  no  great  distance,  as  if  calling  to 
him.  He  opened  his  eyes  once  more,  raised  his  head,  and 
looked  towards  the  place  from  whence  the  sounds  seemed  to 
come,  though  far  from  being  certain  that  they  existed  sav- 
ing in  his  own  disordered  imagination.  The  vision  which 
appeared  had  almost  confirmed  him  in  the  opinion  that  his 
mind  was  unsettled,  and  his  senses  in  no  state  to  serve  him 
accurately. 

Upon  the  very  summit  of  a  pyramidical  rock  that  rose  out 
of  the  depth  of  the  valley  was  seen  a  female  figure,  so  obscured 
by  mist  that  only  the  outline  could  be  traced.  The  form, 
reflected  against  the  sky,  appeared  rather  the  undefined 
lineaments  of  a  spirit  than  of  a  mortal  maiden  ;  for  her 
person  seemed  as  light,  and  scarcely  more  opaque,  than  the 
thin  cloud  that  surrounded  her  pedestal.  Arthur's  first  be- 
lief was  that  the  Virgin  had  heard  his  vows,  and  had  de- 
scended in  person  to  his  rescue  ;  and  he  was  about  to  recite 
his  Ave  Maria,  when  the  voice  again  called  to  him  with  the 
singular  shrill  modulation  of  the  mountain  halloo,  by  which 
the  natives  of  the  Alps  can  hold  conference  with  each  other 
from  one  mountain  ridge  to  another,  across  ravines  of  great 
depth  and  width. 

While  he  debated  how  to  address  this  unexpected  appa- 


24  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

rition,  it  disappeared  from  the  point  whicli  it  at  first  occu- 
pied, and  presently  after  became  again  visible,  perched  on 
the  cliff  out  of  which  projected  the  tree  in  which  Arthur 
had  taken  refuge.  Her  personal  appearance,  as  well  as  her 
dress,  made  it  then  apparent  that  she  was  a  maiden  of  these 
mountains,  familiar  with  their  dangerous  paths.  He  saw 
that  a  beautiful  young  woman  stood  before  him,  who  re- 
garded him  with  a  mixture  of  pity  and  wonder. 

*'  Stranger, '^  she  at  length  said,  '^  who  are  you,  and  whence 
come  you  ?" 

''I  am  a  stranger,  maiden,  as  you  justly  term  me,'* 
answered  the  young  man,  raising  himself  as  well  as  he  could. 
'*  I  left  Lucerne  this  morning,  with  my  father  and  a  guide. 
I  parted  with  them  not  three  furlongs  from  hence.  May  it 
please  you,  gentle  maiden,  to  warn  them  of  my  safety,  for  I 
know  my  father  will  be  in  despair  upon  my  account  ?  " 

"  Willingly,'*  said  the  maiden  ;  '^  but  I  think  my  uncle, 
or  some  one  of  my  kinsmen,  must  have  already  found  them, 
and  will  prove  faithful  guides.  Can  I  not  aid  you  ?  Are 
you  wounded — are  you  hurt  ?  We  were  alarmed  -by  the  fall 
of  a  rock — ay,  and  yonder  it  lies,  a  mass  of  no  ordinary  size.'' 

As  the  Swiss  maiden  spoke  thus,  she  approached  so  close 
to  the  verge  of  the  precipice,  and  looked  with  such  indiffer- 
ence into  the  gulf,  that  the  sympathy  which  connects  the 
actor  and  spectator  upon  such  occasions  brought  back  the 
sickness  and  vertigo  from  which  Arthur  had  just  recovered, 
and  he  sunk  back  into  his  former  more  recumbent  posture 
with  something  like  a  faint  groan. 

"You  are  then  ill  ?"  said  the  maiden,  who  observed  him 
turn  pale.  "  Where  and  what  is  the  harm  you  have 
received  ?" 

"  None,  gentle  maiden,  saving  some  bruises  of  little  im- 
port ;  but  my  head  turns,  and  my  heart  grows  sick,  when  I 
see  you  so  near  the  verge  of  the  cliff." 

"Is  that  all?"  replied  the  Swiss  maiden.  "Know, 
stranger,  that  I  do  not  stand  on  my  uncle's  hearth  with  more 
security  than  I  have  stood  upon  precipices  compared  to 
which  this  is  a  child's  leap.  You  too,  stranger,  if,  as  I 
judge  from  the  traces,  you  have  come  along  the  edge  of  the 
precipice  which  the  earth-slide  hath  laid  bare,  ought  to  be 
far  beyond  such  weakness,  since  surely  you  must  be  well  en- 
titled to  call  yourself  a  cragsman." 

"I  might  have  called  myself  so  half  an  hour  since," 
answered  Arthur;  "but  I  think  I  shall  hardly  venture  to 
assume  the  name  in  future." 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  25 

"  Be  not  downcast/'  said  his  kind  adviser,  ''  for  a  passing 
qualm,  which  will  at  times  cloud  the  spirit  and  dazzle  the 
eyesight  of  the  bravest  and  most  experienced.  Kaise 
yourself  upon  the  trunk  of  the  tree,  and  advance  closer  to 
the  rock  out  of  which  it  grows.  Observe  the  place  well.  It 
is  easy  for  you,  when  you  have  attained  the  lower  part  of  the 
projecting  stem,  to  gain  by  one  bold  step  the  solid  rock  upon 
which  I  stand,  after  which  -there  is  no  danger  or  difficulty 
worthy  of  mention  to  a  young  man  whose  limbs  are  whole 
and  whos^  courage  is  active.''' 

'^  My  limbs  are  indeed  sound,''  replied  the  youth  ;  *'  but  I 
am  ashamed  to  think  how  much  my  courage  is  broken.  Yet 
I  will  not  disgrace  the  interest  you  have  taken  in  an  un- 
happy wanderer  by  listening  longer  to  the  dastardly  sugges- 
tions of  a  feeling  which  till  to-day  has  been  a  stranger  to  my 
bosom." 

The  maiden  looked  on  him  anxiously,  and  with  much  in- 
terest, as,  raising  himself  cautiously,  and  moving  along  the 
trunk  of  the  tree,  which  lay  nearly  horizontal  from  the  rock, 
and  seemed  to  bend  as  he  changed  his  posture,  the  youth  at 
length  stood  upright  within  what,  on  level  ground,  had  been 
but  an  extended  stride  to  the  cliff  on  which  the  Swiss 
maiden  stood.  But,  instead  of  being  a  step  to  be  taken  on 
the  level  and  firm  earth,  it  was  one  which  must  cross  a  dark 
abyss,  at  the  bottom  of  which  a  torrent  surged  and  boiled 
with  incredible  fury.  Arthur's  knees  knocked  against  each 
other,  his  feet  became  of  lead,  and  seemed  no  longer  at  his 
command ;  and  he  experienced,  in  a  stronger  degree  than 
ever,  that  unnerving  influence  which  those  who  have  been 
overwhelmed  by  it  in  a  situation  of  like  peril  never  can  for- 
get, and  which  others,  happily  strangers  to  its  power,  may 
have  difficulty  even  in  comprehending. 

The  young  woman  discerned  his  emotion,  and  foresaw  its 
probable  consequences.  As  the  only  mode  in  her  power  to  re- 
store his  confidence,  she  sprung  lightly  from  the  rock  to  the 
stem  of  the  tree,  on  which  she  alighted  with  the  ease  and  se- 
curity of  a  bird,  and  in  the  same  instant  back  to»the  cliff  ;  and 
extending  her  hand  to  the  stranger,  ^'  My  arm,"  she  said,  ^'  is 
but  a  slight  balustrade  ;  yet  do  but  step  forward  with  reso- 
lution, and  you  will  find  it  as  secure  as  the  battlement  of 
Berne."  But  shame  now  overcame  terror  so  much,  that 
Arthur,  declining  assistance  which  he  could  not  have  accepted 
without  feeling  lowered  in  his  own  eyes,  took  heart  of  grace, 
and  successfully  achieved  the  formidable  step  which  placed 
him  upon  the  same  cliff  with  his  kind  assistant. 


26  WAVEBLET  NOVELS 

To  seize  her  hand  and  raise  it  to  his  lips,  in  affectionate 
token  of  gratitude  and  respect,  was  naturally  the  youth's 
first  action  ;  nor  was  it  possible  for  the  maiden  to  have  pre- 
vented him  from  doing  so  without  assuming  a  degree  of 
prudery  foreign  to  her  character,  and  occasioning  a  cere- 
monious debate  upon  a  matter  of  no  great  consequence, 
where  the  scene  of  action  was  a  rock  scarce  five  feet  long  by 
three  in  width,  and  which  looked  down  upon  a  torrent  roar- 
ing some  hundred  feet  below. 


CHAPTER  III 

Cursed  be  the  gold  and  silver,  which  persuade 
Weak  man  to  follow  far  fatiguing  trade, 
The  lily,  peace,  outshines  the  silver  store  ; 
And  life  is  dearer  than  the  golden  ore, 
Yet  money  tempts  us  o'er  the  desert  brown, 
To  every  distant  mart  and  wealthy  town. 

Hassan,  or  the  Camel-driver, 

Akthur  Philipsoj^"  and  Anne  of  Geierstein,  thus  placed  to* 
gether  in  a  situation  which  brought  them  into  the  closest 
possible  contiguity,  felt  s  slight  degree  of  embarrassment ; 
the  young  man,  doubtless,  from  the  fear  of  being  judged  a 
poltroon  in  the  eyes  of  the  maiden  by  whom  he  had  been 
rescued,  and  the  young  woman,  perhaps,  in  consequence  of 
the  exertion  she  bad  made,  or  a  sense  ,  of  being  placed  sud- 
denly in  a  situation  of  such  proximity  to  the  youth  whose 
life  she  had  probably  saved. 

''^  And  now,  maiden,^'  said  Arthur,  ''I  must  repair  to  my 
father.  The  life  which  I  owe  to  your  assistance  can  scarce 
be  called  welcome  to  me  unless  I  am  permitted  to  hasten  to 
his  rescue." 

He  was  here  interrupted  by  another  bugle-blast,  which 
seemed  to  come  from  the  quarter  in  which  the  elder  Philip- 
son  and  his  guide  had  been  left  by  their  young  and  daring 
companion.  Arthur  looked  in  that  direction ;  but  the 
platform,  which  he  had  seen  but  imperfectly  from  the  tree, 
when  he  was  perched  in  that  place  of  refuge,  was  invisible 
from  the  rock  on  which  they  now  stood. 

"  It  would  cost  me  nothing  to  step  back  on  yonder  root," 
said  the  young  woman,  "  to  spy  from  thence  whether  I  could 
see  aught  of  your  friends.  But  I  am  convinced  they  are 
under  safer  guidance  than  either  yours  or  mine  ;  for  the 
horn  announces  that  my  uncle,  or  some  of  my  young  kins- 
men, have  reached  them.  They  are  by  this  time  on  their 
way  to  the  Greierstein,  to  which,  with  your  permission,  I  will 
become  your  guide  ;  for  you  may  be  assured  that  my  uncle 
Arnold  will  not  allow  you  to  pass  farther  to-day ;  and  we 
shall  but  lose  time  by  endeavoring  to  find  your  friends,  who, 
situated  where  you  say  you  left  them,  will  reach  the  Geier« 

27 


28  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

stein  sooner  than  we  shall.  Follow  me,  then,  or  I  must  sup- 
pose you  weary  of  my  guidance/' 

''  Sooner  suppose  me  weary  of  the  life  which  your  guid- 
ance has  in  all  probability  saved,''  replied  Arthur,  and 
prepared  to  attend  her,  at  the  same  time  taking  a  view  of 
her  dress  and  person  which  confirmed  the  satisfaction  he  had 
in  following  such  a  conductor,  and  which  we  shall  take  the 
liberty  to  detail  somewhat  more  minutely  than  he  could  do 
at  that  time. 

An  upper  vest,  neither  so  close  as  to  display  the  person,  a 
habit  forbidden  by  the  sumptuary  laws  of  the  canton,  nor  so 
loose  as  to  be  an  incumbrance  in  walking  or  climbing,  cov- 
ered a  close  tunic  of  a  different  color,  and  came  down  be- 
neath the  middle  of  the  leg,  but  suffered  the  ankle,  in  all  its 
fine  proportions,  to  be  completely  visible.  The  foot  was  de- 
fended by  a  sandal,  the  point  of  which  was  turned  upwards, 
and  the  crossings  and  knots  of  the  strings  which  secured  it 
on  the  front  of  the  leg  were  garnished  with  silver  rings.  The 
upper  vest  was  gathered  round  the  middle  by  a  sash  of 
party-colored  silk,  ornamented  with  twisted  threads  of  gold  ; 
while  the'  tunic,  open  at  the  throat,  permitted  the  shape  and 
exquisite  whiteness  of  a  well-formed  neck  to  be  visible  at 
the  collar,  and  for  an  inch  or  two  beneath.  The  small  por- 
tion of  the  throat  and  bosom  thus  exposed  was  even  more 
brilliantly  fair  than  was  promised  by  the  countenance,  which 
last  bore  some  marks  of  having  been  freely  exposed 'to  the 
sun  and  air,  by  no  means  in  a  degree  to  diminish  its  beauty, 
but  just  so  far  as  to  show  that  the  maiden  possessed  the 
health  which  is  purchased  by  habits  of  rural  exercise.  Her 
long  fair  hair  fell  down  in  a  profusion  of  curls  on  each  side 
of  a  face  whose  blue  eyes,  lovely  features,  and  dignified  sim- 
plicity of  expression  implied  at  once  a  character  of  gentle- 
ness and  of  the  self-relying  resolution  of  a  mind  too  virtuous 
to  suspect  evil  and  too  noble  to  fear  it.  Above  these  locks, 
beauty's  natural  and  most  beseeming  ornament — or  rather, 
I  should  say,  amongst  them — was  placed  the  small  bonnet, 
which,  from  its  size,  little  answered  the  purpose  of  protect- 
ing the  head,  but  served  to  exercise  the  ingenuity  of  the  fair 
wearer,  who  had  not  failed,  according  to  the  prevailing  cus- 
tom of  the  mountain  maidens,  to  decorate  the  tiny  cap  with 
a  heron's  feather,  and  the  then  unusual  luxury  of  a  small 
and  thin  chain  of  gold,  long  enough  to  encircle  the  cap  four 
or  five  times,  and  having  the  ends  secured  under  a  broad 
medal  of  the  same  costly  metal. 

I  have  only  to  add,  that  the  stature  of  the  young  person 


ANNE  OF  GEIER STEIN  29 

was  something  above  the  common  size,  and  that  the  whole 
contour  of  her  form,  without  being  in  the  slightest  degree 
masculine,  resembled  that  of  Minerva  rather  than  the  proud 
beauties  of  Juno  or  the  yielding  graces  of  Venus.  The 
noble  brow,  the  well-formed  and  active  limbs,  the  firm  and 
yet  light  step,  above  all,  the  total  absence  of  anything  re- 
sembling the  consciousness  of  personal  beauty,  and  the  open 
and  candid  look,  which  seemed  desirous  of  knowing  nothing 
that  was  hidden,  and  conscious  that  she  herself  had  nothing 
to  hide,  were  traits  not  unworthy  of  the  goddess  of  wisdom 
and  of  chastity. 

The  road  which  the  young  Englishman  pursued,  under 
the  guidance  of  this  beautiful  young  woman,  was  difficult 
and  unequal,  but  could  not  be  termed  dangerous,  at  least  in 
comparison  to  those  precipices  over  which  Arthur  had  re- 
cently passed.  It  was,  in  fact,  a  continuation  of  the  path 
which  the  slip  or  slide  of  earth,  so  often  mentioned,  had  in- 
terrupted ;  and  although  it  had  sustained  damage  in  several 
places  at  the  period  of  the  same  earthquake,  yet  there  were 
marks  of  these  having  been  already  repaired  in  such  a  rude 
manner  as  made  the  way  sufficient  for  the  necessary  inter- 
course of  a  people  so  indifferent  as  the  Swiss  to  smooth  or 
level  paths.  The  maiden  also  gave  Arthur  to  understand 
that  the  present  road  took  a  circuit  for  the  purpose  of  gain- 
ing that  on  which  he  was  lately  traveling,  and  that,  if  he 
and  his  companions  had  turned  off  at  the  place  where  this 
new  track  united  with  the  old  pathway,  they  would  have 
escaped  the  danger  which  had  attended  their  keeping  the 
road  by  tlie  verge  of  the  precipice. 

The  path  which  they  now  pursued  was  rather  averted  from 
the  torrent,  though  still  within  hearing  of  its  sullen  thun- 
ders, which  seemed  to  increase  as  they  ascended  parallel  to 
its  course,  till  suddenly  the  road,  turning  short,  and  direct- 
ing itself  straight  upon  the  old  castle,  brought  them  within 
sight  of  one  of  the  most  splendid  and  awful  scenes  of  that 
mountainous  region. 

The  ancient  tower  of  Geierstein,  though  neither  extensive 
nor  distinguished  by  architectural  ornament,  possessed  an 
air  of  terrible  dignity  by  its  position  on  the  very  verge  of 
the  opposite  bank  of  the  torrent,  which,  just  at  the  angle  of 
the  rock  on  which  the  ruins  are  situated,  falls  sheer  over  a 
cascade  of  nearly  a  hundred  feet  in  height,  and  then  rushes 
down  the  defile,  through  a  trough  of  living  rock,  which  per- 
haps its  waves  had  been  deepening  since  time  itself  had  a 
commencement.     Facing,  and  at  the  same  time  looking  down 


30  WaVEBLEY  NOVELS 

npon,  this  eternal  roar  of  waters,  stood  the  old  tower,  bu^t 
so  close  to  the  verge  of  the  precipice,  that  the  buttresses 
with  which  the  architect  had  strengthened  the  foundation 
seemed  a  part  of  the  solid  rock  itself,  and  a  continuation  of 
its  perpendicular  ascent.  As  usual  throughout  Europe  in 
the  feudal  times,  the  principal  part  of  the  building  was  a 
massive  square  pile,  the  decayed  summit  of  which  was 
rendered  picturesque  by  flanking  turrets  of  different  sizes 
and  heights,  some  round,  some  angular,  some  ruinous,  some 
tolerably  entire,  varying  the  outline  of  the  building  as  seen 
against  the  stormy  sky. 

A  projecting  sallyport,  descending  by  a  flight  of  steps  from 
the  tower,  had  in  former  times  given  access  to  a  bridge  con- 
necting the  castle  with  that  side  of  the  stream  on  which 
Arthur  Philipson  and  his  fair  guide  now  stood.  A  single 
arch,  or  rather  one  rib  of  an  arch,  consisting  of  single  stones, 
still  remained,  and  spanned  the  river  immediately  in  front 
of  the  waterfall.  In  former  times  this  arch  had  served  foi* 
the  support  of  a  wooden  drawbridge,  of  more  convenient 
breadth,  and  of  such  length  and  weight  as  must  have  been 
rather  unmanageable,  had  it  not  been  lowered  on  some  solid 
resting-place.  It  is  true,  the  device  was  attended  with  this 
inconvenience,  that,  even  when  the  drawbridge  was  up,  there 
remained  a  possibility  of  approaching  the  castle  gate  by  means 
of  this  narrow  rib  of  stone.  But,  as  it  was  not  above  eigh- 
teen inches  broad,  and  could  only  admit  the  daring  foe  who 
should  traverse  it  to  a  doorway  regularly  defended  by  gate 
and  portcullis,  and  having  flanking  turrets  and  projections, 
from  which  stones,  darts,  melted  lead,  and  scald*ing  water 
might  be  poured  down  on  the  soldiery  who  should  venture 
to  approach  Geierstein  by  this  precarious  access,  the  possi- 
bility of  such  an  attempt  was  not  considered  as  diminishing 
the  security  of  the  garrison. 

In  the  time  we  treat  of,  the  castle  being  entirely  ruined 
and  dismantled,  and  the  door,  drawbridge,  and  portcullis 
gone,  the  dilapidated  gateway,  and  the  slender  arch  which 
connected  the  two  sides  of  the  stream  were  used  as  means  of 
communication  between  the  banks  of  the  river  by  the  inhab- 
itants of  the  neighborhood,  whom  habit  had  familiarized 
with  the  dangerous  nature  of  the  passage. 

Arthur  Philipson  had,  in  the  mean  time,  like  a  good  bow 
when  new  strung,  regained  the  elasticity  of  feeling  and  char- 
acter which  was  natural  to  him.  It  was  not,  indeed,  with 
perfect  composure  that  he  followed  his  guide,  as  she  tripped 
lightly  over  the  narrow  arch,  composed  of  rugged  stones, 


ANNE  OF  GEIEBSTEIN  3X 

and  rendered  wet  and  slippery  witli  the  perpetual  drizzle  of 
the  mist  issuing  from  the  neighboring  cascade.  Nor  was 
it  without  apprehension  that  he  found  himself  performing 
this  perilous  feat  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  waterfall  itself, 
whose  deafening  roar  he  could  not  exclude  from  his  ears, 
though  he  took  care  not  to  turn  his  head  towards  its  terrors, 
lest  his  brain  should  again  be  dizzied  by  the  tumult  of  the 
waters  as  they  shot  forward  from  the  precipice  above,  and 
plunged  themselves  into  what  seemed  the  fathomless  gulf 
below.  But,  notwithstanding  these  feelings  of  agitation,  the 
natural  shame  to  show  cowardice  where  a  beautiful  young 
female  exhibited  so  much  indifference,  and  the  desire  to  re- 
gain his  character  in  the  eyes  of  his  guide,  prevented  Arthur 
from  again  giving  way  to  the  appalling  feelings  by  which  he 
had  been  overwhelmed  a  short  time  before.  Stepping  firmly 
on,  yet  cautiously  supporting  himself  with  his  piked  staff, 
he  traced  the  light  footsteps  of  his  guide  along  the  bridge  oi 
dread,  and  followed  her  through  the  ruined  sallyport,  t^ 
which  they  ascended  by  stairs  which  were  equally  dilapi- 
dated. 

The  gateway  admitted  them  into  a  mass  of  ruins,  formerly 
a  sort  of  courtyard  to  the  donjon,  which  rose  in  gloomy  dig- 
nity above  the  wreck  of  what  had  been  works  destined  foi 
external  defense,  or  buildings  for  internal  accommodation. 
They  quickly  passed  through  these  ruins,  over  which  vegeta- 
tion had  thrown  a  wild  mantle  of  ivy  and  other  creeping 
shrubs,  and  issued  from  them  through  the  main  gate  of  the 
castle  into  one  of  those  spots  in  which  nature  often  embosoms 
her  sweetest  charms,  in  the  midst  of  districts  chiefly  charac- 
terized by  waste  and  desolation. 

The  castle  in  this  aspect  also  rose  considerably  above  the 
neighboring  ground,  but  the  elevation  of  the  site,  which 
towards  the  torrent  was  an  abrupt  rock,  was  on  this  side  a 
steep  eminence,  which  had  been  scarped  like  a  modern  glacis, 
to  render  the  building  more  secure.  It  was  now  covered 
with  young  trees  and  bushes,  out  of  which  the  tower  itself 
iseemed  to  rise  in  ruined  dignity.  Beyond  this  hanging 
thicket  the  view  was  of  a  very  different  character.  A  piece 
of  ground,  amounting  to  more  than  a  hundred  acres,  seemed 
scooped  out  of  the  rocks  and  mountains,  which,  retaining 
the  same  savage  character  with  the  tract  in  which  the  travel- 
ers had  been  that  morning  bewildered,  inclosed,  and  as  in 
were  defended,  a  limited  space  of  a  mild  and  fertile  character. 
The  surface  of  this  little  domain  was  considerably  varied^ 
but  its  general  aspect  was  a  gentle  slope  to  the  southwest. 


S2  WA  VEELEY  NO VELS 

The  principal  object  which  it  presented  was  a  large  house 
composed  of  huge  logs,  without  any  pretense  to  form  or 
symmetry,  but  indicating,  by  the  smoke  which  arose  from  it, 
as  well  as  the  extent  of  the  neighboring  offices,  and  the  im- 
proved and  cultivated  character  of  the  fields  around,  that  it 
was  the  abode,  not  of  splendor  certainly,  but  of  ease  and 
competence.  An  orchard  of  thriving  fruit-trees  extended  to 
the  southward  of  the  dwelling.  Groves  of  walnut  and 
chestnut  grew  in  stately  array,  and  even  a  vineyard,  of 
three  or  four  acres,  showed  that  the  cultivation  of  the  grape 
was  understood  and  practised.  It  is  now  universal  in 
Switzerland,  but  was,  in  those  early  days,  almost  exclusively 
confined  to  a  few  more  fortunate  proprietors,  who  had  the 
rare  advantage  of  uniting  intelligence  with  opulent,  or  at 
least  easy  circumstances. 

There  were  fair  ranges  of  pasture-fields,  into  which  the 
fine  race  of  cattle  which  constitute  the  pride  and  wealth  of 
the  Swiss  mountaineers  had  been  brought  down  from  the 
more  Alpine  grazings  where  they  had  fed  during  the  summer, 
to  be  near  shelter  and  protection  when  the  autumnal  storms 
might  be  expected.  On  some  selected  spots,  the  lambs  of 
the  last  season  fed  in  plenty  and  security,  and  in  others 
huge  trees,  the  natural  growth  of  the  soil,  were  suffered  to 
remain,  from  motives  of  convenience  probably,  that  they 
might  be  at  hand  when  timber  was  required  for  domestic  use, 
but  giving,  at  the  same  time,  a  woodland  character  to  a 
scene  otherwise  agricultural.  Through  this  mountain 
paradise  the  course  of  a  small  brook  might  be  traced,  now 
showing  itself  to  the  sun,  which  had  by  this  time  dispelled 
the  fogs,  now  intimating  its  course  by  its  gently  sloping 
banks,  clothed  in  some  places  with  lofty  trees,  or  concealing 
itself  under  thickets  of  hawthorn  and  nut  bushes.  This 
stream,  by  a  devious  and  gentle  course,  which  seemed  to 
indicate  a  reluctance  to  leave  this  quiet  region,  found  its 
way  at  length  out  of  the  sequestered  domain,  and,  like  a 
youth  hurrying  from  the  gay  and  tranquil  sports  of  boyhood 
into  the  wild  career  of  active  life,  finally  united  itself  with 
the  boisterous  torrent,  which,  breaking  down  tumultuously 
from  the  mountains,  shook  the  ancient  tower  of  Geierstein 
as  it  rolled  down  the  adjacent  rock,  and  then  rushed  howling 
through  the  defile  in  which  our  youthful  traveler  had  well- 
nigh  lost  his  life. 

Eager  as  the  younger  Philipson  was  to  rejoin  his  father, 
he  could  not  help  pausing  for  a  moment  to  wonder  how^so 
much  beauty  should  be  found  amid  such  scenes  of  horror^ 


ANNE  OF  GEIEESTEIN  33 

and  a  look  back  on  the  tower  of  Geierstein,  and  on  the  huge 
eliff  from  which  it  derived  its  name^  as  if  to  ascertain,  by 
the  sight  of  these  distinguished  landmarks,  that  he  was 
actually  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  savage  wild  where  he 
had  encountered  so  much  danger  and  terror.  Yet  so  narrow 
were  the  limits  of  this  cultivated  farm,  that  it  hardly  re- 
quired such  a  retrospect  to  satisfy  the  spectator  that  the 
spot  susceptible  of  human  industry,  and  on  which  it  seemed 
that  a  considerable  degree  of  labor  had  been  bestowed,  bore 
a  very  small  proportion  to  the  wilderness  in  w  hich  it  was 
situated.  It  was  on  all  sides  surrounded  by  lofty  hills,  in 
some  places  rising  into  walls  of  rock,  in  others  clothed  with 
dark  and  savage  forests  of  the  pine  and  the  larch,  of  primeval 
antiquity.  Above  these,  from  the  eminence  on  which  the 
tower  was  situated,  could  be  seen  the  almost  rosy  hue  in 
which  an  immense  glacier  threw  back  the  sun  ;  and,  still 
higher  over  the  frozen  surface  of  that  icy  sea,  arose,  in 
silent  dignity,  the  pale  peaks  of  those  countless  mountains 
on  which  the  snow  eternally  rests. 

What  we  have  taken  some  time  to  describe,  occupied 
young  Philipson  only  for  one  or  two  hurried  minutes  ;  for  on 
a  sloping  lawn,  which  was  in  front  of  the  farmhouse,  as  the 
mansion  might  be  properly  styled,  he  saw  five  or  six  persons, 
the  foremost  of  whom,  from  his  gait,  his  dress,  and  the 
form  of  his  cap,  he  could  easily  distinguish  as  the  parent 
whom  he  hardly  expected  at  one  time  to  have  again  beheld. 

He  followed,  therefore,  his  conductress  witn  a  glad  step, 
as  she  led  the  way  down  the  steep  ascent  on  which  the 
ruined  tower  was  situated.  They  approached  the  group 
whom  Arthur  had  noticed,  the  foremost  of  which  was  his 
father,  who  hastily  came  forward  to  meet  him,  in  company 
with  another  person,  of  advanced  age,  and  stature  wellnigh 
gigantic,  and  who,  from  his  simple  yet  majestic  bearing, 
seemed  the  worthy  countryman  of  William  Tell,  Stauifacher, 
Winkelried,  ai^d  other  Swiss  worthies,  whose  stout  hearts 
and  hardy  arms  had,  in  the  preceding  age,  vindicated  against 
countless  hosts  their  personal  liberty  and  the  independence 
of  their  country. 

With  a  natural  courtesy,  as  if  to  spare  the  father  and  son 
many  witnesses  to  a  meeting  which  must  be  attended  with 
emotion,  the  Landamman  himself,  in  walking  forward  with 
the  elder  Philipson,  signed  to  those  by  whom  he  was  attended, 
all  of  whom  seemed  young  men,  to  remain  behind.  They 
remained  accordingly,  examining,  as  it  seemed,  the  guide 
Antonio,  upon  the  adventures  of  the  strangers.  Anne,  the 
3 


84  WAVEELEY  NOVELS 

conductress  of  Arthur  Philipson,  had  but  time  to  say  to 
him,  "  Yonder  old  man  is  my  uncle,  Arnold  Biederman, 
and  these  young  men  are  my  kinsmen/*  when  the  former, 
with  the  elder  traveler,  was  close  before  them.  The  Lan- 
damman,  with  the  tame  propriety  of  feeling  which  he  had 
before  displayed,  signed  to  his  niece  to  move  a  little  aside  ; 
yet,  while  requiring  from  her  an  account  of  her  morning's 
expedition,  he  watched  the  interview  of  the  father  and  son 
with  as  much  curiosity  as  his  natural  sense  of  complaisance 
permitted  him  to  testify.  It  was  of  a  character  different 
from  what  he  had  expected. 

We  have  already  described  the  elder  Philipson  as  a  father 
devotedly  attached  to  his  son,  ready  to  rush  on  death  when 
he  had  expected  to  lose  him,  and  equally  overjoyed  at  heart, 
doubtless,  to  see  him  again  restored  to  his  affections.  It 
might  have  been  therefore  expected  that  the  father  and  son 
would  rush  into  each  other's  arms,  and  such  probably  was 
the  scene  which  Arnold  Biederman  expected  to  have 
witnessed. 

But  the  English  traveler,  in  common  with  many  of  his 
countrymen,  covered  keen  and  quick  feelings  with  much 
appearance  of  coldness  and  reserve,  and  thought  it  a  weak- 
ness to  give  unlimited  sway  even  to  the  influence  of  the  most 
amiable  and  most  natural  emotions.  Eminently  handsome 
in  youth,  his  countenance,  still  fine  in  his  more  advanced 
years,  had  an  expression  which  intimated  an  unwillingness 
either  to  yield  to  passion  or  encourage  confidence.  His  pace, 
when  he  first  beheld  his  son,  had  been  quickened  by  the 
natural  wish  to  meet  him  ;  but  he  slackened  it  as  they  drew 
near  to  each  other,  and  when  they  met,  said  in  a  tgne  rather 
of  censure  and  admonition  than  affection — '^Arthur,  may  the 
saints  forgive  the  pain  thou  hast  this  day  given  me.'' 

'^  Amen,'*  said  the  youth.  '^  I  must  need  pardon  since  I 
have  given  you  pain.  Believe,  however,  that  I  acted  for 
the  best.'' 

"  It  is  well,  Arthur,  that  in  acting  for  the  best,  according 
to  your  forward  will,  you  have  not  encountered  the  worst.'* 

*^That  I  have  not,"  answered  the  son,  with  the  same  de- 
voted and  patient  submission,  '^is  owing  to  this  maiden," 
pointing  to  Anne,  who  stood  at  a  few  paces'  distance,  desir- 
ous, perhaps,  of  avoiding  to  witness  the  reproof  of  the  father, 
which  might  seem  to  her  rather  ill-timed  and  unreasonable. 

^'  To  the  maiden  my  thanks  shall  be  rendered,"  said  his 
father,  *^when  I  can  study  how  to  pay  them  in  an  adequate 
manner ;  but  is  it  well  or  comely,  think  you,  that  you  should 


ANNE  OF  GEIER STEIN  86 

receive  from  a  maiden  the  succor  which  it  is  your  duty  as 
a  man  to  extend  to  the  weaker  sex  ?  " 

Arthur  held  down  his  head  and  blushed  deeply,  while 
Arnold  Biederman,  sympathizing  with  his  feelings,  stepped 
forward  and  mingled  in  the  conversation. 

''  Never  be  abashed,  my  young  guest,  that  you  have  been 
indebted  for  aught  of  counsel  or  assistance  to  a  maiden  of 
Unterwalden.  Know  that  the  freedom  of  their  country 
owes  no  less  to  the  firmness  and  wisdom  of  her  daughters 
than  to  that  of  her  sons.  And  you,  my  elder  guest,  who 
have,  I  judge,  seen  many  years,  and  various  lands,  must  have 
often  known  examples  how  the  strong  are  saved  by  the  help 
of  the  weak,  the  proud  by  the  aid  of  the  humble. '^ 

'^  I  have  at  least  learned,^^  said  the  Englishman,  '^  to  de- 
bate no  point  unnecessarily  with  the  host  who  has  kindly 
harbored  me;^^  and  after  one  glance  at  his  son,  which 
seemed  to  kindle  with  the  fondest  affection,  he  resumed,  as 
the  party  turned  back  towards  the  house,  a  conversation 
which  he  had  been  maintaining  with  his  new  acquaintance 
before  Arthur  and  the  maiden  had  joined  them. 

Arthur  had  in  the  mean  time  an  opportunity  of  observing 
the  figure  and  features  of  their  Swiss  landlord,  which,  I  have 
already  hinted,  exhibited  a  primeval  simplicity  mixed  with 
a  certain  rude  dignity,  arising  out  of  its  masculine  and  un- 
affected character.  The  dress  did  not  greatly  differ  in  forn> 
from  the  habit  of  the  female  which  we  have  described.  It 
consisted  of  an  upper  frock,  shaped  like  the  modern  shirt, 
and  only  open  at  the  bosom,  worn  above  a  tunic  or  under 
doublet.  But  the  man's  vest  was  considerably  shorter  in  the 
skirts,  which  did  not  come  lower  down  than  the  kilt  of  the 
Scottish  Highlander  ;  a  species  of  boots  or  buskins  rose  above 
the  knee,  and  the  person  was  thus  entirely  clothed.  A  bon- 
net made  of  the  fur  of  the  marten,  and  garnished  with  a 
silver  medal,  was  the  only  part  of  the  dress  which  displayed 
anything  like  ornament  ;  the  broad  belt  which  gathered  the 
garment  together  was  of  buff  leather,  secured  by  a  large  brass 
buckle. 

But  the  figure  of  him  who  wore  this  homely  attire,  which 
seemed  almost  wholly  composed  of  the  fleeces  of  the  mount- 
ain sheep  and  the  spoils  of  animals  of  the  chase,  would  have 
commanded  respect  wherever  the  wearer  had  presented  him- 
self, especially  in  those  warlike  days,  when  men  were  judged 
of  according  to  the  promising  or  unpromising  qualities  of 
their  thewes  and  sinews.  To  those  who  looked  at  Arnold 
Biederman  in  this  point  of  view,  he  displayed  the  size  and 


86  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

form,  the  broad  shoulders  and  prominent  muscles,  of  a  Her- 
cules. But  to  such  as  looked  rather  at  his  countenance,  the 
steady,  sagacious  features,  open  front,  large  blue  eyes,  and 
deliberate  resolution  which  it  expressed  more  resembled  the 
character  of  fche  fabled  Kings  of  God  and  Men.  He  was 
attended  by  several  sons  and  relatives,  young  men,  among 
whom  he  walked,  receiving,  as  his  undeniable  due,  respect 
and  obedience,  similar  to  that  which  a  herd  of  deer  are 
observed  to  render  to  the  monarch  stag. 

While  Arnold  Biederman  walked  and  spoke  with  the  elder 
stranger,  the  young  men  seemed  closely  to  scrutinize  Arthur, 
and  occasionally  interrogated  in  whispers  their  relation  Anne, 
receiving  from  her  brief  and  impatient  answers,  which  rather 
excited  than  appeased  the  vein  of  merriment  in  which  the 
mountaineers  indulged,  very  much,  as  it  seemed  to  the  young 
Englishman,  at  the  expense  of  their  guest.  To  feel  himself 
exposed  to  derision  was  not  softened  by  the  reflection,  that 
in  such  a  society  it  would  probably  be  attached  to  all  who 
could  not  tread  on  the  edge  of  a  precipice  with  a  step  as  firm 
and  undismayed  as  if  they  walked  the  street  of  a  city.  How- 
ever unreasonable  ridicule  may  be,  it  is  always  unpleasing  to 
be  subjected  to  it,  but  more  particularly  is  it  distressing  to 
a  young  man,  where  beauty  is  a  listener.  It  was  some  con- 
solation to  Arthur  that  he  thought  the  maiden  certainly  did 
not  enjoy  the  jest,  and  seemed  by  word  and  look  to  rrprove 
the  rudeness  of  her  companions  ;  but  this  he  feared  was  only 
from  a  sense  of  humanity. 

"  She,  too,  must  despise  me,"  he  thought,  "  though  civil- 
ity, unknown  to  these  ill-taught  boors,  has  enabled  her  to 
conceal  contempt  under  the  guise  of  pity.  She  can  but 
judge  of  me  from  that  which  she  has  seen  ;  if  she  could 
know  me  better  (such  was  his  proud  thought),  she  might 
perhaps  rank  me  more  highly." 

As  the  travelers  entered  the  habitation  of  Arnold  Bieder- 
man, they  found  preparations  made  in  a  large  apartment, 
which  served  the  purpose  of  general  accommodation,  for  a 
homely  but  plentiful  meal.  A  glance  round  the  walls  showed 
the  implements  of  agriculture  and  the  chase  ;  but  the  eyes 
of  the  elder  Philipson  rested  upon  a  leathern  corslet,  a  long 
heavy  halberd,  and  a  two-handed  sword,  which  were  dis- 
played as  a  sort  of  trophy.  Near  these,  but  covered  with 
dust,  unfurbished  and  neglected,  hung  a  helmet,  with  a  visor, 
such  as  was  used  by  knights  and  men-at-arms.  The  golden 
garland,  or  coronal,  twisted  around  it,  though  sorely  tar- 
nished, indicated  noble  birth  and  rank  ;  and  the  crest,  which 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  81 

was  a  vnltnre  of  the  species  which  gave  name  to  the  old 
castle  and  its  adjacent  cliff,  suggested  various  conjectures  to 
the  English  guest,  who,  acquainted  in  a  great  measure  with 
the  history  of  the  Swiss  revolution,  made  little  doubt  that  in 
this  relic  he  saw  some  trophy  of  the  ancient  warfare  between 
the  inhabitants  of  these  mountains  and  the  feudal  lord  to 
whom  they  had  of  yore  appertained. 

A  summons  to  the  hospitable  board  disturbed  the  train  of 
the  English  merchant's  reflections  ;  and  a  large  company, 
comprising  the  whole  inhabitants  of  every  description  that 
lived  under  Biederman's  roof,  sat  down  to  a  plentiful  repast 
of  goat's  flesh,  fish,  preparations  of  milk  of  various  kinds, 
cheese,  and,  for  the  upper  mess,  the  venison  of  a  young 
chamois.  The  Landamman  himself  did  the  honors  of  the 
table  with  great  kindness  and  simplicity,  and  urged  the 
strangers  to  show,  by  their  appetite,  that  they  thought 
themselves  as  welcome  as  he  desired  to  make  them.  During 
the  repast  he  carried  on  a  conversation  with  his  elder  guest, 
while  the  younger  people  at  table,  as  well  as  the  menials,  ate 
in  modesty  and  silence.  Ere  the  dinner  was  finished,  a 
figure  crossed  on  the  outside  of  the  large  window  which 
lighted  the  eating-hall,  the  sight  of  which  seemed  to  occa- 
sion a  lively  sensation  amongst  such  as  observed  it. 

*'  Who  passed  ?  "  said  old  Biederman  to  those  seated  op- 
posite to  the  window. 

"  It  is  our  cousin,  Rudolph  of  Donnerhugel,"  answered 
one  of  Arnold's  sons  eagerly. 

The  annunciation  seemed  to  give  great  pleasure  to  the 
younger  part  of  the  company,  especially  the  sons  of  the 
Landamman  ;  while  the  head  of  the  family  only  said  with  a 
grave,  calm  voice — "  Your  kinsman  is  welcome ;  tell  him 
so,  and  let  him  come  hither." 

Two  or  three  arose  for  this  purpose,  as  if  there  had  been  a 
contention  among  them  who  should  do  the  honors  of  the 
house  to  the  new  guest.  He  entered  presently — a  young  man, 
unusually  tall,  well-proportioned,  and  active,  with  a  quan- 
tity of  dark-brown  locks  curling  around  his  face,  together 
with  mustachios  of  the  same,  or  rather  a  still  darker,  hue. 
His  cap  was  small  considering  the  quantity  of  his  thickly 
clustering  hair,  and  rather  might  be  said  to  hang  upon  one 
side  of  his  head  than  to  cover  it.  His  clothes  were  of  th^ 
same  form  and  general  fashion  as  those  of  Arnold,  but  made 
of  much  finer  cloth,  the  manufacture  of  the  German  loom, 
and  ornamented  in  a  rich  and  fanciful  manner.  One  sleeve 
of  his  vest  was  dark  green,  curiously  laced  and  embroidered 


38  WAVERLET  NOVELS 

with  devices  in  silver,  while  the  rest  of  the  garment  was 
scarlet.  His  sash  was  twisted  and  netted  with  gold,  and 
besides  answering  the  purpose  of  a  belt,  by  securing  the 
upper  garment  round  his  waist,  sustained  a  silver-hilted 
poniard.  His  finery  was  completed  by  boots,  the  tips  of 
which  were  so  long  as  to  turn  upwards  with  a  peak,  after  a 
prevailing  fashion  in  the  Middle  Ages.  A  golden  chain 
hung  round  his  neck,  and  sustained  a  large  medallion  of  the 
same  metal. 

This  young  gallant  was  instantly  surrounded  by  the  race 
of  Biederman,  among  whom  he  appeared  to  be  considered  as 
the  model  -upon  which  the  Swiss  youth  ought  to  build  them- 
selves, and  whose  gait,  opinions,  dress,  and  manners  all  ought 
to  follow  who  would  keep  pace  with  the  fashion  of  the  day,  in 
which  he  reigned  an  acknowledged  and  unrivaled  example. 

By  two  persons  in  the  company,  however,  it  seemed  to 
Arthur  Philipson  that  this  young  man  was  received  with  less 
distinguished  marks  of  regard  than  those  with  which  he  was 
hailed  by  the  general  voice  of  the  youths  present.  Arnold 
Biederman  himself  was  at  least  no  way  warm  in  welcoming 
the  young  Bernese,  for  such  was  Kudolph's  country.  The 
young  man  drew  from  his  bosom  a  sealed  packet,  which  he 
delivered  to  the  Landamman  with  demonstrations  of  great 
respect,  and  seemed  to  expect  that  Arnold,  when  he  had  broken 
the  seal  and  perused  the  contents,  would  say  something  to 
him  on  the  subject.  But  the  patriarch  only  bade  him  be 
seated  and  partake  of  their  meal,  and  Eudolph  found  a  place 
accordingly  next  to  Anne  of  Geierstein,  which  was  yielded 
to  him  by  one  of  the  sons  of  Arnold  with  ready  courtesy. 

It  seemed  also  to  the  observant  young  Englishman  that 
the  newcomer  was  received  with  marked  coldness  by  the 
maiden,  to  whom  he  appeared  eager  and  solicitous  to  pay  his 
compliments,  by  whose  side  he  had  contrived  to  seat  himself 
at  the  well-furnished  board,  and  to  whom  he  seemed  more 
anxious  to  recommend  himself  than  to  partake  of  the  food 
which  it  offered.  He  observed  the  gallant  whisper  her  and 
look  towards  him.  Anne  gave  a  very  brief  reply  ;  but  one  of 
the  young  Biedermans,  who  sat  on  his  other  hand,  was  prob- 
ably more  communicative,  as  the  youths  both  laughed,  and 
the  maiden  again  seemed  disconcerted,  and  blushed  with 
Uispleasure. 

''  Had  I  either  of  these  sons  of  the  mountain, ^^  thought 
young  Philipson,  ''upon  six  yards  of  level  greensward,  if 
there  be  so  much  flat  ground  in  this  country,  methinks  1 
were  more  likely  to  spoil  their  mirth  than  to  furnish  food 


ANNE  OF  GEIEBSTEIN  39 

for  it.  It  is  as  marvelous  to  see  sucli  conceited  boors  Tindei 
the  same  roof  with  so  courteous  and  amiable  a  damsel  as  it 
would  be  to  see  one  of  their  shaggy  bears  dance  a  rigadoon 
with  a  maiden  like  the  daughter  [niece]  of  our  host.  Well, 
I  need  not  concern  myself  more  than  I  can  help  about  her 
beauty  or  their  breeding,  since  morning  will  separate  me 
from  them  forever.^* 

As  these  reflections  passed  through  the  young  guest's 
mind,  the  father  of  the  family  called  for  a  cup  of  wine,  and 
having  required  the  two  strangers  to  pledge  him  in  a  maple 
cup  of  considerable  size,  he  sent  a  similar  goblet  to  Eudolph 
Donnerhugel.  *'  Yet  you,"  he  said,  "  kinsman,  are  used  to 
more  highly  flavored  wine  than  the  half-ripened  grapes  of 
Geierstein  can  supply.  Would  you  think  it,  sir  merchant,'' 
he  continued,  addressing  Philipson,  *' there  are  burghers  of 
Berne  who  send  for  wine  for  their  own  drinking  both  to 
France  an^  Germany  ?  " 

^'My  kinsman  disapproves  of  that,"  replied  Eudolph; 
*'yet  every  place  is  not  blessed  with  vineyards  like  Geier- 
stein, which  produces  all  that  heart  and  eye  can  desire." 
This  was  said  with  a  glance  at  his  fair  companion,  who  did 
not  appear  to  take  the  compliment,  while  the  envoy  of  Berne 
proceeded — "  But  our  wealthier  burghers,  having  some  su- 
perfluous crowns,  think  it  no  extravagance  to  barter  them 
for  a  goblet  of  better  wine  than  our  own  mountains  can  pro- 
duce. But  we  will  be  more  frugal  when  we  have  at  our  dis- 
posal tuns  of  the  wine  of  Burgundy,  for  the  mere  trouble  of 
transporting  them." 

"How  mean  you  by  that,  cousin  Eudolph  ?"  said  Arnold 
Biederman. 

**  Methinks,  respected  kinsman,'*  answered  the  Bernese, 
*'your  letters  must  have  told  you  that  our  Diet  is  likely 
to  declare  war  against  Burgundy  ?  " 

*'  Ah  !  and  you  know,  then,  the  contents  of  my  letters  ?  " 
said  Arnold — ''^another  mark  how  times  are  changed  at 
Berne  and  with  the  Diet  of  Switzerland.  When  did  all  her 
grayhaired  statesmen  die,  that  our  allies  should  have 
brought  beardless  boys  into  their  councils  ?  " 

"The  Senate  of  Berne  and  the  Diet  of  the  Confederacy," 
said  the  young  man,  partly  abashed,  partly  in  vindication  of 
what  he  had  before  spoken,  "  allow  the  young  men  to  know 
their  purposes,  since  it  is  they  by  whom  they  must  be  ex- 
ecuted. The  head  which  thinks  may  well  confide  in  the 
hand  that  strikes." 

**  Not  till  the  moment  of  dealing  the  blow,  young  man/* 


40  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

said  Arnold  Biederman,  sternly.  "  What  kind  of  counselof 
is  he  who  talks  loosely  the  secrets  of  state  affairs  before 
women  and  strangers  ?  Go,  Rudolph,  and  all  of  ye,  and  try 
by  manly  exercises  which  is  best  fitted  to  serve  your  country, 
rather  than  give  your  judgment  upon  her  measures.  Hold, 
young  man,''  he  continued,  addressing  Arthur,  who  had 
arisen,  '*this  does  not  apply  to  you,  who  are  unused  to 
mountain  travel,  and  require  rest  after  it.'' 

''Under  your  favor,  sir,  not  so,"  said  the  elder  stranger  ; 
"  we  hold  in  England  that  the  best  refreshment  after  we 
have  been  exhausted  by  one  species  of  exercise  is  to  betake 
ourselves  to  another ;  as  riding,  for  example,  affords  more 
relief  to  one  fatigued  by  walking  than  a  bed  of  down  would. 
So,  if  your  young  men  will  permit,  my  son  will  join  their 
exercises." 

"  He  will  find  them  rough  playmates,"  answered  the 
Switzer  ;  ''but  be  it  at  your  pleasure," 

The  young  men  went  out  accordingly  to  the  open  lawn  in 
front  of  the  house.  Anne  of  Geierstein,  and  some  females 
of  the  household,  sat  down  on  a  bank  to  judge  which  per- 
formed best,  and  shouts,  loud  laughing,  and  all  that  an- 
nounces the  riot  of  juvenile  spirits  occupied  by  manly  sports, 
was  soon  after  heard  by  the  two  seniors,  as  they  sat  together 
in  the  hall.  The  master  of  the  house  resumed  the  wine-flask, 
and,  having  filled  the  cup  of  his  guest,  poured  the  remainder 
into  his  own. 

"  At  an  age,  worthy  stranger,"  he  said,  "  when  the  blood 
grows  colder  and  the  feelings  heavier,  a  moderate  cup  of 
wine  brings  back  light  thoughts  and  makes  the  limbs  supple. 
Yet  I  almost  wish  that  Noah  had  never  planted  the  grape, 
when  of  late  years  I  have  seen  with  my  own  eyes  my  country- 
men swill  wine  like  very  Germans,  till  they  were  like  gorged 
Bwine,  incapable  of  sense,  thought,  or  motion." 

"It  is  a  vice,"  said  the  Englishman,  "which  I  have 
observed  gains  ground  in  your  country,  where  within  a 
century  I  have  heard  it  was  totally  unknown." 

"It  was  so,"  said  the  Swiss,  "for  wine  was  seldom  made 
at  home,  and  never  imported  from  abroad  ;  for,  indeed,  none 
possessed  the  means  of  purchasing  that,  or  aught  else,  which 
our  valleys  produce  not.  But  our  wars  and  our  victories 
have  gained  us  wealth  as  well  as  fame ;  and  in  the  poor 
thoughts  of  one  Switzer  at  least,  we  had  been  better  without 
both,  had  we  not  also  gained  liberty  by  the  same  exertion. 
It  is  something,  however,  that  commerce  may  occasionally 
send  into  our  remote  mountains  a  sensible  visitor  like  your- 


ANNE  OF  GEIEB STEIN  ^ 

Belf,  worthy  guest,  whose  discourse  shows  him  to  be  a  man 
of  sagacity  and  discernment ;  for  though  I  love  not  the  in- 
creasing taste  for  trinkets  and  gewgaws  which  you  merchants 
introduce,  yet  I  acknowledge  that  we  simple  mountaineers 
learn  from  men  like  you  more  of  the  world  around  us  than 
we  could  acquire  by  our  own  exertions.  You  are  bound, 
you  say,  to  Bale,  and  thence  to  the  Duke  of  Burgundy's 
leaguer  2" 

^'1  am  so,  my  worthy  host,'*  said  the  merchant  ;  '^that 
is  providing  I  can  perform  my  journey  with  safety/' 

*'  Your  safety,  good  friend,  may  be  assured,  if  you  list  to 
tarry  for  two  or  three  days  ;  for  in  that  space  I  shall  myself 
take  the  journey,  and  with  such  an  escort  as  will  prevent 
any  risk  of  danger.  You  will  find  in  me  a  sure  and  faithful 
guide,  and  I  shall  learn  from  you  much  of  other  countries, 
which  it  concerns  me  to  know  better  than  I  do.  Is  it  a 
bargain  ?'' 

'*  The  proposal  is  too  much  to  my  advantage  to  be  refused," 
said  the 'Englishman;  ''but  may  I  ask  the  purpose  of  your 
journey  ?" 

''1  chid  yonder  boy  but  now,"  answered  Biederman,  ''for 
speaking  on  public  affairs  without  reflection,  and  before  the 
whole  family  ;  but  our  tidings  and  my  errand  need  not  be 
concealed  from  a  considerate  person  like  you,  who  must  in- 
deed soon  learn  it  from  public  rumor.  You  know  doubtless 
the  mutual  hatred  which  subsists  between  Louis  XI.  of 
France  and  Charles  of  Burgundy,  whom  men  call  the  Bold  ; 
and  having  seen  these  countries,  as  I  understand  from  your 
former  discourse,  you  are  probably  well  aware  of  the  various 
contending  interests  which,  besides  the  personal  hatred  of 
the  sovereigns,  make  them  irreconcilable  enemies.  Now 
Louis,  whom  the  world  cannot  match  for  craft  and  subtlety, 
is  using  all  his  influence,  by  distributions  of  large  sums 
amongst  some  of  the  counselors  of  our  neighbors  of  Berne, 
by  pouring  treasures  into  the  exchequer  of  that  state  itself, 
by  holding  out  the  bait  of  emolument  to  the  old  men,  and 
encouraging  the  violence  of  the  young,  to  urge  the  Bernese 
into  a  war  with  the  Duke.  Charles,  on  the  other  hand,  is 
acting,  as  he  frequently  does,  exactly  as  Louis  could  have 
wished.  Our  neighbors  and  allies  of  Berne  do  not,  like  us 
of  the  Forest  Cantons,  confine  themselves  to  pasture  or 
agriculture,  but  carry  on  considerable  commerce,  which  the 
Duke  of  Burgundy  has  in  various  instances  interrupted,  by 
the  exactions  and  violence  of  his  officers  in  the  frontier 
towns,  as  is  doubtless  well  known  to  you." 


42  WAVERLET  NOVELS 


(< 


Unquestionably,"  answered  the  merchant ;  •'  they  are 
universally  regarded  as  vexatious." 

*'  You  will  not  then  be  surprised  that,  solicited  by  the  one 
sovereign  and  aggrieved  by  the  other,  proud  of  past  victories 
and  ambitious  of  additional  power,  Berne  and  the  City  Cantons 
of  our  confederacy,  whose  representatives,  from  their  superior 
wealth  and  better  education,  have  more  to  say  in  our  Diet 
than  we  of  the  Forests,  should  be  bent  upon  war,  from 
which  it  has  hitherto  happened  that  the  republic  has  always 
derived  victory,  wealth,  and  increase  of  territory." 

"  Ay,  worthy  host,  and  of  glory,"  said  Philipson,  inter- 
rupting him  with  some  enthusiasm  ;  "  I  wonder  not  that  the 
brave  youths  of  your  states  are  willing  to  thrust  themselves 
upon  new  wars,  since  their  past  victories  have  been  so  bril- 
liant and  so  far-famed." 

"  You  are  no  wise  merchant,  kind  guest,"  answered  the 
host,  "  if  you  regard  success  in  former  desperate  undertak- 
ings as  an  encouragement  to  future  rashness.  Let  us  make 
a  better  use  of  past  victories.  When  we  fought  for  our  lib- 
erties God  blessed  our  arms  ;  but  will  He  do  so  if  we  fight 
either  for  aggrandizement  or  for  the  gold  of  France." 

"  Your  doubt  is  just,"  said  the  merchant,  more  sedately  ; 
*'  but  suppose  you  draw  the  sword  to  put  an  end  to  the  vexa- 
tious exactions  of  Burgundy  ?  " 

•'  Hear  me,  good  friend,"  answered  the  Switzer  ;  ''it  may 
be  that  we  of  the  Forest  Cantons  think  too  little  of  those 
matters  of  trade  which  so  much  engross  the  attention  of  the 
burghers  of  Berne.  Yet  we  will  not  desert  our  neighbors 
and  allies  in  a  just  quarrel  ;  and  it  is  well-nigh  settled  that 
a  deputation  shall  be  sent  to  the  Duke  of  Burgundy  to  request 
redress.  In  this  embassy  the  General  Diet  now  assembled 
at  Berne  have  requested  that  I  should  take  some  share ;  and 
hence  the  journey  in  which  I  propose  that  you  should  ac- 
company me." 

''It  will  be  much  to  my  satisfaction  to  travel  in  your  com- 
pany, worthy  host,"  said  the  Englishman.  "  But,  as  I  am  a 
true  man,  methinks  your  port  and  figure  resemble  an  envoy 
of  defiance  rather  than  a  messenger  of  peace." 

"  And  I  too  might  say,"  replied  the  Switzer,  "  that  your 
language  and  sentiments,  my  honored  guest,  rather  belong  to 
the  sword  than  the  measuring  wand." 

"  I  was  bred  to  the  sword,  worthy  sir,  before  I  took  the 
cloth-yard  in  my  hand,"  replied  Philipson,  smiling,  "and  it 
may  be  I  am  still  more  partial  to  my  old  trade  than  wisdom 
would  altogether  recommend." 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  43 

*^  1  thought  so/'  said  Arnold  ;  '^^  but  then  you  fought  most 
likely  under  your  country's  banners  against  a  foreign  and 
national  enemy  ;  and  in  that  case  I  will  admit  that  war  has 
something  in  it  which  elevates  the  heart  above  the  due  sense 
it  should  entertain  of  the  calamity  inflicted  and  endured  by 
God's  creatures  on  each  side.  But  the  warfare  in  which  I 
was  engaged  had  no  such  gilding.  It  was  the  miserable  war 
of  Zurich,  where  Switzers  leveled  their  pikes  against  the 
bosoms  of  their  own  countrymen  ;  and  quarter  was  asked  and 
refused  in  the  same  kindly  mountain  language.  From  such 
remembrances  your  warlike  recollections  are  probably  free," 

The  merchant  hung  down  his  head  and  pressed  his  fore- 
head with  his  hand,  as  one  to  whom  the  most  painful 
thoughts  were  suddenly  recalled. 

*'  Alas  ! "  he  said,  ^'  I  deserve  to  feel  the  pain  which  your 
words  inflict.  What  nation  can  know  the  woes  of  England 
that  has  not  felt  them — what  eye  can  estimate  them  which 
has  not  seen  a  land  torn  and  bleeding  with  the  strife  of  two 
desperate  factions,  battles  fought  in  every  province,  plains 
heaped  with  slain,  and  scaffolds  drenched  in  blood  ?  Even 
in  your  quiet  valleys,  methinks,  you  may  have  heard  of  the 
Civil  Wars  of  England  ?  " 

*'  I  do  indeed  bethink  me,"  said  the  Switzer,  "  that  Eng- 
land had  lost  her  possessions  in  France  during  many  years  of 
bloody  internal  wars  concerning  the  color  of  a  rose — was  it 
not  ?    But  these  are  ended." 

"For  the  present,"  answered  Philipson,  ''it  would  seem 
so." 

As  he  spoke  there  was  a  knock  at  the  door.  The  master 
of  the  house  said,  '*  Come  in  "  ;  the  door  opened,  and,  with 
the  reverence  which  was  expected  from  young  persons 
towards  their  elders  in  those  pastoral  regions,  the  fine  form 
of  Anne  of  Geierstein  presented  itself. 


CHAPTEE  IV 

And  now  the  well-known  bow  the  master  bore, 
Turn'd  on  all  sides,  and  view'd  it  o'er  and  o'er ; 
Whilst  some  deriding,  "  How  he  turns  the  bow ! 
Some  other  like  it  sure  the  man  must  know, 
Or  else  would  copy,  or  in  bows  he  deals  ; 
Perhaps  he  makes  them,  or  perhaps  he  steals." 

Pope's  Homer's  Odyssey, 

The  fair  maiden  approached  with  the  half -bashful,  half -im- 
portant look  which  sits  so  well  on  a  young  housekeeper,  when 
she  is  at  once  proud  and  ashamed  of  the  matronly  duties  she 
is  called  upon  to  discharge,  and  whispered  something  in  her 
uncle's  ear. 

^'^  And  could  not  the  idle-pated  boys  have  brought  their  own 
errand  ?  What  is  it  they  want  that  they  cannot  ask  them- 
selves, but  must  send  thee  to  beg  it  for  them  ?  Had  it  been 
anything  reasonable,  I  should  have  heard  it  dinned  into  my 
ears  by  forty  voices,  so  modest  are  our  Swiss  youths  become 
nowadays."  She  stooped  forward,  and  again  whispered  in 
his  ear,  as  he  fondly  stroked  her  curling  tresses  with  his  ample 
hand,  and  replied,  '^  The  bow  of  Buttisholz,  my  dear  ?  Why, 
the  youths  surely  are  not  grown  stronger  since  last  year, 
when  none  of  them  could  bend  it  ?  But  yonder  it  hangs 
with  its  three  arrows.  Who  is  the  wise  champion  that  is 
challenger  at  a  game  where  he  is  sure  to  be  foiled  ?  '* 

'^  It  is  this  gentleman's  son,  sir,''  said  the  maiden,  '^  who, 
not  being  able  to  contend  with  my  cousins  in  running,  leap- 
ing, hurling  the  bar,  or  pitching  the  stone,  has  challenged 
them  to  ride,  or  to  shoot  with  the  English  long-bow." 

''To  ride,"  said  the  venerable  Swiss,  ''were  difficult, 
where  there  are  no  horses,  and  no  level  ground  to  career 
upon  if  there  were.  But  an  English  bow  he  shall  have, 
since  we  haj)pen  to  possess  one.  Take  it  to  the  young  men, 
my  niece,  with  the  three  arrows,  and  say  to  them  from  me, 
that  he  who  bends  it  will  do  more  than  William  Tell  or  the 
renowned  Stauffacher  could  have  done." 

As  the  maiden  went  to  take  the  weapon  from  the  place 
where  it  hung  amid  the  group  of  arms  which  Philipson  had 
formerly  remarked,  the  English  merchant  observed,  "  that. 


ANNE  OF  GEIEBSTEIN  45 

were  the  minstrels  of  his  land  to  assign  her  occupation,  so 
fair  a  maiden  should  be  bow-bearer  to  none  but  the  little 
blind  god  Cupid. ■'^ 

"  I  will  have  nothing  of  the  blind  god  Cupid/'  said  Arnold, 
hastily,  yet  half  laughing  at  the  same  time  ;  ^^  we  have  been 
deafened  with  the  foolery  of  minstrels  and  strolling  minne- 
singers, ever  since  the  wandering  knaves  have  found  there 
were  pence  to  be  gathered  among  us.  A  Swiss  maiden  should 
only  sing  Albert  Tschudi^s  ballads,  or  the  merry  lay  of  the 
going  out  and  return  of  the  cows  to  and  from  the  mountain 
pastures." 

While  he  spoke,  the  damsel  had  selected  from  the  arms  a 
bow  of  extraordinary  strength,  considerably  above  six  feet  in 
length.,  with  three  shafts  of  a  cloth-yard  long.  Philipson 
eisked  to  look  at  the  weapons,  and  examined  them  closely. 
'  It  is  a  tough  piece  of  yew,"  he  said.  ^'  I  should  know  it, 
tsince  I  have  dealt  in  such  commodities  in  my  time  ;  but  when 
I  was  of  Arthur's  age,  I  could  have  bent  it  as  easily  as  a  boy 
bends  a  willow." 

'*  We  are  too  old  to  boast  like  boys,"  said  Arnold  Bieder- 
man,  with  something  of  a  reproving  glance  at  his  companion. 
**  Carry  the  bow  to  thy  kinsmen,  Anne,  and  let  him  who  can 
bend  it  say  he  beat  Arnold  Biederman."  As  he  spoke,  he 
turned  his  eyes  on  the  spare  yet  muscular  figure  of  the  Eng- 
lishman, then  again  glanced  down  on  his  own  stately 
person. 

'*You  must  remember,  my  good  host,"  said  Philipson, 
'^  that  weapons  are  wielded  not  by  strength,  but  by  art  and 
sleight  of  hand.  What  most  I  wonder  at  is  to  see  in  this 
place  a  bow  made  by  Matthew  of  Doncaster,  a  bowyer  who 
lived  at  least  a  hundred  years  ago,  remarkable  for  the  great 
toughness  and  strength  of  the  weapons  which  he  made,  and 
which  are  now  become  somewhat  unmanageable,  even  by  an 
English  yeoman." 

"How  are  you  assured  of  the  maker's  name,  worthy 
guest  ?  "  replied  the  Swiss. 

"By  old  Matthew's  mark,"  answered  the  Englishman, 
"  and  his  initials  cut  upon  the  bow.  I  wonder  not  a  little 
to  find  such  a  weapon  here,  and  in  such  good  preservation." 

"  It  has  been  regularly  waxed,  oiled,  and  kept  in  good 
order,"  said  the  Landamman,  "  being  preserved  as  a  trophy 
of  a  memorable  day.  It  would  but  grieve  you  to  recount  its 
early  history,  since  it  was  taken  in  a  day  fatal  to  your 
country." 

**  My  country/'  said  the  Englishman,  composedly,  "  has 


46  WA  VERLEY  NO  VELS 

gained  so  many  victories,  that  her  children  may  well  afford 
to  hear  of  a  single  defeat.  But  I  knew  not  that  the  English 
ever  warred  in  Switzerland.*' 

*'Not  precisely  as  a  nation,"  answered  Biederman  ;  **  but 
it  was  in  my  grandsire's  days  that  a  large  body  of  roving 
soldiers,  composed  of  men  from  almost  all  countries,  but 
especially  Englishmen,  Normans,  and  Gascons,  poured  down 
on  the  Aargau  and  the  districts  adjacent.  They  were  headed 
by  a  great  warrior  called  Ingelram  de  Couci,  who  pretended 
some  claims  upon  the  Duke  of  Austria,  to  satisfy  which  he 
ravaged  indifferently  the  Austrian  territory  and  that  of  our 
Confederacy.  His  soldiers  were  hired  warriors — Free  Com- 
panions they  called  themselves — that  seemed  to  belong  to  no 
country,  and  were  as  brave  in  the  fight  as  they  were  cruel  in 
their  depredations.  Some  pause  in  the  constant  -wars  be- 
twixt France  and  England  had  deprived  many  of  those  bands 
of  their  ordinary  employment,  and  battle  being  their  element, 
they  came  to  seek  it  among  our  valleys.  The  air  seemed  on 
fire  with  the  blaze  of  their  armor,  and  the  very  sun  was  dark- 
ened at  the  flight  of  their  arrows.  They  did  us  much  evil, 
and  we  sustained  the  loss  of  more  than  one  battle.  But  we 
met  them  at  Buttisholz,  and  mingled  the  blood  of  many  a 
rider,  noble  as  they  were  called  and  esteemed,  with  that  of 
their  horses.  The  huge  mound  that  covers  the  bones  of  man 
and  steed  is  still  called  the  English  barrow." 

Philipson  was  silent  for  a  minute  or  two,  and  then  replied, 
*'  Then  let  them  sleep  in  peace.  If  they  did  wrong,  they 
paid  for  it  with  their  lives  ;  and  that  is  all  the  ransom  that 
mortal  man  can  render  for  his  transgressions.  Heaven  pardon 
their  souls  ! " 

"  Amen,"  replied  the  Landamman,  ''  and  those  of  all  brave 
men  !  My  grandsire  was  at  the  battle,  and  was  held  to  have 
demeaned  himself  like  a  good  soldier  ;  and  this  bow  has  been 
ever  since  carefully  preserved  in  our  family.  There  is  a 
prophecy  about  it,  but  I  hold  it  not  worthy  of  remark." 

Philipson  was  about  to  inquire  farther,  but  was  interrupted 
by  a  loud  cry  of  surprise  and  astonishment  from  without. 

'^1  must  out,"  said  Biederman,  ''and  see  what  these  wild 
lads  are  doing.  It  is  not  now  as  formerly  in  this  land,  when 
the  young  dared  not  judge  for  themselves  till  the  old  man's 
voice  had  been  heard." 

He  went  forth  from  the  lodge,  followed  by  his  guest.  The 
company  who  had  witnessed  the  games  were  all  talking, 
shouting,  and  disputing  in  the  same  breath  ;  while  Arthur 
Philipson  stood  a  little  apart  from  the  rest,  leaning  on  the 


The  third  killed  the  poor  bird  as  it  rose  into  the  air.*  ** 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  47 

nnbent  bow  with  apparent  indifference.  At  the  sight  of  the 
Landamman  all  were  silent. 

*^  What  means  this  unwonted  clamor  ?''  he  said,  raising  a 
voice  to  which  all  were  accustomed  to  listen  with  reverence. 
**  Kudiger/'  addressing  the  eldest  of  his  sons,  "  has  the  young 
stranger  bent  the  bow  ?  " 

'^  He  has,  father/^  said  Rudiger,  '^  and  he  has  hit  the  mark. 
Three  such  shots  were  never  shot  by  William  Tell.^' 

"  It  was  chance — pure  chance/^  said  the  young  Swiss  from 
Berne.  '^No  human  skill  could  have  done  it,  much  less  a 
puny  lad,  baffled  in  all  besides  that  he  attempted  among 

**  But  what  has  been  done  ?  "  said  the  Landamman.  "  Nay, 
speak  not  all  at  once.  Anne  of  Geierstein,  thou  hast  more 
sense  and  breeding  than  these  boys — tell  me  how  the  game 
has  gone.'' 

The  maiden  seemed  a  little  confused  at  this  appeal ;  but 
answered  with  a  composed  and  downcast  look — 

*^The  mark  was,  as  usual,  a  pigeon  to  a  pole.  All  the 
young  men,  except  the  stranger,  had  practised  at  it  with  the 
cross-bow  and  long-bow,  without  hitting  it.  When  I  brought 
out  the  bow  of  Buttisholz,  I  offered  it  first  to  my  kinsmen. 
None  would  accept  of  it,  saying,  respected  uncle,  that  a  task 
too  great  for  you  must  be  far  too  difficult  for  them.'' 

"  They  said  well,"  answered  Arnold  Biederman  ;  '^  and  the 
stranger,  did  he  string  the  bow  ?" 

"  He  did,  my  uncle,  but  first  he  wrote  something  on  apiece 
of  paper,  and  placed  it  in  my  hands." 

^'  And  did  he  shoot  and  hit  the  mark  ?  "  continued  the 
surprised  Switzer. 

"  He  first,"  said  the  maiden, ''  removed  the  pole  a  hundred 
yards  farther  than  the  post  where  it  stood." 

'^  Singular  !"  said  the  Landamman,  ^^that  is  double  the 
usual  distance.*' 

'*  He  then  drew  the  bow,"  continued  the  maiden,  '^and 
shot  off,  one  after  another,  with  incredible  rapidity,  the  three 
arrows  which  he  had  stuck  into  his  belt.  The  first  cleft  the 
pole,  the  second  cut  the  string,  the  third  killed  the  poor  bird 
as  it  rose  into  the  air.'^ 

'^  By  St.  Mary  of  Einsiedlen,"  said  the  old  man,  looking 
up  in  amaze,  "  if  your  eyes  re.ally  saw  this,  they  saw  such 
archery  as  was  never  before  witnessed  in  the  Forest  States  !  " 

^^  I  say  nay  to  that,  my  revered  kinsman,"  replied  Rudolph 
Donnerhugel,  whose  vexation  was  apparent ;  *'  it  was  mere 
chance,  if  not  illusion  or  witchery." 


48  WAVEBLET  NOVELS 

'^  What  say'st  thou  of  it  thyself,  Arthur/^  said  his  father, 
half  smiling  ;  "  was  thy  success  by  chance  or  skill  ?  " 

'^  My  father/'  said  the  young  man,  '^  I  need  not  tell  you 
that  I  have  done  but  an  ordinary  feat  for  an  English  bowman. 
Nor  do  I  speak  to  gratify  that  misproud  and  ignorant  young 
man  ;  but  to  our  worthy  host  and  his  family  I  make  answer. 
This  youth  charges  me  with  having  deluded  men's  eyes,  or 
hit  the  mark  by  chance.  For  illusion,  yonder  is  the  pierced 
pole,  the  severed  string,  and  the  slain  bird,  they  will  endure 
sight  and  handling ;  and,  besides,  if  that  fair  maiden  will 
open  the  note  which  I  put  into  her  hand,  she  will  find  evi- 
dence to  assure  you  that,  even  before  I  drew  the  bow,  I  had 
fixed  upon  the  three  marks  which  I  designed  to  aim  at.'' 

'^  Produce  the  scroll,  good  niece,"  said  her  uncle,  ^'  and 
end  the  controversy." 

"  Nay,  under  your  favor,  my  worthy  host,"  said  Arthur, 
''  it  is  but  some  foolish  rhymes  addressed  to  the  maiden's 
own  eye." 

"  And,  under  your  favor,  sir,"  said  the  Landamman, 
"whatsoever  is  fit  for  my  niece's  eyes  may  greet  my  ears." 

He  took  the  scroll  from  the  maiden,  who  blushed  deeply 
when  she  resigned  it.  The  character  in  which  it  was  written 
was  so  fine  that  the  Landamman  in  surprise  exclaimed, 
"No  clerk  of  St.  Gall  could  have  written  more  fairly. 
Strange,"  he  again  repeated,  "  that  a  hand  which  could  draw 
so  true  a  bow  should  have  the  cunning  to  form  characters  so 
fair."  He  then  exclaimed  anew,  "  Ha  !  verses,  by  Our  Lady! 
What  !  have  we  minstrels  disguised  as  traders  ?  "  He  then 
opened  the  scroll,  and  read  the  following  lines  : — 

"'  If  I  hit  mast,  and  line,  and  bird 
An  English  archer  keeps  his  word. 
Ah  !  maiden,  didst  thou  aim  at  me, 
A  single  glance  were  worth  the  three.' 

Here  is  rare  rhyming,  my  worthy  guest,"  said  the  Landam- 
man, shaking  his  head—"  fine  words  to  make  foolish  maidens 
fain.  But  do  not  excuse  it ;  it  is  your  country  fashion,  and 
we  know  how  to  treat  it  as  such."  And  without  further 
allusion  to  the  concluding  couplet,  the  reading  of  which 
threw  the  poet  as  well  as  the  object  of  the  verses  into  some 
discomposure,  he  added  gravely,  "You  must  now  allow, 
Rudolph  Donnerhugel,  that  the  stranger  has  fairly  attained 
the  three  marks  which  he  proposed  to  himself." 

"That  he  has  attained  them  is  plain,"  answered  the  party 
to  whom  the  appeal  was  made  ;  "  but  that  he  has  done  this 


ANNE  OF  GEIEBSTEIN  4» 

fairly  may  be  doubted,  if  there  are  such  things  as  witchery 
and  magic  in  this  world. ''^ 

^'  Shame — shame,  Rudolph  !  "  said  the  Landamman  ;  "  can 
spleen  and  envy  have  weight  with  so  brave  a  man  as  you, 
from  whom  my  sons  ought  to  learn  temperance,  forbearance, 
and  candor,  as  well  as  manly  courage  and  dexterity  ?  " 

The  Bernese  colored  high  under  this  rebuke,  to  which  he 
ventured  not  to  attempt  a  reply. 

'^  To  your  sports  till  sunset,  my  children,"  continued 
Arnold  ;  ^'  while  I  and  my  worthy  friend  occupy  our  time 
with  a  walk,  for  w^hich  the  evening  is  now  favorable." 

''  Methinks,"  said  the  English  merchant,  ''  I  should  like 
to  visit  the  ruins  of  yonder  castle,  situated  by  the  waterfall. 
There  is  something  of  melancholy  dignity  in  such  a  scene 
which  reconciles  us  to  the  misfortunes  of  our  own  time,  by 
showing  that  our  ancestors,  who  were  perhaps  more  intelligent 
or  more  powerful,  have,  nevertheless,  in  their  days,  encoun- 
tered cares  and  distresses  similar  to  those  which  we  now  groan 
under." 

^'  Have  with  you,  my  worthy  sir,"  replied  his  host  ;  ^'  there 
will  be  time  also  upon  the  road  to  talk  of  things  that  you 
should  know." 

The  slow  step  of  the  two  elderly  men  carried  them  by 
degrees  from  the  limits  of  the  lawn,  where  shout,  and  laugh, 
and  halloo  were  again  revived.  Young  Philipson;  whose 
success  as  an  archer  had  obliterated  all  recollection  of  former 
failure,  made  other  attempts  to  mingle  in  the  manly  pas- 
times of  the  country,  and  gained  a  considerable  portion  of 
applause.  The  young  men  who  had  but  lately  been  so  ready 
to  join  in  ridiculing  him  now  began  so  consider  him  as  a 
person  to  be  looked  up  and  appealed  to ;  while  Rudolph 
Donnerhugel  saw  with  resentment  that  he  was  no  longer 
without  a  rival  in  the  opinion  of  his  male  cousins,  perhaps 
of  his  kinswoman  also.  The  proud  young  Swiss  reflected 
with  bitterness  that  he  had  fallen  under  the  Landamman's 
displeasure,  declined  in  reputation  with  his  companions,  of 
whom  he  had  been  hitherto  the  leader,  and  even  hazarded  a 
more  mortifying  disappointment — all,  as  his  swelling  heart 
expressed  it,  through  the  means  of  a  stranger  stripling,  of 
neither  blood  nor  fame,  who  could  not  step  from  one  rock  to 
another  without  the  encouragement  of  a  girl. 

In  this  irritated  mood,  he  drew  near  the  young  English- 
man, and  while  he  seemed  to  address  him  on  the  chances  of 
the  sports  which  were  still  proceeding,  he  conveyed,  in  a 
whisper,  matter  of  a  far  different  tendency.  Striking 
4 


60  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

Artliur's  shoulder  with  the  frank  bluntiiess  of  a  mountaineer, 
he  said  aloud,  ^^  Yonder  bolt  of  Ernest  whistled  through  the 
air  like  a  falcon  when  she  stoops  down  the  wind  ! "  And 
then  proceeded  in  a  deep  low  voice,  "  You  merchants  sell 
gloves — do  you  ever  deal  in  single  gauntlets,  or  only  in 
pairs  ? 

'^  I  sell  no  single  glove, *'  said  Arthur,  instantly  apprehend 
ing  him,  and  sufficiently  disposed  to  resent  the  scornful  looks 
of  the  Bernese  champion  during  the  time  of  their  meal,  and 
his  having  but  lately  imputed  his  successful  shooting  to 
chance  or  sorcery — '^I  sell  no  single  glove,  sir,  but  never 
refuse  to  exchange  one/' 

''  You  are  apt,  I  see,''  said  Eudolph  ;  ''look  at  the  players 
while  I  speak,  or  our  purpose  will  be  suspected.  You  are 
quicker,  I  say,  of  apprehension  than  I  expected.  If  we  ex- 
change our  gloves,  how  shall  each  redeem  his  own  ?" 

''  With  our  good  swords,"  said  Arthur  Philipson. 

"  In  armor,  or  as  we  stand  ?  " 

''Even  as  we  stand,"  said  Arthur.  "I  have  no  better 
garment  of  proof  than  this  doublet,  no  other  weapon  than 
my  sword  ;  and  these,  sir  Switzer,  I  hold  enough  for  the 
purpose.     Name  time  and  place." 

"  The  old  castle-court  at  Geierstein,"  replied  Eudolph, 
"  the  time  sunrise  ;  but  we  are  watched.  I  have  lost  my 
wager,  stranger,"  he  added,  speaking  aloud,  and  in  an  in- 
different tone  of  voice,  "  since  Ulrick  has  made  a  cast  beyond 
Ernest.  There  is  my  glove,  in  token  I  shall  not  forget  the 
flask  of  wine." 

"  And  there  is  mine,"  said  Arthur,  "  in  token  I  will  drink 
it  with  you  merrily." 

Thus,  amid  the  peaceful  though  rough  sports  of  their 
companions,  did  these  two  hot-headed  youths  contrive  to 
indulge  their  hostile  inclinations  towards  each  other,  by 
settling  a  meeting  of  deadly  purpose. 


CHAPTER  V 

I  was  one 
Who  loved  the  greenwood  bank  and  lowing  herd, 
The  russet  prize,  the  lowly  peasant's  life, 
Season'd  with  sweet  content,  more  than  the  halls 
Where  revelers  feast  to  fever-height.     Believe  me, 
There  ne'er  was  poison  mix'd  in  maple  bowl. 

Anonymous. 

Leaving  the  young  persons  engaged  with  their  sports,  the 
Landammau  of  Unterwalden  and  the  elder  Philipson  walked 
on  in  company,  conversing  chiefly  on  the  political  relations 
of  France,  England,  and  Burgundy,  until  the  conversation 
was  changed  as  they  entered  the  gate  of  the  old  castle-yard 
of  Geierstein,  where  arose  the  lonely  and  dismantled  keep, 
surrounded  by  the  ruins  of  other  buildings. 

"  This  has  been  a  proud  and  a  strong  habitation  in  its 
time,''  said  Philipson. 

"  They  were  a  proud  and  powerful  race  who  held  it,''  re- 
plied the  Landamman.  '^  The  Counts  of  Geierstein  have  a 
history  which  runs  back  to  the  times  of  the  old  Helvetians, 
and  their  deeds  are  reported  to  have  matched  their  antiquity. 
But  all  earthly  grandeur  has  an  end,  and  free  men  tread 
the  ruins  of  their  feudal  castle,  at  the  most  distant  sight  of 
whose  turrets  serfs  were  formerly  obliged  to  vail  their  bon- 
nets, if  they  would  escape  the  chastisement  of  contumacious 
lebels." 

"I  observe,"  said  the  merchant,  '^  engraved  on  a  stone 
under  yonder  turret,  the  crest,  I  conceive,  of  the  last  family 
— a  vulture  perched  on  a  rock,  descriptive,  doubtless,  of  the 
word  Geierstein." 

'^It  is  the  ancient  cognizance  of  the  family,"  replied 
Arnold  Biederman,  '*  and,  as  you  say,  expresses  the  name 
of  the  castle,  being  the  same  with  that  of  the  knights  who 
so  long  held  it." 

"  I  also  remarked  in  your  hall,"  continued  the  merchant, 
''  a  helmet  bearing  the  same  crest  or  cognizance.  It  is,  I 
suppose,  a  trophy  of  the  triumph  of  the  Swiss  peasants  over 
the  nobles  of  Geierstein,  as  the  English  bow  is  preserved  in 
remembrance  of  the  battle  of  Buttisholz  ?  " 

51 


52  WA  VEBLEY  NOVELS 

"And  you,  fair  sir,"  replied  the  Landamman,  "  would,  I 
perceive,  from  the  prejudices  of  your  education,  regard  the 
one  victory  with  as  unpleasant  feelings  as  the  other  ?  Strange, 
that  the  veneration  for  rank  should  be  rooted  even  in  the 
minds  of  those  who  have  no  claim  to  share  it  !  But  clear 
up  your  downcast  brows,  my  worthy  guest,  and  be  assured 
that,  though  many  a  proud  baron^s  castle,  when  Switzerland 
threw  off  the  bonds  of  feudal  slavery,  was  plundered  and 
destroyed  by  the  just  vengeance  of  an  incensed  people,  such 
was  not  the  lot  of  Geierstein.  The  blood  of  the  old  possessors 
of  these  towers  still  flows  in  the  veins  of  him  by  whom  these 
lands  are  occupied."" 

"What  am  I  to  understand  by  that,  sir  Landamman  ?'' 
said  Philipson.  "Are  not  you  yourself  the  occupant  of  this 
place  ?" 

"  And  you  think,  probably,"  answered  Arnold,  "  because 
I  live  like  the  other  shepherds,  wear  homespun  gray,  and 
hold  the  plow  with  my  own  hands,  I  cannot  be  descended 
from  a  line  of  ancient  nobility  ?  This  land  holds  many  such 
gentle  peasants,  sir  merchant ;  nor  is  there  a  more  ancient 
nobility  than  that  of  which  the  remains  are  to  be  found  in 
my  native  country.  But  they  have  voluntarily  resigned  the 
oppressive  part  of  their  feudal  power,  and  are  no  longer  re- 
garded as  wolves  amongst  the  flock,  but  as  sagacious  mas- 
tiffs, who  attend  the  sheep  in  time  of  peace,  anil  are  prompt 
in  their  defense  when  war  threatens  our  community." 

"  But,"  repeated  the  merchant,  who  could  not  yet  reconcile 
himself  to  the  idea  that  his  plain  and  peasant-seeming  host 
was  a  man  of  distinguished  birth,  "you  bear  not  the  name, 
worthy  sir,  of  your  fathers.  They  were,  you  say,  the  Counts 
of  Geierstein,  and  you  are " 

"  Arnold  Biederman,  at  your  command,"  answered  the 
magistrate.  "  But  know — if  the  knowledge  can  make  you 
sup  with  more  sense  of  dignity  or  comfort — I  need  but  put 
on  yonder  old  helmet,  or,  -if  that  were  too  much  trouble,  I 
have  only  to  stick  a  falcon^s  feather  into  my  cap,  and  call 
myself  Arnold  Count  of  Geierstein.  No  man  could  gainsay 
me ;  though  whether  it  would  become  my  Lord  Count  to 
drive  his  bullocks  to  the  pasture,  and  whether  his  Excellency 
the  High  and  Well-born  could,  without  derogation,  sow  a 
field  or  reap  it,  are  questions  which  should  be  settled  before- 
hand. I  see  you  are  confounded,  my  respected  guest,  at  my 
degeneracy  ;  but  the  state  of  my  family  is  very  soon  ex- 
plained. 

"  My  lordly  fathers  ruled  this  same  domain  of  Geierstein, 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  63 

which  in  their  time  was  very  extensive,  mnch  after  the  mode 
of  feudal  barons — that  is,  they  were  sometimes  the  protectors 
and  patrons,  but  oftener  the  oppressors,  of  their  subjects. 
But  when  my  grandfather,  Heinrich  of  Geierstein,  flourished, 
he  not  only  joined  the  Confederates  to  repel  Ingelram  de 
Couci  and  his  roving  bands,  as  I  already  told  you,  but,  when 
the  wars  with  Austria  were  renewed,  and  many  of  his  degree 
Joined  with  the  host  of  the  Emperor  Leopold,  my  ancestor 
adopted  the  opposite  side,  fought  in  front  of  the  Confederates, 
and  contributed  by  his  skill  and  valor  '^o  the  decisive  victory 
at  Sempach,  in  which  Leopold  lost  his  life,  and  the  flower 
of  Austrian  chivalry  fell  around  him.  My  father.  Count 
Williewald,  followed  the  same  course,  both  from  inclination 
and  policy.  He  united  himself  closely  with  the  state  of  Un- 
terwalden,  became  a  citizen  of  the  Confederacy,  and  dis- 
tinguished himself  so  much,  that  he  was  chosen  landamman 
of  the  republic.  He  had  two  sons,  myself  and  a  younger 
brother,  Albert ;  and  possessed,  as  he  felt  himself,  of  a  species 
of  double  character,  he  was  desirous,  perhaps  unwisely — if  I 
may  censure  the  purpose  of  a  deceased  parent — that  one  of  his 
sons  should  succeed  him  in  his  lordship  of  Geierstein,  and 
the  other  support  the  less  ostentatious,  though  not  in  my 
thought  less  honorable,  condition  of  a  free  citizen  of  Un- 
terwalden,  possessing  such  influence  among  his  equals  in  the 
canton  as  might  be  acquired  by  his  father's  merits  and  his 
own.  When  Albert  was  twelve  years  old,  our  father  took  us 
on  a  short  excursion  to  Germany,  where  the  form,  pomp, 
and  magnificence  which  we  witnessed  made  a  very  different 
impression  on  the  mind  of  my  brother  and  on  my  own. 
What  appeared  to  Albert  the  consummation  of  earthly  splen- 
dor seemed  to  me  a  weary  display  of  tiresome  and  useless 
ceremonials.  Our  father  explained  his  purpose,  and  offered 
to  me,  as  his  eldest  son,  the  large  estate  belonging  to  Geier- 
stein, reserving  such  a  portion  of  the  most  fertile  ground  as 
might  make  my  brother  one  of  the  wealthiest  citizens  in  a 
district  where  competence  is  esteemed  wealth.  The  tears 
gushed  from  Albert's  eyes.  '^  And  must  my  brother,''  he 
said,  *'be  a  noble  count,  honored  and  followed  by  vassals 
and  attendants,  and  I  a  homespun  peasant  among  the  gray- 
bearded  shepherds  of  Unterwalden  ?  No,  father,  I  respect 
your  will,  but  I  will  not  sacrifice  my  own  rights.  Geierstein 
is  a  fief  held  of  the  empire,  and  the  laws  entitle  me  to  my  equal 
half  of  the  lands.  If  my  brother  be  Count  of  Geierstein,  I 
am  not  the  less  Count  Albert  of  Geierstein  ;  and  I  will  ap- 
peal to  the  Emperor,  rather  than  that  the  arbitrary  will  of 


54  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

one  ancestor,  though  he  be  my  father,  shall  cancel  in  me 
the  rank  and  rights  which  I  have  derived  from  a  hundred." 
My  father  was  greatly  incensed.  **  Go/'  he  said,  ^'  proud 
boy,  give  the  enemy  of  thy  country  a  pretext  to  interfere  in 
her  affairs  :  appeal  to  the  will  of  a  foreign  prince  from  the 
pleasure  of  thy  father.  Go,  but  never  again  look  me  in  the 
face,  and  dread  my  eternal  malediction  ! "  Albert  was  about 
to  reply  with  vehemence,  when  I  entreated  him  to  be  silent 
and  hear  me  speak.  I  had,  I  said,  all  my  life  loved  the 
mountain  better  than  the  plain,  had  been  more  pleased  to 
walk  than  to  ride,  more  proud  to  contend  with  shepherds 
in  their  sports  than  with  nobles  in  the  lists,  and  happier  in 
the  village  dance  than  among  the  feasts  of  the  German 
nobles.  ''  Let  me,  therefore, '^  I  said,  "  be  a  citizen  of  the 
republic  of  Unterwalden — you  will  relieve  me  of  a  thousand 
cares  ;  and  let  my  brother  Albert  wear  the  coronet  and  bear 
the  honors  of  Geierstein.'^  After  some  further  discussion, 
my  father  was  at  length  contented  to  adopt  my  proposal,  in 
order  to  attain  the  object  which  he  had  so  much  at  heart. 
Albert  was  declared  heir  of  his  castle  and  his  rank,  by  the 
title  of  Count  Albert  of  Geierstein ;  and  I  was  placed  in 
possession  of  these  fields  and  fertile  meadows  amidst  which 
my  house  is  situated,  and  my  neighbors  called  me  Arnold 
Biederman.^' 

'^And  if  Biederman,'^  said  the  merchant,  "means,  as  I 
understand  the  w^ord,  a  man  of  worth,  candor,  and  gen* 
erosity,  I  know  none  on  whom  the  epithet  could  be  so  justly 
conferred.  Yet  let  me  observe,  that  I  praise  the  con< 
duct  which,  in  your  circumstances,  I  could  not  have  bowed 
my  spirit  to  practise.  Proceed,  I  pray  you,  with  the  his- 
tory of  your  house,  if  the  recital  be  not  painful  to  you.'' 

''  I  have  little  more  to  say,"  replied  the  Landamman. 
"  My  father  died  soon  after  the  settlement  of  his  estate  in 
the  manner  I  have  told  you.  My  brother  had  other  pos- 
sessions in  Swabia  and  Westphalia,  and  seldom  visited  his 
paternal  castle,  which  was  chiefly  occupied  by  a  seneschal, 
a  man  so  obnoxious  to  the  vassals  of  the  family  that,  but  for 
the  protection  afforded  by  my  near  residence  and  relationship 
with  his  lord,  he  would  have  been  plucked  out  of  the  Vul- 
ture's Nest,  and  treated  with  as  little  ceremony  as  if  he  had 
been  the  vulture  himself.  Neither,  to  say  the  truth,  did  my 
brother's  occasional  visits  to  Geierstein  afford  his  vassals 
much  relief,  or  acquire  any  popularity  for  himself.  He 
heard  with  the  ears  and  saw  with  the  eyes  of  his  cruel  and 
interested  steward,  Ital  Schreckenwald,  and  would  not  listen 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  56 

even  to  my  interference  and  admonition.  Indeed,  thor.gh 
he  always  demeaned  himself  with  personal  kindness  towards 
me,  I  believe  he  considered  me  as  a  dull  and  poor-spirited 
clown,  who  had  disgraced  my  noble  blood  by  my  mean  pro- 
pensities. He  showed  contempt  on  every  occasion  for  the 
prejudices  of  his  countrymen,  and  particularly  by  wearing  a 
peacock^s  feather  in  public,  and  causing  his  followers  to 
display  the  same  badge,  though  the  cognizance  of  the  house 
of  Austria,  and  so  unpopular  in  this  country,  that  men  have 
been  put  to  death  for  no  better  reason  than  for  carrying  it 
in  their  caps.  In  the  meantime  I  was  married  to  my  Bertha, 
now  a  saint  in  Heaven,  by  whom  I  had  six  stately  sons,  five 
of  whom  you  saw  surrounding  my  table  this  day.  Albert 
also  married.  His  wife  was  a  lady  of  rank  in  Westphalia, 
but  his  bridal-bed  was  less  fruitful  :  he  had  only  one  daugh- 
ter, Anne  of  Geierstein.  Then  came  on  the  wars  between 
the  city  of  Zurich  and  our  Forest  Cantons,  in  which  bo  much 
blood  was  shed,  and  when  our  brethren  of  Zurich  were  so 
ill-advised  as  to  embrace  the  alliance  of  Austria.  Their 
Emperor  strained  every  nerve  to  avail  himself  of  the  favor- 
able opportunity  afforded  by  the  disunion  of  the  Swiss,  and 
engaged  all  with  whom  he  had  influence  to  second  his  efforts. 
With  my  brother  he  was  but  too  successful ;  for  Albert  not 
only  took  arms  in  the  Emperor's  cause,  but  admitted  into  the 
strong  fortress  of  Geierstein  a  band  of  Austrian  soldiers,  with 
whom  the  wicked  Ital  Schreckenwald  laid  waste  the  whole 
country,  excepting  my  little  patrimony. "'' 

*"'  It  came  to  a  severe  pass  with  you,  my  worthy  host,^^ 
said  the  merchant,  *' since  you  were  to  decide  against  the 
cause  of  your  country  or  that  of  your  brother. '^ 

^'  I  did  not  hesitate,"  continued  Arnold  Beiderman.  *'  My 
brother  was  in  the  Emperor's  army,  and  I  was  not  therefore 
reduced  to  act  personally  against  him  ;  but  I  denounce 
war  against  the  robbers  and  thieves  with  whom  Schrecken- 
wald had  filled  my  father's  house.  It  was  waged  with  vari- 
ous fortune.  The  seneschal,  during  my  absence,  burnt 
down  my  house,  and  slew  my  youngest  son,  who  died,  alas  ! 
in  defense  of  his  father's  hearth.  It  is  little  to  add,  that 
my  lands  were  wasted  and  my  flocks  destroyed.  On  the 
other  hand,  I  succeeded,  with  help  of  a  body  of  the  peasants 
of  Unterwalden,  in  storming  the  Castle  of  Geierstein.  It  was 
offered  back  to  me  by  the  Confederates  ;  but  I  had  no  desire 
to  sully  the  fair  cause  in  which  I  had  assumed  arms,  by  en- 
riching myself  at  the  expense  of  my  brother  ;  and  besides, 
to  have   dwelt  in  that  guarded  liold   would  have  been  a 


56  WAVERLET  NOVELS 

penance  to  one  the  sole  protectors  of  whose  house  of  late  years 
had  been  a  latch  and  a  shepherd^s  cur.  The  castle  was  there- 
fore dismantled,  as  you  see,  by  order  of  the  elders  of  the 
canton ;  and  I  even  think  that,  considering  the  uses  it  was 
too  often  put  to,  I  look  with  more  pleasure  on  the  rugged 
remains  of  Geierstein  than  I  ever  did  when  it  was  entire  and 
apparently  impregnable/' 

"  I  •jan  understand  your  feelings/'  said  the  Englishman, 
^'though  I  repeat,  my  virtue  would  not  perhaps  have  ex- 
tended so  far  beyond  the  circle  of  my  family  affections. 
Your  brother,  what  said  he  to  your  patrotic  exertions  ?" 

*^  He  was,  as  I  learnt,''  answered  the  Landamman,  *'  dread- 
fully incensed,  having  no  doubt  been  informed  that  I  had 
taken  his  castle  with  a  view  to  my  own  aggrandizement.  He 
even  swore  he  would  renounce  my  kindred,  seek  me  through 
the  battle,  and  slay  me  with  his  own  hand.  We  were,  in 
fact,  both  at  the  battle  of  Freyenbach,  but  my  brother  was 
prevented  from  attempting  the  execution  of  his  vindictive 
purpose  by  a  wound  from  an  arrow,  which  occasioned  his 
being  carried  out  of  the  melee.  I  was  afterwards  in  the 
bloody  and  melancholy  fight  at  Mount  Hirzel,  and  that 
other  onslaught  at  the  chapel  of  St.  Jacob,  which  brought 
our  brethren  of  Zurich  to  terms,  and  reduced  Austria  once 
more  to  the  necessity  of  making  peace  with  us.  After  this 
war  of  thirteen  years  the  Diet  passed  sentence  of  banish- 
ment for  life  on  my  brother  Albert,  and  would  have  deprived 
him  cf  his  possessions,  but  forbore  in  consideration  of  what 
they  thought  my  good  service.  When  the  sentence  was  in- 
timated to  the  Count  of  Geierstein,  he  returned  an  answer  of 
defiance  ;  yet  a  singular  circumstance  showed  us  not  long 
afterwards  that  he  retained  an  attachment  to  his  country, 
and,  amidst  his  resentment  against  me  his  brother,  did  jus- 
tice to  my  unaltered  affection  for  him." 

^'  I  would  pledge  my  credit,"  said  the  merchant,  ^^  that 
what  follows  relates  to  yonder  fair  maiden,  your  niece  ?  " 

*^  You  guess  rightly,"  said  the  Landamman.  ''  For  some 
time  we  heard,  though  indistinctly — for  we  have,  as  you 
know,  but  little  communication  with  foreign  countries — • 
that  my  brother  was  high  in  favor  at  the  court  of  the  Em- 
peror, but  latterly  that  he  had  fallen  under  suspicion,  and 
in  the  course  of  some  of  those  revolutions  common  at  the 
courts  of  princes,  had  been  driven  into  exile.  It  was  shortly 
after  this  news,  and,  as  I  think,  more  than  seven  years  ago, 
that  I  was  returning  from  hunting  on  the  further  side  of 
the  river,  had  passed  tho  narrow  bridge  as  usual,  and  was 


ANNE  OF  GEIEBSTEIN  67 

walking  through  the  courtyard  which  we  have  lately  left 
(for  their  walk  was  now  turned  homeward),  when  a  voice 
said,  in  the  German  language,  ^  Uncle,  have  compassion  up- 
on me  !  ^  As  I  looked  around,  I  beheld  a  girl  of  ten  years 
old  approach  timidly  from  the  shelter  of  the  ruins  and  kneel 
down  at  my  feet.  ^  Uncle,  spare  my  life,'  she  said,  hold- 
ing up  her  little  hands  in  the  act  of  supplication,  while 
mortal  terror  was  painted  upon  her  countenance.  '  Am  I 
your  uncle,  little  maiden  ? '  said  I  ;  ^  and  if  I  am,  why 
should  you  fear  me  ? '  '  Because  you  are  the  head  of  the 
wicked  and  base  clowns  who  delight  to  spill  noble  blood/ 
replied  the  girl,  with  a  courage  which  surprised  me.  '  What 
is  your  name,  my  little  maiden  ? '  said  I ;  '  and  who,  hav- 
ing planted  in  your  mind  opinions  so  unfavorable  to  your 
kinsman,  has  brought  you  hither,  to  see  if  he  resembles  the 
picture  you  have  received  of  him  ?  '  'It  was  Ital  Schreck- 
enwald  that  brought  me  hither,'  said  the  girl,  only  half 
comprehending  the  nature  of  my  question.  *  Ital  Schreck- 
enwald  !  *  I  repeated,  shocked  at  the  name  of  a  wretch  I 
have  so  much  reason  to  hate.  A  voice  from  the  ruins,  like 
that  of  a  sullen  echo  from  the  grave  answered,  '  Ital  Schreck- 
enwald  !'  and  the  caitiff  issued  from  his  place  of  con- 
cealment, and  stood  before  me,  with  that  singular  indiffer- 
'^nce  to  danger  which  he  unites  to  his  atrocity  of  character. 
I  had  my  spiked  mountain-staff  in  my  hand — what  should  I 
have  done,  or  what  would  you  have  done,  under  like  cir- 
cumstances ?'' 

"  I  would  have  laid  him  on  the  earth,  with  his  skull 
shivered  like  an  icicle  !  "  said  the  Englishman,  fiercely. 

"  I  had  well-nigh  done  so,''  replied  the  Swiss,  '^  but  he  was 
unarmed,  a  messenger  from  my  brother,  and  therefore  no 
object  of  revenge.  His  own  undismayed  and  audacious  con- 
duct contributed  to  save  him.  '  Let  the  vassal  of  the  noble 
and  high-born  Count  of  Geierstein  hear  the  words  of  his 
master,  and  let  him  look  that  they  are  obeyed,'  said  the  in- 
dolent ruffian.  '  Doff  thy  cap  and  listen  ;  for,  though  the 
voice  is  mine,  the  words  are  those  of  the  noble  count.* 
'  God  and  man  know,'  replied  I,  '  if  I  owe  my  brother  re- 
spect or  homage ;  it  is  much  if,  in  respect  for  him,  I  defer 
paying  to  his  messenger  the  meed  I  dearly  owe  him.  Pro- 
ceed with  thy  tale,  and  rid  me  of  thy  hateful  presence.' 
'Albert  Count  of  Geierstein,  thy  lord  and  my  lord,'  pro- 
ceeded Schreckenwald,  'having  on  his  hand  wars  and  other 
affairs  of  weight,  sends  his  daughter,  the  Countess  Anne,  to 
thy  charge,  and  graces  thee  so  far  as  to  entrust  to  thee  hei 


58  WA  VERLE  Y  NO  VELS 

support  and  nurture,  until  it  shall  suit  his  purposes  to  re- 
quire her  back  from  thee;  and  he  desires  that  thou  apply  to 
her  maintenance  the  rents  and  profits  of  the  lands  of  Geier- 
stein,  which  thou  hast  usurped  from  him.'  '  Ital  Schreck- 
enwald,'  I  replied,  '  I  will  not  stop  to  ask  if  this  mode  of 
addressing  me  be  according  to  my  brother's  directions  or 
thine  own  insolent  pleasure.  If  circumstances  have,  as  thou 
sayest,  deprived  my  niece  of  her  natural  protector,  I  will  be 
to  her  as  a  father,  nor  shall  she  want  aught  which  I  have  to 
give  her.  The  lands  of  Geier stein  are  forfeited  to  the  state, 
the  castle  is  ruinous,  as  thou  seest,  and  it  is  much  of  thy 
crimes  that  the  house  of  my  fathers  is  desolate.  But  where 
I  dwell  Anne  of  Geierstein  shall  dwell,  as  my  children  fare 
shall  she  fare,  and  she  shall  be  to  me  as  a  daughter.  And 
now  thou  hast  thine  errand.  Go  hence,  if  thou  lovest  thy 
life;  for  it  is  unsafe  parleying  with  the  father  when  thy 
hands  are  stained  with  the  blood  of  the  son.'  The  wretch 
retired  as  I  spoke,  but  took  his  leave  with  his  usual  deter- 
mined insolence  of  manner.  '  Farewell,'  he  said,  '  Count 
of  the  Plough  and  Harrow — farewell,  noble  companion  of 
paltry  burghers!'  He  disappeared,  and  released  me  from 
the  strong  temptation  under  which  I  labored,  and  which 
urged  me  to  stain  with  his  blood  the  place  which  had  wit- 
nessed his  cruelty  and  his  crimes.  I  conveyed  my  niece  to 
my  house,  and  soon  convinced  her  that  I  was  her  sincere 
friend.  I  inured  her,  as  if  she  had  been  my  daughter,  to 
all  our  mountain  exercises;  and  while  she  excels  in  these 
the  damsels  of  the  district,  there  burst  from  her  such  sparkles 
of  sense  and  courage,  mingled  with  delicacy,  as  belong 
not — I  must  needs  own  the  truth — to  the  simple  maidens  of 
these  wild  hills,  but  relish  of  a  nobler  stem  and  higher  breed- 
ing. Yet  they  are  so  happily  mixed  with  simplicity  and 
courtesy,  that  Anne  of  Geierstein  is  justly  considered  as  the 
pride  of  the  district ;  nor  do  I  doubt  but  that,  if  she  should 
make  a  worthy  choice  of  a  husband,  the  state  would  assign 
her  a  large  dower  out  of  her  father's  possessions,  since  it  is 
not  our  maxim  to  punish  the  child  for  the  faults  of  the 
parent." 

"  It  will  naturally  be  your  anxious  desire,  my  worthy 
host,"  replied  the  Englishman,  "to  secure  to  your  niece,  in 
whose  praises  I  have  deep  cause  to  join  with  a  grateful  voice, 
such  a  suitable  match  as  her  birth  and  expectations,  but 
above  all  her  merit,  demand." 

*'  It  is,  my  good  guest,"  said  the  Landamman,  '*  that  which 
hath  often  occupied  my  thoughts.     The  over-near  relation- 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  59 

«hip  prohibits  what  would  have  been  my  most  earnest  desire, 
the  hope  of  seeing  her  wedded  to  one  of  my  own  sons.  This 
young  man,  Rudolph  Donnerhugel,  is  brave,  and  highly  es- 
t.eemed  by  his  fellow-citizens  ;  but  more  ambitious,  and  more 
desirous  of  distinction,  than  I  would  desire  for  my  niece^s 
companion  through  life.  His  temper  is  violent,  though  his 
heart,  I  trust,  is  good.  But  I  am  like  to  be  unpleasantly  re- 
leased from  all  care  on  this  score,  since  my  brother,  having, 
as  it  seemed,  forgotten  Anne  for  seven  years  and  upwards, 
has,  by  a  letter  which  I  have  lately  received,  demanded  that 
Bhe  shall  be  restored  to  him.  You  can  read,  my  worthy  sir, 
for  your  profession  requires  it.  See,  here  is  the  scroll,  coldly 
worded,  but  far  less  unkindly  than  his  unbrotherly  message 
by  Ital  Schreckenwald.  Read  it,  I  pray  you,  aloud/' 
The  merchant  read  accordingly. 

'' '  Brother — I  thank  you  for  the  care  you  have  taken  of 
my  daughter,  for  she  has  been  in  safety  when  she  would 
otherwise  have  been  in  peril,  and  kindly  used  when  she 
would  have  been  in  hardship.  I  now  entreat  you  to  restore 
her  to  me,  and  trust  that  she  will  come  with  the  virtues 
which  become  a  woman  in  every  station,  and  a  disposition  to 
lay  aside  the  habits  of  a  Swiss  villager  for  the  graces  of 
a  high-born  maiden.  Adieu.  I  thank  you  once  more  for 
your  care,  and  would  repay  it  were  it  in  my  power  ;  but  you 
need  nothing  I  can  give,  having  renounced  the  rank  to  which 
you  were  born,  and  made  your  nest  on  the  ground,  where 
the  storm  passes  over  you.  I  rest  your  brother,  GEiERSTEiiq".'' 

It  is  addressed  '  To  Count  Arnold  of  Geierstein,  called  Ar- 
nold Biederman.'  A  postscript  requires  you  to  send  the 
maiden  to  the  court  of  the  Duke  of  Burgundy.  This,  good 
sir,  appears  to  me  the  language  of  a  haughty  man,  divided 
betwixt  the  recollection  of  old  offense  and  recent  obligation. 
The  speech  of  his  messenger  was  that  of  a  malicious  vassal, 
desirous  of  venting  his  own  spite  under  pretense  of  doing  his 
lord's  errand.'' 

"  I  so  receive  both,"  replied  Arnold  Biederman. 

'*  And  do  you  intend,"  continued  the  merchant,  ''  to  re- 
sign this  beautiful  and  interesting  creature  to  the  conduct  of 
her  father,  wilful  as  he  seems  to  be,  without  knowing  what 
his  condition  is,  or  what  his  power  of  protecting  her  ?" 

The  Landamman  hastened  to  reply.  ''  The  tie  which 
unites  the  parent  to  the  child  is  the  earliest  and  the  most 
hallowed  that  binds  the  human  race.     The  difficulty  of  her 


60  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

traveling  in  safety  has  hitherto  prevented  my  attempting  to 
carry  my  brother's  instructions  into  execution.  But,  as  I  am 
now  likely  to  journey  in  person  towards  the  court  of  Charles, 
I  have  determined  that  Anne  shall  accompany  me  ;  and  as  I 
will  myself  converse  with  my  brother,  whom  I  have  not  seen 
for  many  years,  I  shall  learn  his  purpose  respecting  his 
daughter,  and  it  may  be  I  may  prevail  on  Albert  to  suffer 
her  to  remain  under  my  charge.  And  now,  sir,  having  told 
you  of  my  family  affairs  at  some  greater  length  than  was 
necessary,  I  must  crave  your  attention,  as  a  wise  man,  to 
what  farther  I  have  to  say.  You  know  the  disposition  which 
young  men  and  women  naturally  have  to  talk,  jest,  and  sport 
with  each  other,  out  of  which  practise  arise  often  more 
serious  attachments,  which  they  call  \oNmg  par  amours.  I 
trust,  if  we  are  to  travel  together,  you  will  so  school  your 
young  man  as  to  make  him  aware  that  Anne  of  Geierstein 
cannot,  with  propriety  on  her  part,  be  made  the  object  of  his 
thoughts  or  attention. '' 

The  merchant  colored  with  resentment,  or  something  like 
it.  '^  I  asked  not  to  join  your  company,  sir  Landamman — 
it  was  you  who  requested  mine,''  he  said  :  ^^if  my  son  and  I 
have  since  become  in  any  respect  the  objects  of  your  sus- 
picion, we  will  gladly  pursue  our  way  separately." 

'^  Nay,  be  not  angry,  worthy  guest/'  said  the  Landamman  ; 
''  we  Switzers  do  not  rashly  harbor  suspicions  ;  and  that  we 
may  not  harbor  them,  we  speak  respecting  the  circumstances 
out  of  which  they  might  arise  more  plainly  than  is  the  wont 
of  more  civilized  countries.  When  I  proposed  to  you  to  be 
my  companion  on  the  journey,  to  speak  the  truth,  though 
it  may  displease  a  father's  ear,  I  regarded  your  son  as  a  soft, 
faint-hearted  youth,  who  was,  as  yet  at  least,  too  timid  and 
milky-blooded  to  attract  either  respect  or  regard  from  the 
maidens.  But  a  few  hours  have  presented  him  to  us  in' the 
character  of  such  a  one  as  is  sure  to  interest  them.  He  has 
accomplished  the  emprise  of  the  bow,  long  thought  unattain- 
able, and  with  which  a  popular  report  connects  an  idle 
prophecy.  He  has  wit  to  make  verses,  and  knows  doubtless 
how  to  recommend  himself  by  other  accomplishments  which 
bind  young  persons  to  each  other,  though  they  are  lightly 
esteemed  by  men  whose  beards  are  mixed  with  gray,  like 
yours,  friend  merchant,  and  mine  own.  Now,  you  must  be 
aware  that,  since  my  brother  broke  terms  with  me  simply  for 
preferring  the  freedom  of  a  Swiss  citizen  to  the  tawdry  and 
servile  condition  of  a  German  courtier,  he  will  not  approve 
of  any  one  looking  towards  his  daughter  who  hath  not  the 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  61 

advantage  of  noble  blood,  or  who  hatb  what  he  would  call 
debased  himself  by  attention  to  merchandise,  to  the  cultiva- 
tion of  land — in  a  word,  to  any  art  that  is  useful.  Should 
your  son  love  Anne  of  Geierstein,  he  prepares  for  himself 
danger  and  disappointment.  And  now  you  know  the  whole, 
I  ask  you — do  we  travel  together  or  apart  ?  " 

"Even  as  ye  list,  my  worthy  host,"  said  Philipson,  in  an 
indifferent  tone ;  "  for  me,  I  can  but  say  that  such  an  attach- 
ment as  you  speak  of  would  be  as  contrary  to  my  wishes  as 
to  those  of  your  brother,  or  what  I  suppose  are  your  own. 
Arthur  Philipson  has  duties  to  perform  totally  inconsistent 
with  his  playing  the  gentle  bachelor  to  any  maiden  in 
Switzerland,  take  Germany  to  boot,  whether  of  high  or  low 
degree.  He  is  an  obedient  son  besides — hath  never  seriously 
disobeyed  my  commands,  and  I  will  have  an  eye  upon  his 
motions. ''' 

"  Enough,  my  friend/'  said  the  Landamman  ;  "we  travel 
together,  then,  and  I  willingly  keep  my  original  purpose,  be- 
ing both  pleased  and  instructed  by  your  discourse." 

Then,  changing  the  conversation,  he  began  to  ask  whether 
his  acquaintance  thought  that  the  league  entered  into  by  the 
King  of  England  and  the  Duke  of  Burgundy  would  continue 
stable.  '^  Wo  hear  much,"  continued  the  Swiss,  "  of  the 
immense  army  with  which  King  Edward  proposes  the  re- 
covery of  the  English  dominions  in  France." 

"  I  am  well  aware,"  said  Philipson,  "  that  nothing  can  be 
so  popular  in  my  country  as  the  invasion  of  France,  and  the 
attempt  to  reconquer  Normandy,  Maine,  and  Gascony,  the 
ancient  appanages  of  our  English  crown.  But  I  greatly 
doubt  whether  the  voluptuous  usurper  who  now  calls  him- 
self king  will  be  graced  by  Heaven  with  success  in  such  an 
adventure.  This  fourth  Edward  is  brave  indeed,  and  has 
gained  every  battle  in  which  he  drew  his  sword,  and  they 
have  been  many  in  number.  But  since  he  reached,  through 
a  bloody  path,  to  the  summit  of  his  ambition,  he  has  shown 
himself  rather  a  sensual  debauchee  than  a  valiant  knight ; 
and  it  is  my  firm  belief  that  not  even  the  chance  of  recover- 
ing all  the  fair  dominions  which  were  lost  during  the  civil 
wars  excited  by  his  ambitious  house  will  tempt  him  to  ex- 
change the  soft  beds  of  London,  with  sheets  of  silk  and 
pillows  of  down,  and  the  music  of  a  dying  lute  to  lull  him  to 
rest,  for  the  turf  of  France  and  the  reveille  of  an  alarm 
trumpet." 

"It  is  the  better  for  us  should  it  prove  so,"  said  the  Land- 
amman ;  "  for  if  England  and  Burgundy  were  to  dismember 


a2  WAVEBLET  NOVELS 

France,  as  in  our  father's  days  was  nearly  arcomplished, 
Duke  Charles  would  then  have  leisure  to  exnaast  his  long- 
hoarded  vengeance  against  our  confederacy/' 

As  they  conversed  thus,  they  attained  once  more  the  lawn 
in  front  of  Arnold  Biederman's  mansion,  wh»rre  the  conten- 
tion of  the  young  men  had  given  place  to  the  dance 
performed  by  the  young  persons  of  both  sexws.  The  dance 
was  led  by  Anne  of  Geierstein  and  the  youthful  stranger ; 
which,  although  it  was  the  most  natural  arrangement,  where 
the  one  was  a  guest  and  the  other  represented  the  mistress 
of  the  family,  occasioned  the  Landamman's  exchanging  a 
glance  with  the  elder  Philipson,  as  if  it  had  heid  some  rela- 
tion to  the  suspicions  he  had  recently  expressed* 

But  so  soon  as  her  uncle  and  his  elder  gnest  appeared, 
Anne  of  Geierstein  took  the  earliest  opportunity  of  a  pause 
to  break  off  the  dance,  and  to  enter  into  conversation  with 
her  kinsman,  as  if  on  the  domestic  affairs  under  her  attend- 
ance. Philipson  observed  that  his  host  listened  seriously  to 
his  niece's  communication ;  and,  nodding  in  his  frank 
manner,  seemed  to  intimate  that  her  request  should  receive  a 
favorable  consideration. 

The  family  were  presently  afterwards  summoned  to  attend 
the  evening  meal,  which  consisted  chiefly  of  the  excellent 
fish  afforded  by  the  neighboring  streams  and  lakes.  A  large 
cup  containing  what  was  called  the  schlaftrunk,  or  sleeping 
drink,  then  went  round,  which  was  first  quaffed  by  the 
master  of  the  household,  then  modestly  tasted  by  the  maiden, 
next  pledged  by  the  two  strangers,  and  finally  emptied  by 
the  rest  of  the  company.  Such  were  then  the  sober  manners 
of  the  Swiss,  afterwards  corrupted  by  their  intercourse  with 
more  luxurious  regions.  The  guests  were  conducted  to 
the  sleeping  apartments,  where  Philipson  and  young  Ar- 
thur occupied  the  same  couch,  and  shortly  after  the  whole 
inhabitants  of  the  household  were  locked  in  sound  repose. 


CHAPTER  VI 

When  we  two  meet,  we  meet  like  rushing  torrents  j 
Like  warring  winds,  like  flames  from  various  points. 
That  mate  each  other's  fury — there  is  nought 
Df  elemental  strife,  were  fiends  to  guide  it, 
Can  match  the  wrath  of  man 

Frenaud. 

The  elder  of  our  two  travelers,  though  a  strong  man  and 
familiar  with  fatigue,  slept  sounder  and  longer  than  usual 
on  the  morning  which  was  now  beginning  to  dawn,  but  his 
son  Arthur  had  that  upon  his  mind  which  early  interrupted 
his  repose. 

The  encounter  with  the  bold  Switzer,  a  chosen  man  of  a 
renowned  race  of  warriors,  was  an  engagement  which,  in  the 
opinion  of  the  period  in  which  he  lived,  was  not  to  be  de- 
layed or  broken.  He  left  his  father^s  side,  avoiding  as  much 
as  possible  the  risk  of  disturbing  him,  though  even  in  that 
case  the  circumstance  would  not  have  excited  any  attention, 
as  he  was  in  the  habit  of  rising  early,  in  order  to  make  prep- 
arations for  the  day^s  journey,  to  see  that  the  guide  was  on 
his  duty,  and  that  the  mule  had  his  provender,  :^nd  to  dis- 
charge similar  offices  which  might  otherwise  have  given 
trouble  to  his  father.  The  old  man,  however,  fatigued  with 
the  exertions  of  the  preceding  day,  slept,  as  we  have  said,  more 
soundly  than  his  wont,  and  Arthur,  arming  himself  with  his 
good  sword,  sallied  out  to  the  lawn  in  front  of  the  Landam- 
man's  dwelling,  amid  the  magic  dawn  of  a  beautiful  harvest 
morning  in  the  Swiss  mountains. 

The  sun  was  just  about  to  kiss  the  top  of  the  most  gigan- 
tic of  that  race  of  Titans,  though  the  long  shadows  still  lay 
on  the  rough  grass,  which  crisped  under  the  young  man's 
ffjet  with  a  strong  intimation  of  frost.  But  Arthur  looked 
not  around  on  the  landscape,  however  lovely,  which  lay  wait- 
ing  one  flash  from  the  orb  of  day  to  start  into  brilliant 
existence.  He  drew  the  belt  of  his  trusty  sword  which  he 
was  in  the  act  of  fastening  when  he  left  the  house,  and  ere 
he  had  secured  the  buckle,  he  was  many  paces  on  his 
way  towards  the  place  where  he  was  to  use  it. 

It  was  still  the  custom  of  that  military  period  to  regard  a 

63 


64  WAVEBLET  NOVELS 

summons  to  combat  as  a  sacred  engagement,  preferable  to  all 
other  which  could  be  formed  ;  and  stifling  whatever  inward 
feelings  of  reluctance  nature  might  oppose  to  the  dictates  of 
fashion,  the  step  of  a  gallant  to  the  place  of  encounter  was 
re(juired  to  be  as  free  and  ready  as  if  he  had  been  going  to  a 
bridal.  I  do  not  know  whether  this  alacrity  was  altogether 
real  on  the  part  of  Arthur  Philipson  ;  but  if  it  were  other- 
wise, neither  his  look  nor  pace  betrayed  the  secret. 

Having  hastily  traversed  the  fields  and  groves  which  sep- 
arated the  Landamman^'s  residence  from  the  old  castle  of 
Geierstein,  he  entered  the  courtyard  from  the  side  where 
the  castle  overlooked  the  land  ;  and  nearly  in  the  same  in- 
stant his  almost  gigantic  antagonist,  who  looked  yet  more 
tall  and  burly  by  the  pale  morning  light  than  he  had  seemed 
the  preceding  evening,  appeared  ascending  from  the  pre- 
carious bridge  beside  the  torrent,  having  reached  Geierstein 
by  a  different  route  from  that  pursued  by  the  Englishman. 

The  young  champion  of  Berne  had  hanging  along  his 
back  one  of  those  huge  two-handed  swords,  the  blade  of  which 
measured  five  feet,  and  which  were  wielded  with  both  hands. 
These  were  almost  universally  used  by  the  Swiss ;  for,  be- 
sides the  impression  which  such  weapons  were  calculated  to 
make  upon  the  array  of  the  German  men-at-arms,  whose 
armor  was  impenetrable  to  lighter  swords,  they  were  also 
well  calculated  to  defend  mountain  passes,  where  the  great 
bodily  strength  and  agility  of  those  who  bore  them  enabled 
the  combatants,  in  spite  of  their  weight  and  length,  to  use 
them  with  much  address  and  effect.  One  of  these  gigantic 
swords  hung  round  Rudolph  Donnerhugers  neck,  the  point 
rattling  against  his  heel,  and  the  handle  extending  itself 
over  his  left  shoulder,  considerably  above  his  head.  He 
carried  another  in  his  hand. 

''  Thou  art  punctual,^'  he  called  out  to  Arthur  Philipson, 
in  a  voice  which  was  distinctly  heard  above  the  roar  of  the 
waterfall,  which  it  seemed  to  rival  in  sullen  force.  ''  But  I 
judged  thou  wouldst  come  without  a  two-handed  sword. 
There  is  my  kinsman  Ernest^s  he  said,  throwing  on  the 
ground  the  weapon  which  he  carried,  with  the  hilt  towards 
the  young  Englishman.  "  Look,  stranger,  that  thou  disgrace 
it  not,  for  my  kinsman  will  never  forgive  me  if  thou  dost. 
Or  thou  mayst  have  mine  if  thou  likest  it  better.*' 

The  Englishman  looked  at  the  weapon  with  some  surprise, 
to  the  use  of  which  he  was  totally  unaccustomed. 

"  The  challenger,"  he  said,  **in  all  countries  where  honor 
is  known  accepts  the  arms  of  the  challenged.  " 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTBIN  6B 

^'  He  who  fights  on  a  Swiss  mountain  fights  witn  a  Swiss 
brand/*  answered  Eudolph.  **  Think  you  our  hands  are 
made  to  handle  penknives  ?  ^* 

*^Nor  are  ours  made  to  wield  scythes/'  said  Arthur;  and 
muttered  betwixt  his  teeth,  as  he  looked  at  the  sword,  which 
the  Swiss  continued  to  offer  him — ^^  Usu7n  non  haheo :  I 
have  not  proved  the  weapon/' 

*' Do  you  repent  the  bargain  you  have  made  ?'' said  the 
Swiss  ;  '^  if  so  cry  craven,  and  return  in  safety.  Speak  plainly, 
instead  of  prattling  Latin  like  a  clerk  or  a  shaven  monk/' 

^*  Ko,  proud  man,"  replied  the  Englishman,  '^  I  ask  thee 
no  forbearance.  I  thought  but  of  a  combat  between  a  shep- 
herd and  a  giant,  in  which  Grod  gave  the  victory  to  him  who 
had  worse  odds  of  weapons  than  falls  to  my  lot  to-day.  I 
will  fight  as  I  stand  :  my  own  good  sword  shall  serve  my 
need  now,  as  it  has  done  before." 

"  Content !  But  blame  not  me  who  offered  thee  equality 
of  weapons,"  said  the  mountaineer.  '^  And  now  hear  me. 
This  is  a  fight  for  life  or  death ;  yon  waterfall  sounds  the 
alarum  for  our  conflict.  Yes,  old  bellower,"  he  continued, 
looking  back,  "  it  is  long  since  thou  hast  heard  the  noise  of 
battle.  And  look  at  it  ere  we  begin,  stranger,  for,  if  you 
fall,  I  will  commit  your  body  to  its  waters." 

"  And  if  thou  fall'st,  proud  Swiss,"  answered  Arthur,  ''as 
well  I  trust  thy  presumption  leads  to  destruction,  I  will 
have  thee  buried  in  the  church  at  Einsiedlen,  where  the 
priests  shall  sing  masses  for  thy  soul ;  thy  two-handed  sword 
shall  be  displayed  above  thy  grave,  and  a  scroll  shall  tell  the 
passenger,  *  Here  lies  a  bear's  cub  of  Berne,  slain  by  Arthur 
the  Englishman."' 

"  The  stone  is  not  in  Switzerland,  rocky,  as  it  is,"  said 
Eudolph,  scornfully,  ''that  shall  bear  that  inscription. 
Prepare  thyself  for  battle." 

The  Englishman  cast  a  calm  and  deliberate  glance  around 
the  scene  of  action — a  courtyard,  partly  open,  partly  encum- 
bered with  ruins,  in  less  and  larger  masses. 

"  Methinks,"  said  he  to  himself,  "a  master  of  his  weapon, 
with  the  instructions  of  Bottaferma  of  Florence  in  his  re- 
membrance, a  light  heart,  a  good  blade,  a  firm  hand,  and  a 
just  cause,  might  make  up  a  worse  odds  than  two  feet  of 
steel." 

Thinking  thus,  and  imprinting  on  his  mind,  as  much  as 
the  time  would  permit,  every  circumstance  of  the  locality 
around  him  which  promised  advantage  in  the  combat,  and 
taking  his  station  in  the  middle  of  the  courtyard  where  the 


m  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

ground  was  entirely  clear,  he  flung  his  cloak  from  him  and 
drew  his  sword. 

Rudolph  had  at  first  believed  that  his  foreign  antagonist 
was  an  effeminate  youth,  who  would  be  swept  from  before 
him  at  the  first  flourish  of  his  tremendous  weapon.  But  the 
firm  and  watchful  attitude  assumed  by  the  young  man  re- 
minded the  Swiss  of  the  deficiencies  of  his  own  unwieldy 
implement,  and  made  him  determine  to  avoid  any  precipita- 
tion which  might  gi*e  advantage  to  an  enemy  who  seemed 
both  daring  and  vigilant.  He  unsheathed  his  huge  sword, 
by  drawing  it  over  the  left  shoulder — an  operation  which 
required  some  little  time,  and  might  have  offered  formida- 
ble advantage  to  his  antagonist,  had  Arthur's  sense  of  honor 
permitted  him  to  begin  the  attack  ere  it  was  completed. 
The  Englishman  remained  firm,  however,  until  the  Swiss, 
displaying  his  bright  brand  to  the  morning  sun,  made  three 
or  four  flourishes  as  if  to  prove  its  weight  and  the  facility 
with  which  he  wielded  it,  then  stood  firm  within  sword- 
stroke  of  his  adversary,  grasping  his  weapon  with  both 
hands,  and  advancing  it  a  little  before  his  body,  with  the 
blade  pointed  straight  upwards.  The  Englishman,  on  the 
contrary,  carried  his  sword  in  one  hand,  holding  it  across 
his  face  in  a  horizontal  position,  so  as  to  be  at  once  ready  to 
strike,  thrust,  or  parry. 

"  Strike,  Englishman  ! "  said  the  Switzer,  after  they  had 
confronted  each  other  in  this  manner  for  about  a  minute. 

''  The  longest  sword  should  strike  first,''  said  Arthur : 
ftnd  the  words  had  not  left  his  mouth  when  the  Swiss  sword 
rose,  and  descended  with  a  rapidity  which,  the  weight  and 
size  of  the  weapon  considered,  appeared  portentous.  No 
parry,  however  dexterously  interposed,  could  have  baffled 
the  ruinous  descent  of  that  dreadful  weapon,  by  which  the 
champion  of  Berne  had  hoped  at  once  to  begin  the  battle 
and  end  it.  But  young  Philipson  had  not  over-estimated 
the  justice  of  his  own  eye  or  the  activity  of  his  limbs.  Ere 
the  blade  descended,  a  sudden  spring  to  one  side  carried  him 
from  beneath  its  heavy  sway,  and  before  the  Swiss  could 
again  raise  his  sword  aloft,  he  received  a  wound,  though  a 
slight  one,  upon  the  left  arm.  Irritated  at  the  failure  and 
at  the  wound,  the  Switzer  heaved  up  his  sword  once  more, 
and  availing  himself  of  a  strength  corresponding  to  his  size, 
he  discharged  towards  his  adversary  a  succession  of  blows, 
downright,  athwart,  horizontal,  and  from  left  to  right,  with 
such  surprising  strength  and  velocity,  that  it  required  all 
the  address  of  the  young  Englishman,  by  parrying,  shifting. 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  01 

eluding,  or  retreating,  to  evade  a  storm  of  which  every  in- 
dividual blow  seemed  sufficient  to  cleave  a  solid  rock.  The 
Englishman  was  compelled  to  give  ground,  now  backwards, 
now  swerving  to  the  one  side  or  the  other,  now  availing  him- 
self of  the  fragments  of  the  ruins,  but  watching  all  the 
while,  with  the  utmost  composure,  the  moment  when  the 
strength  of  his  enraged  enemy  might  become  somewhat  ex- 
hausted, or  when  by  some  improvident  or  furious  blow  he 
might  again  lay  himself  open  to  a  close  attack.  The  latter 
of  these  advantages  had  nearly  occurred,  for,  in  the  middle 
of  his  headlong  charge,  the  Switzer  stumbled  over  a  large 
stone  concealed  among  the  long  grass,  and,  ere  he  could  re- 
cover himself,  received  a  severe  blow  across  the  head  from 
his  antagonist.  It  lighted  upon  his  bonnet,  the  lining  of 
which  inclosed  a  small  steel  cap,  so  that  be  escaped  un- 
wounded,  and,  springing  up,  renewed  the  battle  with  una- 
bated fury,  though  it  seemed  to  the  young  Englishman  with 
breath  somewhat  short,  and  blows  dealt  with  more  caution. 

They  were  still  contending  with  equal  fortune,  when  a 
stern  voice,  rising  over  the  clash  of  swords,  as  well  as  the 
roar  of  waters,  called  out  in  a  commanding  tone,  ^'  On  your 
lives,  forbear  ! " 

The  two  combatants  sunk  the  points  of  their  swords,  not 
very  sorry,  perhaps,  for  the  interruption  of  a  strife  which 
must  otherwise  have  had  a  deadly  termination.  They  looked 
round,  and  the  Landamman  stood  before  them,  with  anger 
frowning  on  his  broad  and  expressive  forehead. 

'^How  now,  boys  V  he  said  ;  "  are  you  guests  of  Arnold 
Biederman,  and  do  you  dishonor  his  house  by  acts  of  violence 
more  becoming  the  wolves  of  the  mountains  than  beings  to 
whom  the  great  Creator  has  given  a  form  after  His  own  like- 
ness and  an  immortal  soul  to  be  saved  by  penance  and 
repentance  ?  " 

''  Arthur, '^  said  the  elder  Philipson,  who  had  come  up  at 
the  same  time  with  their  host,  ''  what  frenzy  is  this  ?  Are 
your  duties  of  so  light  and  heedless  a  nature  as  to  give  time 
and  place  for  quarrels  and  combats  with  every  idle  boor  who 
chances  to  be  boastful  at  once  and  bull-headed  ^" 

The  young  men,  whose  strife  had  ceased  at  the  entrance  of 
these  unexpected  spectators,  stood  looking  at  each  other  and 
resting  on  their  swords. 

"  Rudolph  Donnerhugel,"  said  the  Landamman,  ''  give  thy 
sword  to  me — to  me,  the  owner  of  this  ground,  the  master  of 
this  family,  and  magistrate  of  the  canton.^' 

"  And  which  is  more/^  answered  Rudolph,  submissively, 


I 


68  WAVER  LEY  NOVELS 

"  to  you  who  are  Arnold  Biederman,  at  whose  command  everj 
native  of  these  mountains  draws  his  sword  or  sheathes 
it/' 

He  gave  his  two-handed  sword  to  the  Landamman. 

'^  Now,  by  my  honest  word/*  said  Biederman,  ^'  it  is  the 
same  with  which  thy  father  Stephen  fought  so  gloriously  at 
Sempach,  abreast  with  the  famous  De  Winkelried  !  Shame  it 
is  that  it  should  be  drawn  on  a  helpless  stranger.  And  you, 
young  sir,"  continued  the  Swiss,  addressing  Arthur,  while 
his  father  said  at  the  same  time,  ''  Young  man,  yield  up  your 
sword  to  the  Landamman/' 

'^  It  shall  not  need,  sir,''  replied  the  young  Englishman, 
"  since,  for  my  part,  I  hold  our  strife  at  an  end.  This  gallant 
gentleman  called  me  hither  on  a  trial,  as  I  conceive,  of 
courage  :  I  can  give  my  unqualified  testimony  to  his  gallantry 
and  swordmanship  ;  and,  as  I  trust  he  will  say  nothing  to 
the  shame  of  my  manhood,  I  think  our  strife  has  lasted  long 
enough  for  the  purpose  which  gave  rise  to  it/' 

'^  Too  long  for  me,"  said  Eudolph,  frankly  :  ''  the  green 
sleeve  of  my  doublet,  which  I  wore  of  that  color  out  of  my 
love  to  the  Forest  Cantons,  is  now  stained  into  as  dirty  a 
crimson  as  could  have  been  done  by  any  dyer  in  Ypres  or 
Ghent.  But  I  heartily  forgive  the  brave  stranger  who  has 
spoiled  my  jerkin,  and  given  its  master  a  lesson  he  will  not  soon 
forget.  Had  all  Englishmen  been  like  your  guest,  worthy 
kinsman,  methinks  the  mound  at  Buttisholz  had  hardly  risen 
so  high/' 

"  Cousin  Eudolph,"  said  the  Landamman,  smoothing  his 
brow  as  his  kinsman  spoke,  ''  I  have  ever  thought  thee  as 
generous  as  thou  art  harebrained  and  quarrelsome  ;  and  you, 
my  young  guest,  may  rely  that,  when  a  Swiss  says  the  quarrel 
is  over,  there  is  no  chance  of  its  being  renewed.  We  are  not 
like  the  men  of  the  valleys  to  the  eastward,  who  nurse  re- 
venge as  if  it  were  a  favorite  child.  And  now  join  hands, 
my  children,  and  let  us  forget  this  foolish  feud/' 

"  Here  is  my  hand,  brave  stranger,"  said  Donnerhugel ; 
''  thou  has  taught  me  a  trick  of  fence,  and  when  we  have 
broken  our  fast,  we  will,  by  your  leave,  to  the  forest,  where 
I  will  teach  you  a  trick  of  woodcraft  in  return.  When  your 
foot  hath  half  the  experience  of  your  hand,  and  your  eye 
hath  gained  a  portion  of  the  steadiness  of  your  heart,  you 
will  not  find  many  hunters  to  match  you." 

Arthur,  with  all  the  ready  confidence  of  youth,  readily 
embraced  a  proposition  so  frankly  made,  and  before  they 
reached  the  house  various  subjects  of  sport  were  eagerly  dis« 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  6^ 

cnssea  between  them,  with  as  much  cordiality  as  if  no  dis- 
turbance of  their  concord  had  taken  place. 

'^  Now  this/'^  said  the  Landamman,  *'  is  as  it  should  be. 
I  am  ever  ready  to  forgive  the  headlong  impetuosity  of  our 
youth,  if  they  will  be  but  manly  and  open  in  their  reconcil- 
iation, and  bear  their  heart  on  their  tongue,  as  a  true  Swiss 
should. '' 

*'  These  two  youths  had  made  but  wild  work  of  it,  how- 
ever," said  Philipson,  '^  had  not  your  care,  my  worthy  host, 
learned  of  their  rendezvous,  and  called  me  to  assist  in  break- 
ing their  purpose.  May  I  ask  how  it  came  to  your  knowl- 
edge so  opportunely  ?" 

'^  It  was  e'en  through  means  of  my  domestic  fairy, ^'  an- 
swered Arnold  Biederman,  ^'  who  seems  born  for  the  good 
luck  of  my  family — I  mean  my  niece,  Anne,  who  had  observed 
a  glove  exchanged  betwixt  the  two  young  braggadocios,  and 
heard  them  mention  Geierstein  and  break  of  day.  0,  sir, 
it  is  much  to  see  a  woman^s  sharpness  of  wit!  It  would 
have  been  long  enough  ere  any  of  my  thick-headed  sons  had 
shown  themselves  so  apprehensive. '* 

"^  I  think  I  see  our  propitious  protectress  peeping  at  us 
from  yonder  high  ground,"  said  Philipson  ;  *'  but  it  seems 
as  if  she  would  willingly  observe  us  without  being  seen  in 
return." 

'^  Ay,"  said  the  Landamman,  *'  she  has  been  looking  out 
to  see  that  there  has  been  no  hurt  done  ;  and  now,  I  warrant 
me,  the  foolish  girl  is  ashamed  of  having  shown  such  a  laud- 
able degree  of  interest  in  a  matter  of  the  kind." 

"  Methinks,"  said  the  Englishman,  '^  I  would  willingly 
return  my  thanks  in  your  presence,  to  the  fair  maiden  to 
whom  I  have  been  so  highly  indebted." 

"  There  can  be  no  better  time  than  the  present,"  said  the 
Landamman  ;  and  he  sent  through  the  groves  the  maiden's 
name,  in  one  of  those  shrilly  accented  tones  which  we  have 
already  noticed. 

Anne  of  Geierstein,  as  Philipson  had  before  observed,  was 
stationed  upon  a  knoll  at  some  distance,  and  concealed,  as 
she  thought,  from  notice  by  a  screen  of  brushwood.  She 
started  at  her  uncle's  summons,  therefore,  but  presently 
obeyed  it ;  and,  avoiding  the  young  men,  who  passed  on 
foremost,  she  joined  the  Landamman  and.  Philipson  by  a 
circuitous  path  through  the  woods. 

*^My  worthy  friend  and  guest  would  speak  with  you, 
Anne,"  said  the  Landamman,  so  soon  as  the  morning  greet- 
ing had  been  exchanged.     The  Swiss  maiden  colored  over 


70  WA  VERLEY  NOVELS 

brow  as  well  as  cheek  when  Philipson,  with  a  grace  which 
Beemed  beyond  his  calling,  addressed  her  in  these  words — 

"  It  happens  sometimes  to  us  merchants,  my  fair  young 
friend,  that  we  are  unlucky  enough  not  to  possess  means  for 
the  instant  defraying  of  our  debts  ;  but  he  is  justly  held 
amongst  us  as  the  meanest  of  mankind  who  does  not  acknowl- 
edge them.  Accept,  therefore,  the  thanks  of  a  father  whose 
son  your  courage,  only  yesterday,  saved  from  destruction, 
and  whom  your  prudence  has,  this  very  morning,  rescued 
from  a  great  danger.  And  grieve  me  not  by  refusing  to 
wear  these  ear-rings,^^  he  added,  producing  a  small  jewel- 
case,  which  he  opened  as  he  spoke  ;  ^'  they  are,  it  is  true, 
only  of  pearls,  but  they  have  not  been  thought  unworthy 
the  ears  of  a  countess '' 

*' And  must,  therefore,^'  said  the  old  Landamman,  '^  show 
misplaced  on  the  person  of  a  Swiss  maiden  of  Unterwallen  ; 
for  such  and  no  more  is  my  niece  Anne  while  she  resides  in 
my  solitude.  Methinks,  good  Master  Philipson,  you  display 
less  than  your  usual  judgment  in  matching  the  quality  of 
your  gifts  with  the  rank  of  her  on  whom  they  are  bestowed  ; 
as  a  merchant,  too,  you  should  remember  that  large  guer- 
dons will  lighten  your  gains." 

"  Let  me  crave  your  pardon,  my  good  host,"  answered  the 
Englishman,  '*  while  I  reply,  that  at  least  I  have  consulted 
my  own  sense  of  the  obligation  under  which  I  labor,  and 
have  chosen,  out  of  what  I  have  at  my  free  disposal,  that 
which  I  thought  might  best  express  it.  I  trust  the  host 
whom  I  have  found  hitherto  so  kind  will  not  prevent  this 
young  maiden  from  accepting  what  is  at  least  not  unbecom- 
mg  the  rank  she  is  born  to  ;  and  you  will  judge  me  unjustly 
if  you  think  me  capable  of  doing  either  myself  or  you  the 
wrong  of  offering  any  token  of  a  value  beyond  what  I  can 
well  spare." 

The  Landamman  took  the  jewel-case  into  his  own  hand. 

"  I  have  ever  set  my  countenance,"  he  said,  *'  against 
gaudy  gems,  which  are  leading  us  daily  further  astray  from 
the  simplicity  of  our  fathers  and  mothers.  And  yet,"  he 
added,  with  a  good-humored  smile,  and  holding  one  of  the 
ear-rings  close  to  his  relation's  face,  '^  the  ornaments  do  set 
off  the  wench  rarely,  and  they  say  girls  have  more  pleasure 
in  wearing  such  toys  than  gray-haired  men  can  comprehend  ; 
wherefore,  dear  Anne,  as  thou  has  deserved  a  dearer  trust 
in  a  greater  matter,  I  refer  thee  entirely  to  thine  own  wis- 
dom, to  accept  of  our  good  friend's  costly  present  and  weai 
it  or  not  as  thou  thinkest  fit." 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  71 

*'  Since  such  is  your  pleasure,  my  best  friend  and  kins- 
man/' said  the  young  maiden,  blushing  as  she  spoke,  ^'  I 
v/ill  not  give  pain  to  our  valued  guest  by  refusing  what  he 
desires  so  earnestly  that  I  should  accept;  but,  by  his  leave, 
good  uncle,  and  yours,  I  will  bestow  these  splendid  ear-rings 
on  the  shrine  of  Our  Lady  of  Einsiedlen,  to  express  our 
general  gratitude  to  her  protecting  favor,  which  has  been 
around  us  in  the  terrors  of  yesterday's  storm  and  the  alarms 
of  this  morning's  discord/' 

*^By  Our  Lady,  the  wench  speaks  sensibly!''  said  the 
Landamman  ;  '*  and  her  wisdom  has  applied  the  bounty 
well,  my  good  guest,  to  bespeak  prayers  for  the  family  and 
mine,  and  for  the  general  peace  of  Unterwalden.  Go  to, 
Anne,  thou  shalt  have  a  necklace  of  jet  at  next  shearing-feast 
if  our  fleeces  bear  any  price  in  the  markef 


CHAPTEE  Vn 

Let  him  v/ho  will  not  proffer'd  peace  receiy© 
Be  sated  with  the  plagues  which  war  can  give  ; 
And  well  thy  hatred  of  the  ^eace  is  known, 
If  now  thy  soul  reject  the  friendship  shown. 

Hoole's  Tasso. 

The  confidence  betwixt  the  Landamman  and  the  English 
merchant  appeared  to  increase  during  the  course  of  a  few 
busy  days,  which  occurred  before  that  appointed  for  the 
commencement  of  their  journey  to  the  court  of  Charles  of 
Burgundy.  The  state  of  Europe,  and  of  the  Helvetian  Con- 
federacy, has  been  already  alluded  to  ;  but,  for  the  distinct 
explanation  of  our  story,  may  be  here  briefly  recapitulated. 

In  the  interval  of  a  week,  whilst  the  English  travelers  re- 
mained at  Geirestein,  meetings  or  diets  were  held,  as  well  of 
the  City  Cantons  of  the  Confederacy  as  of  those  of  the  Forest. 
The  former,  aggrieved  by  the  taxes  imposed  on  their  com- 
merce by  the  Duke  of  Burgundy,  rendered  yet  more  intol- 
erable by  the  violence  of  the  agents  wbom  he  employed  in 
such  oppression,  were  eager  for  war,  in  which  they  had 
hitherto  uniformly  found  victory  and  wealth.  Many  of 
them  were  also  privately  instigated  to  arms  by  the  largesses 
of  Louis  XI.,  who  spared  neither  intrigues  nor  gold  to  effect 
a  breach  betwixt  these  dauntless  confederates  and  his  form- 
idable enemy,  Charles  the  Bold. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  were  many  reasons  which  ap- 
peared to  render  it  impolitic  for  the  Switzers  to  engage  in 
war  with  one  of  the  most  wealthy,  most  obstinate,  and  most 
powerful  princes  in  Europe — for  such  unquestionably  was 
Charles  of  Burgundy — without  the  existence  of  some  strong 
reason  affecting  their  own  honor  and  independence.  Every 
day  brought  fresh  intelligence  from  the  interior,  that  Edward 
the  Fourth  of  England  had  entered  into  a  strict  and  intimate 
alliance,  offensive  and  defensive,  with  the  Duke  of  Burgundy, 
and  that  it  was  the  purpose  of  the  English  king,  renowned 
for  his  numerous  victories  over  the  rival  house  of  Lancaster, 
by  which,  after  various  reverses,  he  had  obtained  undisputed 
possession  of  the  throne,  to  reassert  his  claims  to  those  prov« 

72 


ANNE  OF  GEIEESTEIN  T8 

inces  of  France  so  long  held  by  his  ancestors.  It  seemed  as 
if  this  alone  were  wanting  to  his  fame,  and  that,  having  sub- 
dued his  internal  enemies,  he  now  turned  his  eyes  to  the 
regaining  of  those  rich  and  valuable  foreign  possessions 
which  had  been  lost  during  the  administration  of  the  feeble 
Henry  VI.  and  the  civil  discords  so  dreadfully  prosecuted  in 
the  wars  of  the  White  and  Red  Koses.  It  was  universally 
known  that,  throughout  England  generally,  the  loss  of  the 
PVench  provinces  was  felt  as  a  national  degradation  ;  and 
that  not  only  the  nobility,  who  had  in  consequence  been  de- 
prived of  the  large  fiefs  which  they  had  held  in  Normandy, 
Gascony,  Maine,  and  Anjou,  but  the  warlike  gentry,  accus- 
tomed to  gain  both  fame  and  wealth  at  the  expense  of  France, 
and  the  fiery  yeomanry,  whose  bows  had  decided  so  many 
fatal  battles,  were  as  eager  to  renew  the  conflict  as  their  an- 
cestors of  Cressy,  Poitiers,  and  Agincourt  had  been  to  follow 
their  sovereign  to  the  fields  of  victory,  on  which  their  deeds 
had  conferred  deathless  renown. 

The  latest  and  most  authentic  intelligence  bore,  that  the 
King  of  England  was  on  the  point  of  passing  to  France  in 
person  (an  invasion  rendered  easy  by  his  possession  of  Calais), 
with  an  army  superior  in  numbers  and  discipline  to  any  with 
which  an  English  monarch  had  ever  before  entered  that 
kingdom  ;  that  all  the  hostile  preparations  were  completed  ; 
and  that  the  arrival  of  Edward  might  instantly  be  ex- 
pected ;  whilst  the  powerful  co-operation  of  the  Duke  of 
Burgundy,  and  the  assistance  of  numerous  disaffected  French 
noblemen  in  the  provinces  which  had  been  so  long  under  the 
English  dominion,  threatened  a  fearful  issue  of  the  war  to 
Louis  XI.,  sagacious,  wise,  and  powerful  as  that  prince 
unquestionably  was. 

It  would  no  doubt  have  been  the  wisest  policy  of  Charles 
of  Burgundy,  when  thus  engaged  in  an  alliance  against  his 
most  formidable  neighbor,  and  hereditary  as  well  as  personal 
enemy,  to  have  avoided  all  cause  of  quarrel  with  the  Helve- 
tian Confederacy,  a  poor  but  most  warlike  people,  who  already 
had  been  taught  by  repeated  successes  to  feel  that  their  hardy 
infantry  could,  if  necessary,  engage  on  terms  of  equality,  or 
even  of  advantage,  the  flower  of  that  chivalry  which  had 
hitherto  been  considered  as  forming  the  strength  of  European 
battle.  But  the  measures  of  Charles,  whom  fortune  had 
opposed  to  the  most  astucious  and  politic  monarch  of  his 
time,  were  always  dictated  by  passionate  feeling  and  impulse, 
rather  than  by  a  judicious  consideration  of  the  circumstances 
in  which  he  stood.     Haughty,  proud,  and  uncompromising. 


74  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

though  neither  destitute  of  honor  nor  generosity,  he  de- 
spised and  hated  what  he  termed  the  paltry  associations  of 
herdsmen  and  shepherds,  united  with  a  few  towns  which 
subsisted  chiefly  by  commerce  ;  and  instead  of  courting  the 
Helvetian  cantons,  like  his  crafty  enemy,  or  at  least  afford- 
ing them  no  ostensible  pretense  of  quarrel,  he  omitted  no 
opportunity  of  showing  the  disregard  and  contempt  in  which 
he  held  their  upstart  consequence,  and  of  evincing  the  secret 
longing  which  he  entertained  to  take  vengeance  upon  them 
for  the  quantity  of  noble  blood  which  they  had  shed,  and  to 
compensate  the  repeated  successes  they  had  gained  over  the 
feudal  lords,  of  whom  he  imagined  himself  the  destined 
avenger. 

The  Duke  of  Burgundy's  possessions  in  the  Alsatian  terri- 
tory afforded  him  many  opportunities  for  wreaking  his  dis- 
pleasure upon  the  Swiss  League.  The  little  castle  and  town 
of  Ferette,  lying  within  ten  or  eleven  miles  of  Bale,  served 
as  a  thoroughfare  to  the  traffic  of  Berne  and  Soleure,  the 
two  principal  towns  of  the  confederation.  In  this  place  the 
Duke  posted  a  governor,  or  seneschal,  who  was  also  an  ad- 
ministrator of  the  revenue,  and  seemed  born  on  purpose  to 
be  the  plague  and  scourge  of  his  republican  neighbors. 

Archibald  van  Hagenbach  was  a  German  noble,  whose 
possessions  lay  in  Swabia,  and  was  universally  esteemed  one 
of  the  fiercest  and  most  lawless  of  that  frontier  nobility 
known  by  the  name  of  robber-knights  and  robber-counts. 
These  dignitaries,  because  they  held  their  fiefs  of  the  Holy 
Roman  Empire,  claimed  as  complete  sovereignty  within 
their  territories  of  a  mile  square  as  any  reigning  prince  of 
Germany  in  his  more  extended  dominions.  They  levied 
tolls  and  taxes  on  strangers,  and  imprisoned,  tried,  and  exe- 
cuted those  who,  as  they  alleged,  had  committed  offenses 
within  their  petty  domains.  But  especially,  and  in  further 
exercise  of  their  seignorial  privileges,  they  made  war  on  each 
other,  and  on  the  free  cities  of  the  Empire,  attacking  and 
plundering  without  mercy  the  caravans,  or  large  trains  of 
wagons,  by  which  the  internal  commerce  of  Germany  was 
carried  on. 

A  succession  of  injuries  done  and  received  by  Archibald 
of  Hagenbach,  who  had  been  one  of  the  fiercest  sticklers  for 
this  privilege  of  faustraclit  or  club-law,  as  it  may  be  termed, 
had  ended  in  his  being  obliged,  though  somewhat  advanced 
in  life,  to  leave  a  country  where  his  tenure  of  existence  was 
become  e^remely  precarious,  and  to  engage  in  the  service 
of  the  Duke  of  Burgundy,  who  willingly  employed  him,  aa 


ANNE  OF  GEIEB8TEIN  76 

he  was  a  man  of  high  descent  and  proved  valor,  and  not  the 
less,  perhaps,  that  he  was  sure  to  find,  in  a  man  of  Hagen- 
bach's  fierce,  rapacious,  and  haughty  disposition,  the  un- 
Bcrupulous  executioner  of  whatsoever  severities  it  might  be 
his  master's  pleasure  to  enjoin. 

The  traders  of  Berne  and  Soleure,  accordingly,  made 
loud  and  violent  complaints  of  Hagenbach's  exactions.  The 
impositions  laid  on  commodities  which  passed  through  his 
district  of  La  Ferette,  to  whatever  place  they  might  be 
ultimately  bound,  were  arbitrarily  increased,  and  the  mer- 
chants and  traders  who  hesitated  to  make  instant  payment 
of  what  was  demanded  were  exposed  to  imprisonment  and 
personal  punishment.  The  commercial  towns  of  Germany 
appealed  to  the  Duke  against  this  iniquitous  conduct  on  the 
part  of  the  governor  of  La  Ferette,  and  requested  of  his 
Grace's  goodness  that  he  would  withdraw  Von  Hagenbach 
from  their  neighborhood  ;  but  the  Duke  treated  their  com- 
plaints with  contempt.  The  Swiss  League  carried  their  re- 
monstrances higher,  and  required  that  justice  should  be 
done  on  the  governor  of  La  Ferette,  as  having  offended 
against  the  law  of  nations  ;  but  they  were  equally  unable  to 
attract  attention  or  obtain  redress. 

At  length  the  Diet  of  the  Confederation  determined  to  send 
the  solemn  deputation  which  has  been  repeatedly  mentioned. 
One  or  two  of  these  envoys  joined  with  the  calm  and  prudent 
Arnold  Biederman  in  the  hope  that  so  solemn  a  measure  might 
open  the  eyes  of  the  Duke  to  the  wicked  injustice  of  his  rep- 
resentative ;  others  among  the  deputies,  having  no  such 
peaceful  views,  were  determined,  by  this  resolute  remon- 
strance, to  pave  the  way  for  hostilities. 

Arnold  Biederman  was  an  especial  advocate  for  peace, 
while  its  preservation  was  compatible  with  national  independ- 
ence and  the  honor  of  the  Confederacy ;  but  the  younger 
Philipson  soon  discovered  that  the  Landamman  alone,  of  all 
his  family,  cherished  these  moderate  views.  The  opinion  of 
his  sons  had  been  swayed  and  seduced  by  the  impetuous 
eloquence  and  overbearing  influence  of  Rudolph  of  Don- 
nerhugel,  who,  by  some  feats  of  peculiar  gallantry,  and  the 
consideration  due  to  the  merit  of  his  ancestors,  had  acquired 
an  influence  in  the  councils  of  his  native  canton,  and  with 
the  youth  of  the  League  in  general,  beyond  what  was  usually 
yielded  by  these  wise  republicans  to  men  of  his  early  age. 
Arthur,  who  was  now  an  acceptable  and  welcome  companion 
of  all  their  hunting-parties  and  other  sports,  heard  nothing 
among  the  young  men  but    anticipations  of  war,  rendered 


76  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

delightful  by  the  hopes  of  booty  and  of  distinction  which 
were  to  be  obtained  by  the  Switzers.  The  feats  of  their 
ancestors  against  the  Germans  had  been  so  wonderful  as 
to  realize  the  fabulous  victories  of  romance  ;  and  while 
the  present  race  possessed  the  same  hardy  limbs,  and  the 
same  inflexible  courage,  they  eagerly  anticipated  the  same 
distinguished  success.  When  the  governor  of  La  Ferette  was 
mentioned  in  the  conversation,  he  was  usually  spoken  of  as 
the  bandog  of  Burgundy,  or  the  Alsatian  mastiff  ;  and  in- 
timations were  openly  given  that,  if  his  course  were  not 
instantly  checked  by  his  master,  and  he  himself  withdrawn 
from  the  frontiers  of  Switzerland,  Archibald  of  Hagenbach 
would  find  his  fortress  no  protection  from  the  awakened  in- 
dignation of  the  wronged  inhabitants  of  Soleure,  and  par- 
ticularly of  those  of  Berne. 

This  general  disposition  to  war  among  the  young  Switzers 
was  reported  to  the  elder  Philipson  by  his  son,  and  led  him 
at  one  time  to  hesitate  whether  he  ought  not  rather  to 
resume  all  the  inconveniences  and  dangers  of  a  journey  ac- 
companied only  by  Arthur  than  run  the  risk  of  the  quarrels 
in  which  he  might  be  involved  by  the  unruly  conduct  of 
these  fierce  mountain  youths,  after  they  should  have  left 
their  own  frontiers.  Such  an  event  would  have  had,  in  a 
peculiar  degree,  the  effect  of  destroying  every  purpose  of  his 
journey ;  but,  respected  as  Arnold  Biederman  was  by  his 
family  and  countrymen,  the  English  merchant  concluded. 
Upon  the  whole,  that  his  influence  would  be  able  to  restrain 
his  companions  until  the  great  question  of  peace  or  war 
should  be  determined,  and  especially  until  they  should  have 
discharged  their  commission  by  obtaining  an  audience  of  the 
Duke  of  Burgundy ;  and  after  this  he  should  be  separated 
from  their  society,  and  not  liable  to  be  engaged  in  any  re- 
sponsibility for  their  ulterior  measures. 

After  a  delay  of  about  ten  days,  the  deputation  commis- 
sioned to  remonstrate  with  the  Duke  on  the  aggressions  and 
exactions  of  Archibald  of  Hagenbach  at  length  assembled  at 
Geierstein  from  whence  the  members  were  to  journey  forth 
together.  They  were  three  in  number,  besides  the  young 
Bernese  and  the  Landamman  of  Unterwalden.  One  was, 
like  Arnold,  a  proprietor  from  the  Forest  Cantons,  wearing 
3,  dress  scarcely  handsomer  than  that  of  a  common  herdsman, 
but  distinguished  by  the  beauty  and  size  of  his  long  silvery 
beard.  His  name  was  Nicholas  Bonstetten.  Melchior 
Sturmthal,  banner-bearer  of  Berne,  a  man  of  middle  age., 
and  a  soldier  of  distinguished  courage,  with  Adam  Zimmer- 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  T> 

man,  a  burgess  of  Soleure,  who  was  considerably  older^ 
completed  tlie  number  of  the  envoys. 

Each  was  dressed  after  his  best  fashion ;  but,  notwith- 
standing  that  the  severe  eye  of  Arnold  Biederman  censured 
one  or  two  silver  belt-buckles,  as  well  as  a  chain  of  the  same 
metal,  which  decorated  the  portly  person  of  the  burgess  ol 
Soleure,  it  seemed  that  a  powerful  and  victorious  people,  for 
such  the  Swiss  were  now  to  be  esteemed,  were  never  rep^ 
resented  by  an  embassy  of  such  patriarchal  simplicity. 
The  deputies  traveled  on  foot,  with  their  piked  staves  in 
their  hands,  like  pilgrims  bound  for  some  place  of  devotion. 
Two  mules,  which  bore  their  little  stock  of  baggage,  were 
led  by  young  lads,  sons  or  cousins  of  members  of  the  em- 
bassy, who  had  obtained  permission  in  this  manner  to  get 
such  a  glance  of  the  world  beyond  the  mountains  as  this 
journey  promised  to  afford. 

But  although  their  retinue  was  small,  so  far  as  respected 
either  state  or  personal  attendance  and  accommodation,  the 
dangerous  circumstances  of  the  times,  and  the  very  unsettled 
state  of  the  country  beyond  their  own  territories,  did  not 
permit  men  charged  with  affairs  of  such  importance  to  travel 
without  a  guard.  Even  the  danger  arising  from  the  wolves, 
which,  when  pinched  by  the  approach  of  winter,  have  been 
known  to  descend  from  their  mountain  fastnesses  into  open 
villages,  such  as  those  the  travelers  might  choose  to  quarter 
in,  rendered  the  presence  of  some  escort  necessary  :  and  the 
bands  of  deserters  from  various  services,  who  formed  parties 
of  banditti  on  the  frontiers  of  Alsatia  and  Germany,  com- 
bined to  recommend  such  a  precaution. 

Accordingly,  about  twenty  of  the  selected  youth  from  the 
various  Swiss  cantons,  including  Rudiger,  Ernest,  and  Sigis- 
mond,  Arnold's  three  eldest  sons,  attended  upon  the  deputa- 
tion ;  they  did  not,  however,  observe  any  military  order,  or 
march  close  or  near  to  the  patriarchal  train.  On  the  con- 
trary, they  formed  hunting-parties  of  five  or  six  together, 
who  explored  the  rocks,  woods,  and  passes  of  the  mountains 
through  which  the  envoys  journeyed.  Their  slower  pace 
allowed  the  active  young  men,  who  were  accompanied  by 
their  large  shaggy  dogs,  full  time  to  destroy  wolves  and 
bears,  or  occasionally  to  surprise  a  chamois  among  the  cliffs  ; 
while  the  hunters,  even  while  in  pursuit  of  their  sport,  were 
careful  to  examine  such  places  as  might  afford  opportunity 
for  ambush,  and  thus  ascertained  the  safety  of  the  party 
whom  they  escorted  more  securely  than  if  they  had  attended 
close  on  their  train.     A  peculiar  note  on  the  huge  Swiss 


?8  WAVERLEY  ^'OVELS 

bugle,  before  described,  formed  of  the  horn  of  the  mountain 
bull,  was  the  signal  agreed  upon  for  collecting  in  a  body 
should  danger  occur.  Rudolph  Donnerhugel,  so  much 
younger  than  his  brethren  in  the  same  important  commission, 
took  the  command  of  this  mountain  body-guard,  whom  he 
usually  accompanied  in  their  sportive  excursions.  In  point 
of  arms,  they  were  well  provided,  bearing  two-handed 
swords,  long  partizans  and  spears,  as  well  as  both  cross  and 
long  bows,  short  cutlasses,  and  huntsmen^s  knives.  The 
heavier  weapons,  as  impeding  their  activity,  were  carried 
with  the  baggage,  but  were  ready  to  be  assumed  on  the 
slightest  alarm. 

Arthur  Philipson,  like  his  late  antagonist,  naturally  pre- 
ferred the  company  and  sports  of  the  younger  men  to  the 
grave  conversation  and  slow  pace  of  the  fathers  of  the  moun- 
tain commonwealth.  There  was,  however,  one  temptation 
to  loiter  with  the  baggage,  which,  had  other  circumstances 
permitted,  might  have  reconciled  the  young  Englishman  to 
forego  the  opportunities  of  sport  which  the  Swiss  youth  so 
eagerly  sought  after,  and  endure  the  slow  pace  and  grave 
conversation  of  the  elders  of  the  party.  In  a  word,  Anne  of 
Geierstein,  accompanied  by  a  Swiss  girl,  her  attendant,  trav- 
eled in  the  rear  of  the  deputation. 

The  two  females  were  mounted  upon  asses,  whose  slow  step 
hardly  kept  pace  with  the  baggage  mules  ;  and  it  may  be 
fairly  suspected  that  Arthur  Philipson,  in  requital  of  the 
important  services  which  he  had  received  from  that  beauti- 
ful and  interesting  young  woman,  would  have  deemed  it  no  ex- 
treme hardship  to  have  afforded  her  occasionally  his  assistance 
on  the  journey,and  the  advantage  of  his  conversation  to  relieve 
the  tediousness  of  the  way.  But  he  dared  not  presume  to 
offer  attentions  which  the  customs  of  the  country  did  not 
seem  to  permit,  since  they  were  not  attempted  by  any  of  the 
maiden's  cousins,  or  even  by  Rudolph  Donnerhugel,  who 
certainly  had  hitherto  appeared  to  neglect  no  opportunity  to 
recommend  himself  to  his  fair  cousin.  Besides,  Arthur  had 
reflection  enough  to  be  convinced  that,  in  yielding  to  the 
feelings  which  impelled  him  to  cultivate  the  acquaintance  of 
this  amiable  yoang  person,  he  would  certainly  incur  the  se- 
rious displeasure  of  his  father,  and  probably  also  that  of  her 
uncle,  by  whose  hospitality  they  had  profited,  and  whose 
safe-conduct  they  were  in  the  act  of  enjoying. 

The  young  Englishman,  therefore,  pursued  the  same 
amusements  which  interested  the  other  young  men  of  tha 
party,  managing  only,  as  frequently  as  their  halts  permitted, 


ANNE  OF  OEIEBSTEIN  71 

to  venture  upon  offering  to  the  maiden  such  marks  of  cour- 
tesy as  could  afford  no  room  for  remark  or  censure.  And  his 
character  as  a  sportsman  being  now  well  established,  he  some- 
times permitted  himself,  even  when  the  game  was  afoot,  to 
loiter  in  the  vicinity  of  the  path  on  which  he  could  at  least 
mark  the  flutter  of  the  gray  wimple  of  Anne  of  Geierstein, 
and  the  oatline  of  the  form  which  it  shrouded.  This  indo- 
lence, as  it  seemed,  was  not  unfavorably  construed  by  his 
companions,  being  only  accounted  an  indifference  to  the  less 
noble  or  less  dangerous  game  ;  for  when  the  object  was  a  bear, 
wolf,  or  other  animal  of  prey,  no  spear,  cutla»s,  or  bow  of 
the  party,  not  even  those  of  Rudolph  Donnerhugel,  were  so 
prompt  in  the  chase  as  those  of  the  young  Englishman. 

Meantime,  the  elder  Philipson  had  other  and  more  serious 
subjects  of  consideration.  He  was  a  man,  as  the  reader 
must  have  already  seen,  of  much  acquaintance  with  the 
world,  in  which  he  had  acted  parts  different  from  that  which 
he  now  sustained.  Former  feelings  were  recalled  and 
awakened  by  the  view  of  sports  familiar  to  his  early  years. 
The  clamor  of  the  hounds,  echoing  from  the  wild  hills  and 
dark  forests  through  which  they  traveled  ;  the  sight  of  the 
gallant  young  huntsmen,  appearing,  as  they  brought  the 
object  of  their  chase  to  bay,  amid  airy  cliffs  and  profound  pre- 
cipices, which  seemed  impervious  to  the  human  foot ;  the 
sounds  of  halloo  and  horn  reverberating  from  hill  to  hill, 
had  more  than  once  wellnigh  impelled  him  to  take  a  share 
in  the  hazardous  but  animating  amusement,  which,  next  to 
war,  was  then  in  most  parts  of  Europe  the  most  serious 
occupation  of  life.  But  the  feeling  was  transient,  and  he 
became  yet  more  deeply  interested  in  studying  the  manners 
and  opinions  of  the  persons  with  whom  he  was  travel- 
ing. 

They  seemed  to  be  all  colored  with  the  same  downright 
and  blunt  simplicity  which  characterized  Arnold  Biederman, 
although  it  was  in  none  of  them  elevated  by  the  same  dig- 
nity of  thought  and  profound  sagacity.  In  speaking  of  the 
political  state  of  their  country,  they  affected  no  secrecy  ;  and 
although,  with  the  exception  of  Rudolph,  their  own  young 
men  were  not  admitted  into  their  councils,  the  exclusion 
seemed  only  adopted  with  a  view  to  the  necessary  subordina- 
tion of  youth  to  age,  and  not  for  the  purpose  of  observing 
any  mystery.  In  the  presence  of  the  elder  Philipson,  they 
freely  discussed  the  pretensions  of  the  Duke  of  Burgundy, 
the  means  which  their  country  possessed  of  maintaining  her 
independence,  and  the  firm  resolution    of  the   Helvetiaa 


i 


80  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

League  to  bid  defiance  to  the  utmost  force  the  world  could 
bring  against  it,  rather  than  submit  to  the  slightest  insult. 
In  other  respects,  their  views  appeared  wise  and  moderate, 
although  both  the  banneret  of  Berne  and  the  consequential 
Burgher  of  Soleure  seemed  to  hold  the  consequences  of  war 
more  lightly  than  they  were  viewed  by  the  cautious  Landam- 
man  of  Underwalden  and  his  venerable  companion,  Nicholas 
Bonstetten,  who  subscribed  to  all  his  opinions. 

It  frequently  happened  that,  quitting  these  subjects,  the 
conversation  turned  on  such  as  were  less  attractive  to  their 
fellow-traveler.  The  signs  of  the  weather,  the  comparative 
fertility  of  recent  seasons,  the  most  advantageous  mode  of 
managing  their  orchards  and  rearing  their  crops,  though  in- 
teresting to  the  mountaineers  themselves,  gave  Philipson 
slender  amusement ;  and  notwithstanding  that  the  excellent 
Meinherr  Zimmerman  of  Soleure  would  fain  have  joined  with 
him  in  conversation  respecting  trade  and  merchandise,  yet  the 
Englishman,  who  dealt  in  articles  of  small  bulk  and  consider- 
able value,  and  traversed  sea  and  land  to  carry  on  his  traffic, 
could  find  few  mutual  topics  to  discuss  with  the  Swiss  trader, 
whose  commerce  only  extended  into  the  neighboring  districts 
of  Burgundy  and  Germany,  and  whose  goods  consisted  of 
coarse  woolen  cloths,  fustian,  hides,  peltry,  and  such 
ordinary  articles. 

But,  ever  and  anon,  while  the  Switzers  were  discussing 
some  paltry  interests  of  trade,  or  describing  some  process  of 
rude  cultivation,  or  speaking  of  blights  in  grain,  and  the 
murrain  amongst  cattle,  with  all  the  dull  minuteness  of 
petty  farmers  and  traders  met  at  a  country  fair,  a  well-known 
spot  would  recall  the  name  and  story  of  a  battle  in  which 
some  of  them  had  served  (for  there  were  none  of  the  party 
who  had  not  been  repeatedly  in  arms),  and  the  military 
details,  which  in  other  countries  were  only  the  theme  of 
knights  and  squires  who  had  acted  their  part  in  them,  or  of 
learned  clerks  who  labored  to  record  them,  were,  in  this  sin- 
gular region,  the  familiar  and  intimate  subjects  of  discussion 
with  men  whose  peaceful  occupations  seemed  to  place  them 
at  an  immeasurable  distance  from  the  profession  of  a  soldier. 
This  led  the  Englishman  to  think  of  the  ancient  inhabitants 
of  Rome,  where  the  plow  was  so  readily  exchanged  for  the 
Bword,  and  the  cultivation  of  a  rude  farm  for  the  manage- 
ment of  public  affairs.  He  hinted  this  resemblance  to  the 
Landamman,  who  was  naturally  gratified  with  the  compli- 
ment to  his  country,  but  presently  replied — '^  May  Heaven 
continue  among  us  the  home-bred  virtues  of  the  Romans,  and 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  81 

preserve  ns  from  tlieir  lust  of  conquest  and  love  of  foreign 
luxuries  ! " 

The  slow  pace  of  the  travelers,  with  various  cause's  of  delay 
which  it  is  unnecessary  to  dwell  upon,  occasioned  the  dep- 
utation spending  two  nights  on  the  road  before  they  reached 
Bale.  The  small  towns  or  villages  in  which  they  quartered 
received  them  with  such  marks  of  respectful  hospitality  as 
they  had  the  means  to  bestow,  and  their  arrival  was  a  signal 
for  a  little  feast,  with  which  the  heads  of  the  community 
uniformly  regaled  them. 

On  such  occasions,  while  the  elders  of  the  village  enter- 
tained the  deputies  of  the  Confederation,  the  young  men  of 
the  escort  were  provided  for  by  those  of  their  own  age,  several 
of  whom,  usually  aware  of  their  approach,  were  accustomed 
to  join  in  the  chase  of  the  day,  and  made  the  strangers 
acquainted  with  the  spots  where  game  was  most  plenty. 

These  feasts  were  never  prolonged  to  excess,  and  the  most 
special  dainties  which  composed  them  were  kids,  lambs,  and 
game,  the  produce  of  the  mountains.  Yet  it  seemed  both 
to  Arthur  Philipson  and  his  father  that  the  advantages  of 
good  cheer  were  more  prized  by  the  banneret  of  Berne  and 
the  burgess  of  Soleure  than  by  their  host  the  Landamman 
and  the  deputy  of  Schwytz.  There  was  no  excess  committed, 
as  we  have  already  said  ;  but  the  deputies  first  mentioned 
obviously  understood  the  art  of  selecting  the  choicest  mor- 
sels, and  were  connoisseurs  in  the  good  wine,  chiefly  of 
foreign  growth,  with  which  they  freely  washed  it  down. 
Arnold  was  too  wise  to  censure  what  he  had  no  means  of 
amending  :  he  contented  himself  by  observing  in  his  own 
person  a  rigorous  diet,  living  indeed  almost  entirely  upon 
vegetables  and  fair  water,  in  which  he  was  closely  imitated 
by  the  old  gray-bearded  Nicholas  Bonstetten,  who  seemed  to 
make  it  his  principal  object  to  follow  the  Landamman^s 
example  in  everything. 

It  was,  as  we  have  already  said,  the  third  day  after  the 
commencement  of  their  journey  before  the  Swiss  deputation 
reached  the  vicinity  of  Bale,  in  which  city,  then  one  of  the 
largest  in  the  southwestern  extremity  of  Germany,  they 
proposed  taking  up  their  aJ^ode  for  the  evening,  riotliing 
doubting  a  friendly  reception.  The  town,  it  is  true,  was 
not  then,  nor  till  about  thirty  years  afterwards,  a  part  of  the 
Swiss  Confederation,  to  which  it  was  only  joined  in  1501 ; 
but  it  was  a  Free  Imperial  City,  connected  with  Berne, 
Soleure,  Lucerne,  and  other  towns  of  Switzerland,  by  mutual 
interests  and  constant  intercourse.  It  was  the  object  of  the 
6 


82  WA  VERLET  NOVELS 

depatation  to  negotiate,  if  possible,  a  peace,  which  could  not 
be  more  nsefiil  to  themselves  than  to  the  city  of  Bale,  con- 
sidering the  interruptions  of  commerce  which  must  be  occa- 
sioned by  a  rupture  between  the  Duke  of  Burgundy  and  the 
cantons,  and  the  great  advantage  which  that  city  would 
derive  by  preserving  a  neutrality,  situated  as  it  was  betwixt 
tnese  two  hostile  powers. 

They  anticipated,  therefore,  as  welcome  a  reception  from 
the  authorities  of  Bale  as  they  had  received  while  in  the 
bounds  of  their  own  Confederation,  since  the  interests  of 
that  city  were  so  deeply  concerned  in  the  objects  of  their 
mission.  The  next  chapter  will  show  how  far  these  expec- 
tations were  realized. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

They  saw  that  city,  welcoming  the  Rhine, 
As  from  his  mountain  heritage  he  bm-sts, 
As  purposed  proud  Orgetorix  of  yore, 
Leaving  the  desert  region  of  the  hills. 
To  lord  it  o'er  the  fertile  plains  of  Gaul. 

Helvetia, 

Thb  eyes  of  the  English  travelers,  wearied  with  a  succession 
of  wild  mountainous  scenery,  now  gazed  with  pleasure  upon 
a  country  still  indeed  irregular  and  hilly  in  its  surface,  but 
capable  of  high  cultivation,  and  adorned  with  cornfields  and 
vineyards.  The  Rhine,  a  broad  and  large  river,  poured  its 
gray  stream  in  a  huge  sweep  through  the  landscape,  and 
divided  into  two  portions  the  city  of  Bale,  which  is  situated 
on  its  banks.  The  southern  part,  to  which  the  path  of  the 
Swiss  deputies  conducted  them,  displayed  the  celebrated 
cathedral,  and  the  lofty  terrace  which  runs  in  front  of  it, 
and  seemed  to  remind  tfce  travelers  that  they  now  approached 
a  country  in  which  the  operations  of  man  could  make  them- 
selves distinguished  even  among  the  works  of  nature,  instead 
of  being  lost,  as  the  fate  of  the  most  splendid  efforts  of 
human  labor  must  have  been,  among  those  tremendous 
mountains  which  they  had  so  lately  traversed. 

They  were  yet  a  mile  from  the  entrance  of  the  city,  when 
the  party  was  met  by  one  of  the  magistrates,  attended  by 
two  or  three  citizens  mounted  on  mules,  the  velvet  housings 
of  which  expressed  wealth  and  quality.  They  greeted  the 
Landamman  of  Unterwalden  and  his  party  in  a  respectful 
manner,  and  the  latter  prepared  themselves  to  hear  and 
make  a  suitable  reply  to  the  hospitable  invitation  which 
they  naturally  expected  to  receive. 

The  message  of  the  community  of  Bdle  was,  however, 
diametrically  opposite  to  what  they  had  anticipated.  It  was 
delivered  with  a  good  deal  of  diffidence  and  hesitation  by  the 
functionary  who  met  them,  and  w^ho  certainly,  while  dis- 
charging his  commission,  did  not  appear  to  consider  it  as 
the  most  respectable  which  he  might  have  borne.  There 
were  many  professions  of  the  most  profound  and  fraternel 
regard  for  the  cities  of  the  Helvetian  League,  with  whom 


S4  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

the  orator  of  Bale  declared  his  own  state  to  be  united  in 
Iriendship  and  interest.  But  he  ended  by  intimating  that, 
on  account  of  certain  cogent  and  weighty  reasons,  which 
should  be  satisfactorily  explained  at  more  leisure,  the  Free 
City  of  Bale  could  not,  this  evening,  receive  within  its  walls 
the  highly  respected  deputies  who  where  traveling,  at  the 
command  of  the  Helvetian  Diet,  to  the  court  of  the  Duke 
of  Burgundy. 

Philipson  marked  with  much  interest  the  effect  which  this 
most  unexpected  intimation  produced  on  the  members  of 
the  embassage.  Eudolph  Donnerhugel,  who  had  joined  their 
company  as  they  approached  Bale,  appeared  less  surprised 
than  his  associates,  and,  while  he  remained  perfectly  silent, 
seemed  rather  anxious  to  penetrate  their  sentiments  than 
disposed  to  express  his  own.  It  was  not  the  first  time  the 
sagacious  merchant  had  observed  that  this  bold  and  fiery 
young  man  could,  when  his  purposes  required  it,  place  a. 
strong  constraint  upon  the  natural  impetuosity  of  his  tem- 
per. For  the  others,  the  banneret's  brow  darkened,  the  face 
of  the  burgess  of  Soleure  became  flushed  like  the  moon 
when  rising  in  the  northwest,  the  gray-bearded  deputy  of 
Schwytz  looked  anxiously  on  Arnold  Biederman,  and  the 
Landamman  himself  seemed  more  moved  than  was  usual  in 
a  person  of  his  equanimity.  At  length  he  replied  to  the 
functionary  of  Bale,  in  a  voice  somewhat  altered  by  his  feel- 
ings— ^ 

^'  This  is  a  singular  message  to  the  deputies  of  the  Swiss 
Confederacy,  bound  as  we  are  upon  an  amicable  mission,  on 
which  depends  the  interest  of  the  good  citizens  of  Bdle, 
whom  we  have  always  treated  as  our  good  friends,  and  who 
still  profess  to  be  so.  The  shelter  of  their  roofs,  the  pro- 
tection of  their  walls,  the  wonted  intercourse  of  hospitality, 
is  what  no  friendly  state  had  a  right  to  refuse  to  the  inhabit- 
ants of  another.  ^^ 

"  Nor  is  it  with  their  will  that  the  community  of  Bdle 
refuse  it,  worthy  Landamman,*^  replied  the  magistrate. 
"  Not  you  alone  and  your  worthy  associates,  but  your  escort, 
and  your  very  beasts  of  burden,  should  be  entertained  with 
all  the  kindness  which  the  citizens  of  Bdle  could  bestow. 
But  we  act  under  constraint.'^ 

"  And  by  whom  exercised  ?  "  said  the  banneret,  bursting 
out  into  passion.  '^  Has  the  Emperor  Sigismund  profited  so 
little  by  the  example  of  his  predecessors " 

'^  The  Emperor, '^  replied  the  delegate  of  Bale,  interrupt- 
ing the  banneret,  '*^  is  a  well-intentioned  and  peaceful  mon- 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  85 

arch,  as  he  has  been  ever  ;  but — there  are  Burgnndian  troops 
of  late  marched  into  the  Sundgan,  and  messages  have  been 
sent  to  our  state  from  Count  Archibald  of  Hagenbach/' 

"  Enough  said/'  replied  the  Landamman.  '^  Draw  not 
farther  the  veil  from  a  weakness  for  which  you  blush.  I 
comprehend  you  entirely.  Bale  lies  too  near  the  citadel  of 
La  Farette  to  permit  its  citizens  to  consult  their  own  inclina- 
tions. Brother,  we  see  where  your  difficulty  lies  ;  we  pity 
you — and  we  forgive  your  inhospitality/' 

"  Nay,  but  hear  me  to  an  end,  worthy  Landamman,^' 
answered  the  magistrate.  ^' There  is  here  in  the  vicinity 
an  old  hunting-seat  of  the  Counts  of  Falkenstein,  called 
Graffslust,  which,  though  ruinous,  yet  may  afford  better 
lodgings  than  the  open  air,  and  is  capable  of  some  defense 
— though  Heaven  forbid  that  any  one  should  dare  to  intrude 
upon  your  repose  !  And  harkye  hither,  my  worthy  friends  ; 
if  you  find  in  the  old  place  some  refreshments,  as  wine,  beer, 
and  the  like,  use  them  without  scruple,  for  they  are  there 
for  your  accommodation.'' 

"  I  do  not  refuse  to  occupy  a  place  of  security,"  said  the 
Landamman  ;  ''  for  although  the  causing  us  to  be  excluded, 
from  Bdle  may  be  only  done  in  the  spirit  of  petty  insolence 
and  malice,  yet  it  may  also,  for  what  we  can  tell,  be  con-, 
nected  with  some  purpose  of  violence.  Your  provisions  we 
thank  you  for  ;  but  we  will  not,  with  my  consent,  feed  at 
the  cost  of  friends  who  are  ashamed  to  own  us  unless  by 
stealth.'' 

^'  One  thing  more,  my  worthy  sir,"  said  the  official  of 
Bale.  ^^  You  have  a  maiden  in  company,  who,  I  presume 
to  think,  is  your  daughter.  There  is  but  rough  accommo- 
dation where  you  are  going,  even  for  men  ;  for  women  there 
is  little  better,  though  what  we  could  we  have  done  to  ar- 
range matters  as  well  as  may  be.  But  rather  let  your 
daughter  go  with  us  back  to  Bdle,  where  my  dame  will  be  a 
mother  to  her  till  next  morning,  when  I  will  bring  her  to 
your  camp  in  safefcy.  We  promised  to  shut  our  gates  against 
the  men  of  the  Confederacy,  but  the  women  were  not  men- 
tioned." 

'^  You  are  subtle  casuist,  you  men  of  Bdle,"  answered  thd 
Landamman  ;  '^  but  know  that,  from  the  time  in  which  the 
Helvetians  sallied  forth  to  encounter  Caesar  down  to  the 
present  hour,  the  women  of  Switzerland,  in  the  press  of 
danger,  have  had  their  abode  in  the  camp  of  their  fathers, 
brothers,  and  husbands,  and  sought  no  farther  safety  than 
they  might   find   in   the   courage  of   their  relations.     We 


m  WA  VEBLEY  NO  VEL  S 

have  enougli  of  men  to  protect  our  women,  and  my  niece 
shall  remain  with  us  and  take  the  fate  which  Heaven  may 
send  us/^ 

'^  Adieu,  then,  worthy  friend,"  said  the  magistrate  of 
B^le  ;  ^'  it  grieves  me  to  part  with  you  thus,  but  evil  fate 
will  have  it  so.  Yonder  grassy  avenue  will  conduct  you  to 
the  old  hunting-seat,  where  Heaven  send  that  you  may  pass 
a  quiet  night ;  for,  apart  from  other  risks,  men  say  that  these 
ruins  have  no  good  name.  Will  you  yet  permit  your  niece, 
since  such  the  young  percon  is,  to  pass  to  Bale  for  the  night 
in  my  company  ?  " 

"  If  we  are  disturbed  by  beings  like  ourselves,"  said  Arnold 
Biederman,  '^  we  have  strong  arms  and  heavy  partizans  ;  if 
we  be  visited,  as  your  words  would  imply,  by  those  of  a  dif- 
ferent description,  we  have, or  should  have,  good  consciences, 
and  confidence  in  Heaven.  Good  friends,  my  brethren  on 
this  embassy,  have  I  spoken  your  sentiments  as  well  as  mine 
own  ?  " 

The  other  deputies  intimated  their  assent  to  what  their 
companion  had  said,  and  the  citizens  of  Bale  took  a  courteous 
farewell  of  their  guests,  endeavoring,  by  the  excess  of  civil- 
ity, to  atone  for  their  deficiency  in  effective  hospitality. 
After  their  departure,  Eudolph  was  the  first  to  express  his 
sense  of  their  pusillanimous  behavior,  on  which  he  had  been 
silent  during  their  presence.  "  Coward  dogs  ! "  he  said, 
*'  may  the  Butcher  of  Burgundy  flay  the  very  skins  from 
them  with  his  exactions,  to  teach  them  to  disown  old  friend* 
tjhips,  rather  than  abide  the  lightest  blast  of  a  tyrant's  - 
anger  \" 

"  And  not  even  their  own  tyrant  either,"  said  another  of 
the  group  ;  for  several  of  the  young  men  had  gathered  round 
their  seniors,  to  hear  the  welcome  which  they  expected  from 
the  magistrates  of  Bale. 

''No,"  replied  Ernest,  one  of  Arnold  Biederman's  sons, 
*'  they  do  not  pretend  that  their  own  prince  the  Emperor 
hath  interfered  with  them  ;  but  a  word  of  the  Duke  of 
Burgundy,  which  should  be  no  more  to  them  than  a  breath 
of  wind  from  the  west,  is  sufficient  to  stir  them  to  such 
brutal  inhospitality.  It  were  well  to  march  to  the  city  and 
compel  them  at  the  sword's  point  to  give  us  shelter." 

"  A  murmur  of  applause  arose  amongst  the  youth  around 
which  awakened  the  displeasure  of  Arnold  Biederman. 

'^Did  I  hear,"  he  said,  ''the  tongue  of  a  son  of  mine,  or 
was  it  that  of  a  brutish  lanzknecht,  who  has  no  pleasure  but 
jn  battle  or  violence  ?    Where  is  the  modesty  of  the  youth 


ANNE  OF  GEIER STEIN  8? 

of  Switzerland,  who  were  wont  to  wait  the  signal  for  action 
till  it  pleased  the  elders  of  the  canton  to  give  it,  and  were  as 
gentle  as  maidens  till  the  voice  of  their  patriarchs  bade  them 
be  bold  as  lions  ?  " 

"  I  meant  no  harm,  father,"  said  Ernest,  abashed  with  this 
rebuke,  ^'  far  less  any  slight  towards  you  ;  but  I  must  needs 
say- " 

^'^ Say  not  a  word,  my  son,"  replied  Arnold,  ''but  leave 
our  camp  to-morrow  by  break  of  day  ;  and,  as  thou  takest 
thy  way  back  to  Geierstein,  to  which  I  command  thine  in- 
stant return,  remember,  that  he  is  not  fit  to  visit  strange 
countries  who  cannot  rule  his  tongue  before  his  own  country- 
men, and  to  his  own  father." 

The  banneret  of  Berne,  the  burgess  of  Soleure,  even  the 
long-bearded  deputy  from  Schwytz,  endeavored  to  inter- 
cede for  the  offender  and  obtain  a  remission  of  his  banish- 
ment ;  but  it  was  in  vain. 

"  No,  my  good  friends  and  brethren — no,'*  replied  Arnold. 
"  These  young  men  require  an  example ;  and  though  I  am 
grieved  in  one  sense  that  the  offense  has  chanced  within  my 
own  family,  yet  I  am  pleased  in  another  light  that  the  delin- 
quent should  be  one  over  whom  I  can  exercise  full  authority, 
without  suspicion  of  partiality.  Ernest,  my  son,  thou  hast 
heard  my  commands.  Eeturn  to  Geierstein  with  the  morn- 
ing's light,  and  let  me  find  thee  an  altered  man  when  I 
return  thither." 

The  young  Swiss,  who  was  evidently  much  hurt  and 
shocked  at  this  public  affront,  placed  one  knee  on  the  ground 
and  kissed  his  father's  right  hand,  while  Arnold,  without  the 
slightest  sign  of  anger,  bestowed  his  blessing  upon  him  ;  and 
Ernest,  without  a  word  of  remonstrance,  fell  into  the  rear 
of  the  party.  The  deputation  then  proceeded  down  the 
avenue  which  had  been  pointed  out  to  them,  and  at  the  bot- 
tom of  which  arose  the  massy  ruins  of  Graffslust ;  but  there 
was  not  enough  of  daylight  remaining  to  discern  their  exact 
form.  They  could  observe  as  they  drew  nearer,  and  as  the 
night  became  darker,  that  three  or  four  windows  were  lighted 
np,  while  the  rest  of  the  front  remained  obscured  in  gloom. 
When  they  arrived  at  the  place,  they  perceived  it  was  sur- 
rounded by  a  large  and  deep  moat,  the  sullen  surface  of  which 
reflected,  though  faintly,  the  glimmer  of  the  lights  within. 


CHAPTER  IX 

Francisco,  Give  you  good-night. 
Marcellus*  O,  farewell,  honest  soldier. 

Who  hath  relieved  you  ? 
Francisco,  Give  you  good-night ;  Bernardo  hath  my  piace. 

Hamlet 

The  first  occupation  of  our  travelers  was  to  find  the  means 
of  crossing  the  moat,  and  they  were  not  long  of  discovering 
the  tete-du-pont  on  which  the  drawbridge,  when  lowered, 
had  formerly  rested.  The  bridge  itself  had  been  long  de- 
cayed, but  a  temporary  passage  of  fir-trees  and  planks  had 
been  constructed,  apparently  very  lately,  which  admitted 
them  to  the  chief  entrance  of  the  castle.  On  entering  it, 
they  found  a  wicket  opening  under  the  archway,  which, 
glimmering  with  light,  served  to  guide  them  to  a  hall 
prepared  evidently  for  their  accommodation  as  well  as 
circumstances  had  admitted  of. 

A  large  fire  of  well-seasoned  wood  burned  blythely  in  the 
chimney,  and  had  been  maintained  so  long  there,  that  the 
air  of  the  hall,  notwithstanding  its  great  size  and  somewhat 
ruinous  aspect,  felt  mild  and  genial.  There  was  also  at  the 
end  of  the  apartment  a  stack  of  wood,  large  enough  to  main- 
tain the  fire  had  they  been  to  remain  there  a  week.  Two  or 
three  long  tables  in  the  hall  stood  covered  and  ready  for  their 
reception  ;  and,  on  looking  more  closely,  several  large  ham- 
pers were  found  in  a  corner,  containing  cold  provisions  of 
every  kind,  prepared  with  great  care  for  their  immediate 
use.  The  eyes  of  the  good  burgess  of  Soleure  twinkled  when 
he  beheld  the  young  men  in  the  act  of  transferring  the  supper 
from  the  hampers  and  arranging  it  on  the  table. 

*'  Well,''  said  he,  ''  these  poor  men  of  Bdle  have  saved 
their  character ;  since,  if  they  have  fallen  short  in  welcome, 
they  have  abounded  in  good  cheer." 

*' Ah,  friend  \'^  said  Arnold  Biederman,  '^the  absence  of 
the  landlord  is  a  great  deduction  from  the  entertainment. 
Better  half  an  apple  from  the  hand  of  your  host  than  a  bridal 
feast  without  his  company.'^ 

''  We  owe  them  the  less  for  their  banquet,''  said  the  ban- 
ueret.     "  But,   from  the  doubtful  language  they  held,  J 

88 


ANNE  OF  GEIEBSTEIN  89 

ehonld  judge  it  meet  to  keep  a  strong  guard  to-night,  and 
even  that  some  of  our  young  men  should,  from  time  to  time, 
patrol  around  the  old  ruins.  The  place  is  strong  and  de- 
fensible, and  so  far  our  thanks  are  due  to  those  who  have 
acted  as  our  quartermasters.  We  will,  however,  with  your 
permission,  my  honored  brethren,  examine  the  house  within, 
and  then  arrange  regular  guards  and  patrols.  To  your  duty 
then,  young  men,  and  search  these  ruins  carefully;  they 
may  perchance  contain  more  than  ourselves ;  for  we  are  now 
near  one  who,  like  a  pilfering  fox,  moves  more  willingly  by 
night  than  by  day,  and  seeks  his  prey  amidst  ruins  and 
wildernesses  rather  than  in  the  open  field.^' 

All  agreed  to  this  proposal.  The  young  men  took  torches, 
of  which  a  good  provision  had  been  left  for  their  use,  and 
made  a  strict  search  through  the  ruins. 

The  greater  part  of  the  castle  was  much  more  wasted  and 
ruinous  than  the  portion  which  the  citizens  of  Bale  seemed 
to  have  destined  for  the  accommodation  of  the  embassy. 
Some  parts  were  roofless,  and  the  whole  desolate.  The  glare 
of  light,  the  gleam  of  arms,  the  sound  of  the  human  voice, 
and  echoes  of  mortal  tread  startled  from  their  dark  recesses 
bats,  owls,  and  other  birds  of  ill  omen,  the  usual  inhabitants 
of  such  time-worn  edifices,  whose  flight  through  the  desolate 
chambers  repeatedly  occasioned  alarm  among  those  who  heard 
the  noise  without  seeing  the  cause,  and  shouts  of  laughter 
when  it  became  known.  They  discovered  that  the  deep  moat 
surrounded  their  place  of  retreat  on  all  sides,  and,  of  coiirse, 
that  they  were  in  safety  against  any  attack  which  could  be 
made  from  without,  except  it  was  attempted  by  the  main 
entrance,  which  it  was  easy  to  barricade  and  guard  with  sen- 
tinels. They  also  ascertained  by  strict  search  that,  though 
it  was  possible  an  individual  might  be  concealed  amid  such 
a  waste  of  ruins,  yet  it  was  altogether  impossible  that  any 
number  which  might  be  formidable  to  so  large  a  party  as 
their  own  could  have  remained  there  without  a  certainty  of 
discovery.  These  particulars  were  reported  to  the  banneret^ 
who  directed  Donnerhugel  to  take  charge  of  a  body  of  six  of 
the  young  men,  such  as  he  should  himself  choose,  to  patrol 
on  the  outside  of  the  building  till  the  first  cock-crowing,  and 
at  that  hour  to  return  to  the  castle,  when  the  same  num- 
ber wei'e  to  take  the  duty  till  morning  dawned,  and  then  be 
relieved  in  their  turn.  Rudolph  declared  his  own  intention 
to  remain  on  guard  the  whole  night ;  and  as  he  was  equally 
remarkable  for  vigilance  as  for  strength  and  courage,  the 
external  watch  was  considered  as  safely  provided  for,  it  being 


90  WAVEBLET  NOVELS 

settled  that,  in  case  of  any  sudden  rencounter,  the  deep  and 
hoarse  sound  of  the  Swiss  bugle  should  be  the  signal  for 
sending  support  to  the  patroling  party. 

Within  side  the  castle,  the  precautions  were  taken  with 
equal  vigilance.  A  sentinel,  to  be  relieved  every  two  hours, 
was  appointed  to  take  post  at  the  principal  gate,  and  other 
two  kept  watch  on  the  other  side  of  the  castle,  although  the 
moat  appeared  to  ensure  safety  in  that  quarter. 

These  precautions  being  taken,  the  remainder  of  the  party 
sat  down  to  refresh  themselves,  the  deputies  occupying 
the  upper  part  of  the  hall,  while  those  of  their  escort 
modestly  arranged  themselves  in  the  lower  end  of  the  same 
large  apartment.  Quantities  of  hay  and  straw,  which  were 
left  piled  in  the  wide  castle,  were  put  to  the  purpose  for 
which  undoubtedly  they  had  been  destined  by  the  citizens  of 
Bale,  and,  with  aid  of  cloaks  and  mantles,  were  judged  ex- 
cellent good  bedding  by  a  hardy  race  who,  in  war  or  the 
chase,  were  often  well  satisfied  with  a  much  worse  night's 
lair. 

The  attention  of  the  Bdlese  had  even  gone  so  far  as  to  pro- 
vide for  Anne  of  Geierstein  separate  accommodation,  more 
suitable  to  her  use  than  that  assigned  to  the  men  of  the 
party.  An  apartment,  which  had  probably  been  the  buttery 
of  the  castle,  entered  from  the  hall,  and  had  also  a  doorway 
leading  out  into  a  passage  connected  with  the  ruins ;  but 
this  last  had  hastily  yet  carefully,  been  built  up  with  large 
hewn  stones  taken  from  the  ruins  ;  without  mortar,  indeed, 
or  any  other  cement,  but  so  well  secured  by  their  own  weight, 
that  an  attempt  to  displace  them  must  have  alarmed  not  only 
any  one  who  might  be  in  the  apartment  itself,  but  also  those 
who  were  in  the  hall  adjacent,  or  indeed  in  any  part  of  the 
castle.  In  the  small  room  thus  carefully  arranged  and  secured 
there  were  two  pallet-beds  and  a  large  fire,  which  blazed  on 
the  hearth,  and  gave  warmth  and  comfort  to  the  apartment. 
Even  the  means  of  devotion  were  not  forgotten,  a  small  cru- 
cifix of  bronze  being  hung  over  a  table,  on  which  lay  a 
breviary. 

Those  who  first  discovered  this  little  place  of  retreat  came 
back  loud  in  praise  of  the  delicacy  of  the  citizens  of  Bdle, 
who,  while  preparing  for  the  general  accommodation  of  the 
strangers,  had  not  failed  to  provide  separately  and  peculiarly 
for  that  of  their  female  companion. 

Arnold  Biederman  felt  the  kindness  of  this  conduct. 
''We  should  pity  our  friends  of  Bale,  and  not  nourish  re- 
sentment against  them,'*  he  said.     "  They  have  stretched 


ANNE  OF  GEIEBSTEIN  91 

their  kindness  towards  ns  as  far  as  their  personal  apprehen- 
sions permitted  ;  and  that  is  saying  no  small  matter  for 
them,  my  masters,  for  no  passion  is  so  unutterably  selfish  as 
that  of  fear.  Anne,  my  love,  thou  art  fatigued.  Go  to  the 
retreat  provided  for  you,  and  Lizette  shall  bring  you  from 
this  abundant  mass  of  provisions  what  will  be  fittest  for  your 
evening  meal.'^ 

So  saying,  he  led  his  niece  into  the  little  bedroom,  and, 
looking  round  with  an  air  of  complacency,  wished  her  good 
repose  ;  but  there  was  something  on  the  maiden's  brow  which 
seemed  to  augur  that  her  uncle's  wishes  would  not  be  ful- 
filled. From  the  moment  she  had  left  Switzerland,  her  looks 
had  become  clouded,  her  intercourse  with  those  who  ap- 
proached her  had  grown  more  brief  and  rare,  her  whole  ap- 
pearance was  marked  with  secret  anxiety  or  secret  sorrow. 
This  did  not  escape  her  uncle,  who  naturally  imputed  it  tc* 
the  pain  of  parting  from  him,  which  was  probably  soon  t^ 
take  place,  and  to  her  regret  at  leaving  the  tranquil  spot  ux 
which  so  many  years  of  her  youth  had  been  spent. 

But  Anne  of  Geierstein  had  no  sooner  entered  the  apart- 
ment than  her  whole  frame  trembled  violently,  and  the  coloi 
leaving  her  cheeks  entirely,  she  sunk  down  on  one  of  the 
pallets,  where,  resting  her  elbows  on  her  knees,  and  pressing 
her  hands  on  her  forehead,  she  rather  resembled  a  person 
borne  down  by  mental  distress,  or  oppressed  by  some  severe 
illness,  than  one  who,  tired  with  a  journey,  was  in  haste  to 
betake  herself  to  needful  rest.  Arnold  was  not  quick-sighted 
as  to  the  many  sources  of  female  passion.  He  saw  that  his 
niece  suffered ;  but  imputing  it  only  to  the  causes  already 
mentioned,  augmented  by  the  hysterical  effects  often  pro- 
duced by  fatigue,  he  gently  blamed  her  for  having  departed 
from  her  character  of  a  Swiss  maiden  ere  she  was  yet  out  of 
reach  of  a  Swiss  breeze  of  wind. 

^'  Thou  must  not  let  the  dames  of  Germany  or  Flanders 
think  that  our  daughters  have  degenerated  from  their 
mothers  ;  else  must  we  fight  the  battles  of  Sempach  and 
Laupen  over  again,  to  convince  the  Emperor,  and  this 
haughty  Duke  of  Burgundy,  that  our  men  are  of  the  same 
mettle  with  their  forefathers.  And  as  for  our  parting,  I  do 
not  fear  it.  My  brother  is  a  count  of  the  Empire,  indeed, 
and  therefore  he  must  needs  satisfy  himself  that  everything 
over  which  he  possesses  any  title  shall  be  at  his  command, 
and  sends  for  thee  to  prove  his  right  of  doing  so.  But  I 
know  him  well.  He  will  no  sooner  be  satisfied  that  he  may 
command  thy  attendance  at  pleasure  than  he  will  concern 


92  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

himself  about  thee  no  more.  Thee  !  Alas  !  poor  thing,  in 
what  couldst  thou  aid  his  courtly  intrigues  and  ambitious 
plans  ?  No — no,  thou  art  not  for  the  noble  count's  purpose, 
and  must  be  content  to  trudge  back  to  rule  the  dairy  at 
Geierstein,  and  be  the  darling  of  thine  old  peasantlike 
uncle.'"' 

''  Would  to  God  we  were  there  even  now  ! "  said  the 
maiden,  in  a  tone  of  wretchedness  which  she  strove  in  vain 
to  conceal  or  suppress. 

"  That  may  hardly  be  till  we  have  executed  the  purpose 
which  brought  us  hither, ''  said  the  literal  Landamman. 
''But  lay  thee  on  thy  pallet,  Anne  ;  take  a  morsel  of  food 
and  three  drops  of  wine,  and  thou  wilt  wake  to-morrow  as 
gay  as  on  a  Swiss  holiday,  when  the  pipe  sounds  the  reveille."' 

Anne  was  now  able  to  plead  a  severe  headache,  and  declin- 
ing all  refreshment,  which  she  declared  herself  incapable  of 
tasting,  she  bade  her  uncle  good  night.  She  then  desired 
Lizette  to  get  some  food  for  herself,  cautioning  her,  as  she 
returned,  to  make  as  little  noise  as  possible,  and  not  to  break 
her  repose  if  she  should  have  the  good  fortune  to  fall  asleep. 
Arnold  Biederman  then  kissed  his  niece,  and  returned  to  the 
hall,  where  his  colleagues  in  office  were  impatient  to  com- 
mence an  attack  on  the  provisions  which  were  in  readiness  ; 
to  which  the  escort  of  young  men,  diminished  by  the  patrols 
and  sentinels,  were  no  less  disposed  than  their  seniors. 

The  signal  of  assault  was  given  by  the  deputy  from  Schwy  tz, 
the  eldest  of  the  party,  pronouncing  in  patriarchal  form  a 
benediction  over  the  meal.  The  travelers  then  commenced 
their  operations  with  a  vivacity  which  showed  that  the  un- 
certainty whether  they  should  get  any  food,  and  the  delays 
which  had  occurred  in  arranging  themselves  in  their  quar- 
ters, had  infinitely  increased  their  appetites.  Even  the 
Landamman,  whose  moderation  sometimes  approached  to 
abstinence,  seemed  that  night  in  a  more  genial  humor  than 
ordinary.  His  friend  of  Schwytz,  after  his  example,  ate, 
drank,  and  spoke  more  than  usual,  while  the  rest  of  the 
deputies  pushed  their  meal  to  the  verge  of  a  carousal.  The 
elder  Philipson  marked  the  scene  with  an  attentive  and 
anxious  eye,  confining  his  applications  to  the  wine-cup  to 
such  pledges  as  the  politeness  of  the  times  called  upon  him 
to  reply  to.  His  son  had  left  the  hall  just  as  the  banquet 
began,  in  the  manner  which  we  are  now  to  relate. 

Arthur  had  proposed  to  himself  to  join  the  youths  who 
were  to  perform  the  duty  of  sentinels  within,  or  patrols  on 
the  outside  of  their  place  of  repose,  and  had  indeed  made 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  93 

Bome  arrangement  for  that  purpose  with  Sigismund^  the  third 
of  the  Landamman's  sons.  But  while  about  to  steal  a  part- 
ing glance  at  Anne  of  Geierstein,  before  offering  his  service  as 
he  proposed,  there  appeared  on  her  brow  such  a  deep  and 
solemn  expression  as  diverted  his  thoughts  from  every  other 
subject  excepting  the  anxious  doubts  as  to  what  could  pos- 
sibly have  given  rise  to  such  a  change.  The  placid  openness 
of  brow,  the  eye  which  expressed  conscious  and  fearless  in- 
nocence, the  lips  which,  seconded  by  a  look  as  frank  as  her 
words,  seemed  ever  ready  to  speak,  in  kindness  and  in  con- 
fidence, that  which  the  heart  dictated,  were  for  the  moment 
entirely  changed  in  character  and  expression,  and  in  a  de- 
gree and  manner  for  which  no  ordinary  cause  could  satisfac- 
torily account.  Fatigue  might  have  banished  the  rose  from 
the  maiden's  beautiful  complexion,  and  sickness  or  pain 
might  have  dimmed  her  eye  and  clouded  her  brow  ;  but  the 
look  of  deep  dejection  with  which  she  fixed  her  eyes  at  time" 
on  the  ground,  and  the  startled  and  terrified  glance  which 
she  cast  around  her  at  other  intervals,  must  have  had  their 
rise  in  some  different  source.  Neither  could  illness  or  weari- 
ness explain  the  manner  in  which  her  lips  were  contracted 
or  compressed  together,  like  one  who  makes  up  her  mind  to 
act  or  behold  something  that  is  fearful,  or  account  for  the 
tremor  which  seemed  at  times  to  steal  over  her  insensibly, 
though  by  a  strong  effort  she  was  able  at  intervals  to  throw 
it  off.  For  this  change  of  expression  there  must  be  in  the 
heart  some  deeply  melancholy  and  afflicting  cause.  What 
could  that  cause  be  ? 

It  is  dangerous  for  youth  to  behold  beauty  in  the  pomp  of 
all  her  charms,  with  every  look  bent  upon  conquest  ;  more 
dangerous  to  see  her  in  the  hour  of  unaffected  and  unappre- 
hensive ease  and  simplicity,  yielding  herself  to  the  graceful 
whim  of  the  moment,  and  as  willing  to  be  pleased  as  desirous 
of  pleasing.  There  are  minds  which  may  be  still  more  af- 
fected by  gazing  on  beauty  in  sorrow,  and  feeling  that  pity, 
that  desire  of  comforting  the  lovely  mourrwer,  which  the  poet 
has  described  as  so  nearly  akin  to  love.  But  to  a  spirit  of 
that  romantic  and  adventurous  cast  which  the  Middle  Ages 
frequently  produced,  the  sight  of  a  young  and  amiable  person 
evidently  in  a  state  of  terror  and  suffering,  which  had  no 
visible  cause,  was  perhaps  still  more  impressive  than  beauty 
in  her  pride,  her  tenderness,  or  her  sorrow.  Such  sentiments, 
it  must  be  remembered,  were  not  confined  to  the  highest 
ranks  only,  but  might  then  be  found  in  all  classes  of  society 
which  were  raised  above  the  mere  peasant  or  artisan.     Young 


U  WAVEELEY  NOVELS, 

Philipson  gazed  on  Anne  of  Geierstein  with  such  intense 
curiosity,  mingled  with  pity  and  tenderness,  that  the  bus- 
tling scene  around  him  seemed  to  vanish  from  his  eyes,  and 
leave  no  one  in  the  noisy  hall  save  himself  and  the  object  of 
his  interest. 

What  could  it  be  that  so  evidently  oppressed  and  almost 
quailed  a  spirit  so  well  balanced,  and  a  courage  so  well  tem- 
pered, when,  being  guarded  by  the  swords  of  the  bravest  men 
perhaps  to  be  found  in  Europe,  and  lodged  in  a  place  of 
strength,  even  the  most  timid  of  her  sex  might  have  found 
confidence  ?  Surely,  if  an  attack  were  to  be  made  upon 
them,  the  clamor  of  a  conflict  in  such  circumstances  could 
scarce  be  more  terrific  than  the  roar  of  those  cataracts  which 
he  had  seen  her  despise  ?  '^  At  least, ^'  he  thought,  "  she 
ought  to  be  aware  that  there  is  one  who  is  bound  by  friend- 
ship and  gratitude  to  fight  to  the  death  in  her  defense. 
Would  to  Heaven,"  he  continued  in  the  same  reverie,  ^'  it 
were  possible  to  convey  to  her,  without  sign  or  speech,  the 
assurance  of  my  unalterable  resolution  to  protect  her  in  the 
worst  of  perils  ! "  As  such  thoughts  streamed  through  his 
mind,  Anne  raised  her  eyes  in  one  of  those  fits  of  deep  feeling 
which  seemed  to  overwhelm  her ;  and  while  she  cast  them 
round  the  hall  with  a  look  of  apprehension,  as  if  she  expected 
to  see  amid  the  well-known  companions  of  her  journey  some 
strange  and  unwelcome  apparition,  they  encountered  the 
fixed  and  anxious  gaze  of  young  Philipson.  They  were  in- 
stantly bent  on  the  ground,  while  a  deep  blush  showed  how 
much  she  was  conscious  of  having  attracted  his  attention  by 
her  previous  deportment. 

Arthur,  on  his  part,  with  equal  consciousness,  blushed  as 
deeply  as  the  maiden  herself,  and  drew  himself  back  from 
her  observation.  But  when  Anne  rose  up,  and  was  escorted 
by  her  uncle  to  her  bedchamber,  in  the  manner  we  have 
already  mentioned,  it  seemed  to  Philipson  as  if  she  had  carried 
with  her  from  the  apartment  the  lights  with  which  it  was  illu- 
minated, and  left  it  in  the  twilight  melancholy  of  some  fune- 
ral hall.  His  deep  musings  were  pursuing  the  subject  which 
occupied  them  thus  anxiously,  when  the  manly  voice  of 
Donnerhugel  spoke  close  in  his  ear — 

"  What,  comrade,  has  our  journey  to-day  fatigued  you  so 
much  that  you  go  to  sleep  upon  your  feet  ?  '* 

"  Now,  Heaven  forbid,  hauptman,"  said  the  Englishman, 
starting  from  his  reverie,  and  addressing  Kudolph  by  this 
name  (signifying  captain,  or  literally  head-man),  which  the 
youth  of  the  expedition  had  by  unanimous  consent  bestowed 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  95 

on  liim — ''Heaven  forbid  I  should  sleep,  if  there  be  aught 
like  action  in  the  wind/' 

''Where  dost  thou  propose  to  be  at  cock-crow  ?"  said  the 
Swiss. 

"Where  duty  shall  call  me,  or  your  experience,  noble 
hauptman,  shall  appoint, '^  replied  Arthur.  "  But,  with  your 
leave,  I  purposed  to  take  Sigismund's  guard  on  the  bridge 
till  midnight  or  morning  dawn.  He  still  feels  the  sprain 
which  he  received  in  his  spring  after  yonder  chamois,  and  1 
persuaded  him  to  take  some  uninterrupted  rest,  as  the  best 
mode  of  restoring  his  strength/' 

"  He  will  do  well  to  keep  his  counsel,  then,"  again  whis- 
pered Donnerhugel :  "  the  old  Landamman  is  not  a  man  to 
make  allowances  for  mishaps,  when  they  interfere  with  duty. 
Those  who  are  under  his  orders  should  have  as  few  brains  as 
a  bull,  as  strong  limbs  as  a  bear,  and  be  as  impassible  as  lead 
or  iron  to  all  the  casualties  of  life  and  all  the  weaknesses  of 
humanity/' 

Arthur  replied  in  the  same  tone — "  I  have  been  the  Lar- 
damman's  guest  for  some  time,  and  have  seen  no  specimens 
of  any  such  rigid  discipline." 

'*  You  are  a  stranger,"  said  the  Swiss,  "  and  the  old  man 
has  too  much  hospitality  to  lay  you  under  the  least  restraint. 
You  are  a  volunteer,  too,  in  whatever  share  you  choose  to 
take  in  our  sports  or  our  military  duty  ;  and  therefore,  when 
I  ask  you  to  walk  abroad  with  me  at  the  first  cock-crowing, 
it  is  only  in  the  event  that  such  exercise  shall  entirely  con- 
sist with  your  own  pleasure." 

"  I  consider  myself  as  under  your  command  for  the  time," 
said  Philipson  ;  "  but,  not  to  bandy  courtesy,  at  cock-crow 
I  shall  be  relieved  from  my  watch  on  the  drawbridge,  and 
will  be  by  that  time  glad  to  exchange  the  post  for  a  more 
extended  walk." 

"Do  you  not  choose  more  of  this  fatiguing,  and  probably 
unnecessary,  duty  than  may  befit  your  strength  ? "  said 
Rudolph. 

"  I  take  no  more  than  you  do,"  said  Arthur,  "  as  yon  pro« 
pose  not  to  take  rest  till  morning/' 

"True,"  answered  Donnerhugel,  "but  I  am  a  Swiss." 

"  And  I,"  answered  Philipson,  quickly,  "am  an  English- 
man." 

"  I  did  not  mean  what  I  said  in  the  sense  you  take  it,** 
said  Rudolph,  laughing :  "  I  only  meant,  that  I  am  more 
interested  in  this  matter  than  you  can  be,  who  are  a  stranger 
to  the  cause  in  which  we  are  personally  engaged/' 


06  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

*'I  am  a  stranger,  no  doubt/'  replied  Arthur;  ''but  a 
stranger  who  has  enjoyed  your  hospitality,  and  who,  there- 
fore, claims  a  right,  while  with  you,  to  a  share  in  your 
labors  and  dangers/' 

''  Be  it  so,*'  said  Eudolph  Donnerhugel.  ''  I  shall  have 
finished  my  first  rounds  at  the  hour  when  the  sentinels  at 
the  castle  are  relieved,  and  shall  be  ready  to  recommence 
them  in  your  good  company. " 

'*  Content,^'  said  the  Englishman.  "  And  now  I  will  to 
my  post,  for  I  suspect  Sigismund  is  blaming  me  already,  as 
oblivious  of  my  promise. '^ 

They  hastened  together  to  the  gate,  where  Sigismund  will- 
ingly yielded  up  his  weapon  and  his  guard  to  young  Philip- 
son,  confirming  the  idea  sometimes  entertained  of  him,  that 
he  was  the  most  indolent  and  least  spirited  of  the  family  of 
Geierstein. 

Rudolph  could  not  suppress  his  displeasure.  ''  What 
would  the  Landamman  say,''  he  demanded,  '^  if  he  saw  thee 
thus  quietly  yield  up  post  and  partisan  to  a  stranger  ?" 

"  He  would  say  I  did  well,"  answered  the  young  man, 
nothing  daunted  ;  *'for  he  is  forever  reminding  us  to  let 
the  stranger  have  his  own  way  in  everything  ;  and  English 
Arthur  stands  on  this  bridge  by  his  own  wish,  and  no  asking 
of  mine.  Therefore,  kind  Arthur,  since  thou  wilt  barter 
warm  straw  and  a  sound  sleep  for  frosty  air  and  a  clear  moon- 
light, I  make  thee  welcome  with  all  my  heart.  Hear  your 
duty.  You  are  to  stop  all  who  enter,  or  attempt  to  enter, 
or  till  they  give  the  password.  If  they  are  strangers,  you 
must  give  alarm.  But  you  will  suffer  such  of  our  friend's  as 
are  known  to  you  to  pass  outwards  without  challenge  or 
alarm,  because  the  deputation  may  find  occasion  to  send 
messengers  abroad.'' 

^^A  murrain  on  thee,  thou  lazy  losel!"  said  Rudolph. 
''  Thou  art  the  only  sluggard  of  thy  kin." 

^'  Then  am  I  the  only  wise  man  of  them  all,"  said  the 
youth.  ''  Harkye,  brave  hauptman,  ye  have  supped  this 
evening,  have  ye  not  ?  " 

"  It  is  a  point  of  wisdom,  ye  owl,"  answered  the  Bernese, 
''  not  to  go  into  the  forest  fasting." 

''  If  it  is  wisdom  to  eat  when  we  are  hungry,"  answered 
Sigismund,  "  there  can  be  no  folly  in  sleeping  when  we  are 
weary."  So  saying,  and  after  a  desperate  yawn  or  two,  the 
relieved  sentinel  halted  off,  giving  full  effect  to  the  sprain  of 
which  he  complained. 

"  Yet  there  is  strength  in  those  loitering  limbs,  and  valor 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  97 

in  that  indolent  and  sluggish  spirit,"  said  Rudolph  to  the 
Englishman.  "  But  it  is  time  that  I,  who  censure  others, 
should  betake  me  to  my  own  task.  Hither,  comrades  of  the 
watch — hither/' 

The  Bernese  accompanied  these  words  with  a  whistle, 
which  brought  from  within  six  young  men,  whom  he  had 
previously  chosen  for  the  duty,  and  who,  after  a  hurried 
supper,  now  waited  his  summons.  One  or  two  of  them  had 
large  bloodhounds  or  lyme-dogs,  which,  though  usually  em- 
ployed in  the  pursuit  of  animals  of  chase,  were  also  excel- 
lent for  discovering  ambuscades,  in  which  duty  their  serv- 
ices were  now  to  be  employed.  One  of  these  animals  was 
held  in  a  leash  by  the  person  who,  forming  the  advance  of 
the  party,  went  about  twenty  yards  in  front  of  them ;  a 
second  was  the  property  of  Donnerhugel  himself,  who  had 
the  creature  singularly  under  command.  Three  of  his  com- 
panions attended  him  closely,  and  the  two  others  followed, 
one  of  whom  bore  a  horn  of  the  Bernese  wild  bull,  by  way 
of  bugle.  This  little  party  crossed  the  moat  by  the  tempo- 
rary bridge,  and  moved  on  to  the  verge  of  the  forest,  which 
lay  adjacent  to  the  castle,  and  the  skirts  of  which  were  most 
likely  to  conceal  any  ambuscade  that  could  be  apprehended. 
The  moon  was  now  up,  an^  near  the  full,  so  that  Arthur, 
from  the  elevation  on  which  the  castle  stood,  could  trace 
their  slow,  cautious  mardh,  amid  the  broad  silver  light,  until 
they  were  lost  in  the  depths  of  the  forest. 

When  this  object  had  ceased  to  occupy  his  eyes,  the 
thoughts  of  his  lonely  watch  again  returned  to  Anne  of 
Geierstein,  and  to  the  singular  expression  of  distress  and 
apprehension  which  had  that  evening  clouded  her  beautiful 
features.  Then  the  blush  which  had  chased,  for  the  moment, 
paleness  and  terror  from  her  countenance,  at  the  instant  his 
eyes  encountered  hers — was  it  anger — was  it  modesty — was 
it  some  softer  feeling,  more  gentle  than  the  one,  more  tender 
than  the  other  ?  Young  Philipson,  who,  like  Chaucer's 
Squire,  was  "  as  modest  as  a  maid,"  almost  trembled  to  give 
to  that  look  the  favorable  interpretation  which  a  more  self- 
satisfied  gallant  would  have  applied  to  it  without  scruple. 
No  hue  of  rising  or  setting  day  was  ever  so  lovely  in  the  eyes 
of  the  young  man  as  that  blush  was  in  his  recollection  ;  nor 
did  ever  enthusiastic  visionary  or  poetical  dreamer  find  out 
so  many  fanciful  forms  in  the  clouds  as  Arthur  divined 
various  interpretations  from  the  indications  of  interest  which 
had  passed  over  the  beautiful  countenance  of  the  Swiss 
maiden. 


98  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

In  the  meantime,  the  thought  suddenly  burst  on  his 
reverie,  that  it  could  little  concern  him  what  was  the  cause 
of  the  perturbation  she  had  exhibited.  They  had  met  at  no 
distant  period  for  the  first  time ;  they  must  soon  part  for- 
ever. She  could  be  nothing  more  to  him  than  the  remem- 
brance of  a  beautiful  vision,  and  he  could  have  no  other  part 
in  her  memory  save  as  a  stranger  from  a  foreign  land,  who 
had  been  a  sojourner  for  a  season  in  her  nucleus  house,  but 
whom  she  could  never  expect  to  see  again.  When  this  idea 
intruded  on  the  train  of  romantic  visions  which  agitated  him, 
it  was  like  the  sharp  stroke  of  the  harpoon,  which  awakens 
the  whale  from  slumbering  torpidity  into  violent  action. 
The  gateway  in  which  the  young  soldier  kept  his  watch 
seemed  suddenly  too  narrow  for  him.  He  rushed  across  the 
temporary  bridge,  and  hastily  traversed  a  short  space  of 
ground  in  front  of  the  tete-du-pont,  or  defensive  work,  on 
which  its  outer  extremity  rested. 

Here  for  a  time  he  paced  the  narrow  extent  to  which  he 
was  confined  by  his  duty  as  a  sentinel,  with  long  and  rapid 
strides,  as  if  he  had  been  engaged  by  vow  to  take  the  great- 
est possible  quantity  of  exercise  upon  that  limited  space  of 
ground.  His  exertion,  however,  produced  the  eifect  of  in 
some  degree  composing  his  mind,  recalling  him  to  himself, 
and  reminding  him  of  the  numerous  reasons  which  prohib- 
ited his  fixing  his  attention,  much^nore  his  affections,  upon 
this  young  person,  however  fascinating  she  was. 

''  I  have  surely, ''  he  thought,  as  he  slackened  his  pace  and 
shouldered  his  heavy  partizan,  "sense  enough  left  to  recol- 
lect my  condition  and  my  duties — to  think  of  my  father,  to 
whom  I  am  all  in  all,  and  to  think  also  on  the  dishonor  which 
must  accrue  to  me,  were  I  capable  of  winning  the  affections 
of  a  frank-hearted  and  confiding  girl,  to  whom  I  could  never 
do  justice  by  dedicating  my  life  to  return  them.  No,"  he 
said  to  himself,  "  she  will  soon  forget  me,  and  I  will  study 
to  remember  her  no  otherwise  than  I  would  a  pleasing  dreani, 
which  hath  for  a  moment  crossed  a  night  of  perils  and  dan- 
gers, such  as  my  life  seems  doomed  to  be." 

As  he  spoke,  he  stopped  short  in  his  walk,  and  as  he 
rested  on  his  weapon,  a  tear  rose  unbidden  to  his  eye  and 
stole  down  his  cheek  without  being  wiped  away.  But  he 
combated  this  gentler  mood  of  passion  as  he  had  formerly 
battled  with  that  which  was  of  a  wilder  and  more  desperate 
character.  Shaking  off  the  dejection  and  sinking  of  spirit 
which  he  felt  creeping  upon  him,  he  resumed,  at  the  same 
time,  the  air  and  attitude  of  an  attentive  sentinel,  and  re- 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  99 

called  his  mind  to  the  duties  of  his  watch,  which,  in  the  tu- 
mult of  his  feelings,  he  had  almost  forgotten.  But  what 
was  his  astonishment  when,  as  he  looked  out  on  the  clear 
landscape,  there  passed  from  the  bridge  towards  the  forest, 
crossing  him  in  the  broad  moonlight,  the  living  and  moving 
likeness  of  Anne  of  Geierstein  I 


CHAPTER  X 

We  know  not  when  we  sleep  nor  when  we  wake. 

Visions  distinct  and  perfect  cross  our  eye, 

Which  to  the  slumberer  seem  reahties  ; 

And  while  they  waked,  some  men  have  seen  such  sights 

As  set  at  nought  the  evidence  of  sense. 

And  left  them  well  persuaded  they  were  dreaming. 

Anonymous. 

The  apparition  of  Anne  of  Geierstein  crossed  her  lover— 
her  admirer,  at  least,  we  must  call  him — within  shorter  time 
than  we  can  tell  the  story.  But  it  was  distinct,  perfect,  and 
undoubted.  In  the  very  instant  when  the  young  English- 
man, shaking  off  his  fond  despondency,  raised  his  head  to 
lookout  upon  the  scene  of  his  watch, 'she  came  from  the 
nearer  end  of  the  bridge,  crossing  the  path  of  the  sentinel, 
upon  whom  she  did  not  even  cast  a  look,  and  passed  with  a 
rapid  yet  steady  pace  towards  the  verge  of  the  woodland. 

It  would  have  been  natural,  though  Arthur  had  been 
directed  not  to  challenge  persons  who  left  the  castle,  but  only 
such  as  might  approach  it,  that  he  should  nevertheless,  had 
it  only  been  in  mere  civility,  have  held  some  communication, 
however  slight,  with  the  maiden  as  she  crossed  his  post.  But 
the  suddenness  of  her  appearance  took  from  him  for  the  in- 
stant both  speech  and  motion.  It  seemed  as  if  his  own  im- 
agination had  raised  up  a  phantom,  presenting  to  his  outward 
senses  the  form  and  features  which  engrossed  his  mind  ;  and 
he  was  silent,  partly  at  least  from  the  idea  that  what  he 
gazed  upon  was  immaterial  and  not  of  this  world. 

It  would  have  been  no  less  natural  that  Anne  of  Geierstein 
should  have  in  some  manner  acknowledged  the  person  who 
had  spent  a  considerable  time  under  the  same  roof  with  her, 
had  been  often  her  partner  in  the  dance,  and  her  compan- 
ion in  the  field  ;  but  she  did  not  evince  the  slightest  token 
of  recognition,  nor  even  look  towards  him  as  she  passed  ; 
her  eye  was  on  the  wood,  to  which  she  advanced  swiftly  and 
steadily,  and  she  was  hidden  by  its  boughs  ere  Arthur 
had  recollected  himself  sufficiently  to  determine  what  to  do. 

His  first  feeling  was  anger  at  himself  for  suffering  her  to 
pass  unquestioned,  when  it  might  well  chance  that,  upon 

too 


ANNE  OF  GElEliSTMiN,  ICl 

any  errand  which  called  her  forth  at  so  extraordinary  a  time 
and  place,  he  might  have  been  enabled  to  afford  her  assistance, 
or  at  least  advice.  This  sentiment  was  for  a  short  time  so 
predominant,  that  he  ran  towards  the  place  where  he  had 
seen  the  skirt  of  her  dress  disappear,  and,  whispering  her 
name  as  loud  as  the  fear  of  alarming  the  castle  permitted, 
conjured  her  to  return,  and  hear  him  but  for  a  few  brief 
moments.  No  answer,  however,  was  returned  ;  and  when  the 
branches  of  the  trees  began  to  darken  over  his  head  and  to 
intercept  the  moonlight,  he  recollected  that  he  was  leaving  his 
post,  and  exposing  his  fellow-travelers,  who  were  trusting  in 
his  vigilance,  to  the  danger  of  surprise. 

He  hastened,  therefore,  back  to  the  castle-gate,  with  mat- 
ter for  deeper  and  more  inextricable  doubt  and  anxiety  than 
had  occupied  him  during  the  commencement  of  his  watch. 
He  asked  himself  in  vain,  with  what  purpose  that  modest 
young  maiden,  whose  manners  were  frank,  but  whose  con- 
duct had  always  seemed  so  delicate  and  reserved,  could  sally 
forth  at  midnight  like  a  damsel-errant  in  romance,  when  she 
was  in  a  strange  country  and  suspicious  neighborhood  ;  yet 
he  rejected,  as  he  would  have  shrunk  from  blasphemy,  any 
interpretation  which  would  have  thrown  censure  upon  Anne 
of  Geierstein.  No,  nothing  was  she  capable  of  doing  for 
which  a  friend  could  have  to  blush.  But  connecting  her 
previous  agitation  with  the  extraordinary  fact  of  her  leaving 
the  castle,  alone  and  defenseless,  at  such  an  hour,  Arthur 
necessarily  concluded  it  must  argue  some  cogent  reason,  and, 
as  was  most  likely,  of  an  unpleasant  nature.  '^  I  will  watch 
her  return,^^  he  internally  uttered,  ''  and,  if  she  will  give 
me  an  opportunity,  I  will  convey  to  her  the  assurance  that 
there  is  one  faithful  bosom  in  her  neighborhood,  which  is 
bound  in  honor  and  gratitude  to  pour  out  every  drop  of  its 
blood,  if  by  doing  so  it  can  protect  her  from  the  slightest 
inconvenience.  This  is  no  silly  flight  of  romance,  for  which 
common  sense  has  a  right  to  reproach  me  :  it  is  only  what  1 
ought  to  do,  what  I  must  do,  ^or  forego  every  claim  to  be 
termed  a  man  of  honesty  or  honor."*' 

Yet  scarce  did  the  young  man  think  himself  anchored  on 
a  resolution  which  seemed  unobjectionable  than  his  thoughts 
were  again  adrift.  He  reflected  that  'Anne  might  have  a 
desire  to  visit  the  neighboring  town  of  Bale,  to  which  she 
had  been  invited  the  day  before,  and  where  her  uncle  had 
friends.  It  was  indeed  an  uncommon  hour  to  select  for  such 
a  purpose  ;  but  Arthur  was  aware  that  the  Swiss  maidens 
feared  neither  solitary  walks  nor  late  hours,  and  that  Anne 


192.  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

would  have  walked  among  her  own  hills  by  moonlight  mnch 
farther  than  the  distance  betwixt  their  place  of  encampment 
and  Bdle,  to  see  a  sick  friend,  or  for  any  similar  purpose.  To 
press  himself  on  her  confidence,  then,  might  be  impertinence, 
not  kindness  ;  and  as  she  had  passed  him  without  taking  the 
slightest  notice  of  his  presence,  it  was  evident  she  did  not 
mean  voluntarily  to  make  him  her  confidant ;  and  probably 
she  was  involved  in  no  difficulties  where  his  aid  could  be 
useful.  In  that  case,  the  duty  of  a  gentleman  was  to  per- 
mit her  to  return  as  she  had  gone  forth,  unnoticed  and  un- 
questioned, leaving  it  with  herself  to  hold  communication 
with  him  or  not  as  she  should  choose. 

Another  idea,  belonging  to  the  age,  also  passed  through 
his  mind,  though  it  made  no  strong  impression  upon  it. 
This  form,  so  perfectly  resembling  Anne  of  Geierstein, 
might  be  a  deception  of  the  sight,  or  it  might  be  one  of 
those  fantastic  apparitions  concerning  which  there  were  so 
many  tales  told  in  all  countries,  and  of  which  Switzerland 
and  Germany  had,  as  Arthur  well  knew,  their  full  share. 
The  internal  and  undefinable  feelings  which  restrained  him 
from  accosting  the  maiden,  as  might  have  been  natural  for 
him  to  have  done,  are  easily  explained,  on  the  supposition 
that  his  mortal  frame  shrunk  from  an  encounter  with  a  being 
of  a  different  nature.  There  had  also  been  some  expressions 
of  the  magistrate  of  Bale  which  might  apply  to  the  castle's 
being  liable  to  be  haunted  by  beings  from  another  world. 
But  though  the  general  belief  in  such  ghostly  apparitions 
prevented  the  Englishman  from  being  positively  incredulous 
on  the  subject,  yet  the  instructions  of  his  father,  a  man  of 
great  intrepidity  and  distinguished  good  sense,  had  taught  him 
to  be  extremely  unwilling  to  refer  anything  to  supernatural 
interferences  which  was  capable  of  explanation  by  ordinary 
rules ;  and  he  therefore  shook  off,  without  difficulty,  any 
feelings  of  superstitious  fear  which  for  an  instant  connected 
itself  with  his  nocturnal  adventure.  He  resolved  finally  to 
suppress  all  disquieting  conjecture  on  the  subject,  and  to 
await  firmly,  if  not  patiently,  the  return  of  the  fair  vision, 
which,  if  it  should  not  fully  explain  the  mystery,  seemed  at 
least  to  afford  the  only  chance  of  throwing  light  upon  it. 

Fixed,  therefore,  in  purpose,  he  traversed  the  walk  which 
his  duty  permitted,  with  his  eyes  fixed  on  the  part  of  the 
forest  where  he  had  seen  the  beloved  form  disappear,  and 
forgetful  for  the  moment  that  his  watch  had  any  other  pur- 
pose than  to  observe  her  return.  But  from  this  abstraction 
of  mind  he  was  roused  by  a  distant  sound  in   the  forest, 


ANNE  OF  GEIEBSTEIN  103 

which  seemed  the  clash  of  armor.  Recalled  at  once  to  a 
sense  of  his  duty,  and  its  importance  to  his  father  and  his 
fellow-travelers,  Arthur  planted  himself  on  the  temporary 
bridge  where  a  stand  could  best  be  made,  and  turned  both 
eyes  and  ears  to  watch  for  approaching  danger.  The 
sound  of  arms  and  footsteps  came  nearer  :  spears  and  helmets 
advanced  from  the  greenwood  glade,  and  twinkled  in  the 
moonlight.  But  the  stately  forjn  of  Rudolph  Donnerhugel, 
marching  in  front,  was  easily  recognized,  and  announced  to 
our  sentinel  the  return  of  the  patrol.  Upon  their  approach 
to  the  bridge,  the  challenge  and  interchange  of  sign  and 
countersign,  which  is  usual  on  such  occasions,  took  place  in 
due  form  ;  and  as  Rudolph's  party  filed  off  one  after  another 
into  the  castle,  he  commanded  them  to  wake  their  com- 
panions, with  whom  he  intended  to  renew  the  patrol,  and  at 
■^he  same  time  to  send  a  relief  to  Arthur  Philipson,  whose 
watch  on  the  bridge  was  now  ended.  This  last  fact  was 
confirmed  by  the  deep  and  distant  toll  of  the  minster  clock 
from  tho  town  of  Bale,  which,  prolonging  its  sullen  sound 
over  fieM  and  forest,  announced  that  midnight  was 
past. 

'^  And  now,  comrade,*'  continued  Rudolph  to  the  English- 
man, *'  have  the  cold  air  and  long  watch  determined  thee  to 
retire  to  food  and  rest,  or  dost  thou  still  hold  the  intention 
of  partaking  our  rounds  ?" 

In  very  truth  it  would  have  been  Arthur's  choice  to  have 
remained  in  the  place  where  he  was,  for  the  purpose  of 
watching  Anne  of  Geierstein's  return  from  her  mysterious 
excursion.  He  could  not  easily  have  found  an  excuse  for 
this,  however,  and  he  was  unwilling  to  give  the  haughty 
DonnerhugeT  the  least  suspicion  that  he  was  inferior  in 
hardihood,  or  in  the  power  of  enduring  fatigue,  to  any  of 
the  tall  mountaineers  whose  companion  he  chanced  to  be  for 
the  present.  He  did  not,  therefore,  indulge  even  a  moment's 
hesitation  ;  but  while  he  restored  the  borrowed  partizan  to  the 
filuggish  Sigismund,  who  came  from  the  castle  yaw^ning  and 
(Stretching  himself  like  one  whose  slumbers  had  been  broken 
by  no  welcome  summons  when  they  were  deepest  and 
sweetest,  he  acquainted  Rudolph  that  he  retained  his  purpose 
of  partaking  in  his  reconnoitering  duty.  They  were  speedily 
joined  by  the  rest  of  the  patroling  party,  amongst  whom 
was  Rudiger,  the  eldest  son  of  the  Landamman  of  Unter- 
walden  ;  and  when,  led  by  the  Bernese  champion,  they  had 
reached  the  skirts  of  the  forest,  Rudolph  commanded  three 
of  them  to  attend  Rudiger  Biederman. 


104  WAVI^BLEY  NOVELS 

"  Thou  wilt  make  thy  round  to  the  left  side/'  said  the 
Bernese,  ''  I  will  draw  off  to  the  right ;  see  thou  keepest  a 
good  lookout,  and  we  will  meet  merrily  at  the  place  ap- 
pointed. Take  one  of  the  hounds  with  you.  I  will  keep 
Wolf-fanger,  who  will  open  on  a  Burgundian  as  readily  as 
on  a  bear.^' 

Rudiger  moved  off  with  his  party  to  the  left,  according  to 
the  directions  received  ;  and  Eudolph,  having  sent  forward 
one  of  his  number  in  front  and  stationed  another  in  the 
rear,  commanded  the  third  to  follow  himself  and  Arthur 
Philipson,  who  thus  constituted  the  main  body  of  the  pa- 
trol. Having  intimated  to  their  immediate  attendant  to 
keep  at  such  distance  as  to  allow  them  freedom  of  conversa- 
tion, Rudolph  addressed  the  Englishman  with  the  familiar- 
ity which  their  recent  friendship  had  created.  *'  And  now. 
King  Arthur,  what  thinks  the  Majesty  of  England  of  our 
Helvetian  youth  ?  Could  they  win  guerdon  in  tilt  or  tour- 
ney, thinkest  thou,  noble  prince  ?  Or  would  they  rank  but 
amongst  the  coward  knights  of  Cornouailles  ?  ^** 

"  For  tilt  and  tourney  I  cannot  answer, '^  said  Arthur, 
summing  up  his  spirits  to  reply,  "  because  I  never  beheld 
one  of  you  mounted  on  a  steed,  or  having  spear  in  rest.  But 
if  strong  limbs  and  stout  hearts  are  to  be  considered,  I  would 
match  you  Swiss  gallants  with  those  of  any  country  in  the 
universe  where  manhood  is  to  be  looked  for,  whether  it  be 
in  heart  or  hand/' 

^^  Thou  speakest  us  fair  ;  and,  young  Englishman,''  said 
Rudolph,  '*  know  that  we  think  as  highly  of  thee,  of  which 
I  will  presently  afford  thee  a  proof.  Thou  talked'st  but 
now  of  horses.  I  know  but  little  of  them  ;  yet  I  judge  thou 
wouldst  not  buy  a  steed  which  thou  hadst  only  seen  covered 
with  trappings,  or  encumbered  with  saddle  and  bridle,  but 
wouldst  desire  to  look  at  him  when  stripped,  and  an  his 
natural  state  of  freedom  ?  " 

"  Ay,  marry,  would  J"  said  Arthur.  "  Thou  hast  spoken 
on  that  as  if  thou  hadst  been  born  in  a  district  called  York- 
shire, which  men  call  the  merriest  part  of  Merry  England." 

"Then  I  tell  thee,"  said  Rudolph  Donnerhugel,  *^^that 
thou  hast  seen  our  Swiss  youth  but  half,  since  thou  hast  ob- 
served them  as  yet  only  in  their  submissive  attendance  upon 
the  elders  of  their  cantons,  or,  at  most,  in  their  mountain 
sports,  which,  though  they  may  show  men's  outward  strength 
and  activity,  can  throw  no  light  on  tho  spirit  and  disposi' 

*  Th«  chivalry  of  Cornwall  are  generally  undervalued  in  the 
Norman-French  romances.    The  cause  is  difficult  to  discover. 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN   .  105 

tion  by  which  that  strength  and  activity  are  to  be  guided 
and  directed  in  matters  of  high  enterprise/' 

The  Swiss  probably  designed  that  these  remarks  should 
excite  the  curiosity  of  the  stranger.  But  the  Englishman 
had  the  image,  look,  and  form  of  Anne  of  Geierstein,  as  she 
had  passed  him  in  the  silent  hours  of  his  watch,  too  con- 
stantly before  him  to  enter  willingly  upon  a  subject  of  con- 
versation totally  foreign  to  what  agitated  his  mind.  He, 
therefore,  only  compelled  himself  to  reply  in  civility,  that 
he  had  no  doubt  his  esteem  for  the  Swiss,  both  aged  and 
young,  would  increase  in  proportion  with  his  more  intimate 
knowledge  of  the  nation. 

He  was  then  silent ;  and  Donnerhugel,  disappointed,  per- 
haps, at  having  failed  to  excite  his  curiosity,  walked  also  in 
silence  by  his  side.  Arthur,  meanwhile,  was  considering 
with  himself  whether  he  should  mention  to  his  companion 
the  circumstance  which  occupied  his  own  mind,  in  the  hope 
that  the  kinsman  of  Anne  of  Geierstein,  and  ancient  friend 
of  her  house,  might  be  able  to  throw  some  light  on  the  sub- 
ject. 

But  he  felt  within  his  mind  an  insurmountable  objection 
to  converse  with  the  Swiss  on  a  subject  in  which  Anne  was 
concerned.  That  Rudolph  made  pretensions  to  her  favor 
could  hardly  be  doubted  ;  and  though  Arthur,  had  the  ques- 
tion been  put  to  him,  must  in  common  consistency  have  re- 
signed all  competition  on  the  subject,  still  he  could  not  bear 
to  think  on  the  possibility  of  his  rival's  success,  and  would 
not  willingly  have  endured  to  hear  him  pronounce  her  name. 

Perhaps  it  was  owing  to  this  secret  irritability  that  Arthur, 
though  he  made  every  effort  to  conceal  and  to  overcome  the 
sensation,  still  felt  a  secret  dislike  to  Rudolph  Donnerhugel, 
whose  frank,  but  somewhat  coarse,  familiarity  was  mingled 
with  a  certain  air  of  protection,  and  patronage,  which  the 
Englishman  thought  was  by  no  means  called  for.  He  met 
the  openness  of  the  Bernese,  indeed,  with  equal  frankness, 
but  he  was  ever  and  anon  tempted  to  reject  or  repel  the  tone 
of  superiority  by  which  it  was  accompanied.  The  circum- 
stances of  their  duel  had  given  the  Swiss  no  ground  for  such 
triumph  ;  nor  did  Arthur  feel  himself  included  in  that  roll 
of  the  Swiss  youth  over  whom  Rudolph  exercised  domina- 
tion, by  general  consent.  So  liUle  did  Philipson  relish  this 
affectation  of  superiority,  that  the  poor  jest  that  termed  him 
King  Arthur,  although  quite  indifferent  to  him  when  ap- 
plied by  any  of  the  Biedermans,  was  rather  offensive  when 
Kudolph  took  the  same  liberty  ;  so  that  he  often  found  him 


106  -     WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

self  in  the  awkward  condition  of  one  who  is  internally  irri- 
tated, without  having  any  outward  manner  of  testifying  it 
with  propriety.  Undoubtedly,  the  root  of  all  this  tacit  dis- 
liko  to  the  young  Bernese  was  a  feeling  of  rivalry  ;  but  it 
was  a  feeling  which  Arthur  dared  not  avow  even  to  himself. 
It  was  sufficiently  powerful,  however,  to  suppress  the  slight 
inclination  he  had  felt  to  speak  with  Eudolph  on  the  passage 
of  the  night  which  had  most  interested  him  ;  and  as  the 
topic  of  conversation  introduced  by  his  companion  had  been 
suffered  to  drop,  they  walked  on  side  by  side  in  silence, 
'^  with  the  beard  on  the  shoulder,'^  as  the  Spaniard  says — 
looking  round,  that  is,  on  all  hands — and  thus  performing 
the  duty  of  a  vigilant  watch. 

At  length,  after  they  had  walked  nearly  a  mile  through 
forest  and  field,  making  a  circuit  around  the  ruins  of  Graffs- 
lust,  of  such  an  extent  as  to  leave  no  room  for  an  ambush 
betwixt  them  and  the  place,  the  old  hound,  led  by  the  vidette 
who  was  foremost,  stopped  and  uttered  a  low  growl. 

''How  now,  Wolf-fanger ! *'  said  Rudolph,  advancing. 
"  What,  old  fellow  !  dost  thou  not  know  friends  from  foes  ? 
Come,  what  sayest  thou,  on  better  thoughts  ?  Thou  must 
not  lose  character  in  thy  old  age  ;  try  it  again." 

The  dog  raised  his  head,  snuffed  the  air  all  around,  as  if 
he  understood  what  his  master  had  said,  then  shook  his  head 
and  tail,  as  if  answering  to  his  voice. 

'*  Why,  there  it  is  now,''  said  Donnerhugel,  patting  the 
animal's  shaggy  back ;  "  second  thoughts  are  worth  gold  : 
thou  seest  it  is  a  friend  after  all." 

The  dog  again  shook  his  tail,  and  moved  forward  with  the 
same  unconcern  as  before  ;  Rudolph  fell  back  into  his  place 
and  his  companion  said  to  him — 

*'  We  are  about  to  meet  Rudiger  and  our  companions,  I 
suppose,  and  the  dog  hears  their  footsteps,  though  we  can- 
not." 

''  It  can  scarcely  yet  be  Rudiger,"  said  the  Bernese  :  ''  hie 
walk  around  the  castle  is  of  a  wider  circumference  than  ours. 
Some  one  approaches,  however,  for  Wolf -f anger  is  again  dis- 
satisfied.    Look  sharply  out  on  all  sides." 

As  Rudolph  gave  his  party  the  word  to  be  on  the  alert, 
they  reached  an  open  glade,  in  which  were  scattered,  at  con- 
siderable distance  from  eacK  other,  some  old  pine-trees  of  gi- 
gantic size,  which  seemed  yet  huger  and  blacker  than  ordi- 
nary, from  their  broad  sable  tops  and  shattered  branches 
being  displayed  against  the  clear  and  white  moonlight.  ''We 
shall  here,  at  least,"  said  the  Swiss,  "  have  the  advantage  of 


ANNE  OF  QEIERSTEIN  107 

seeing  clearly  whatever  approaches.  But  I  judge,''  said  he, 
after  looking  around  for  a  minute,  '^  it  is  but  some  wolf  or 
deer  that  has  crossed  our  path,  and  the  scent  disturbs  the 
hound.     Hold — stop — yes,  it  must  be  so — he  goes  on.^' 

The  dog  accordingly  proceeded,  after  having  given  some 
signs  of  doubt,  uncertainty,  and  even  anxiety.  Apparently, 
however,  he  became  reconciled  to  what  had  disturbed  him, 
and  proceeded  once  more  in  the  ordinary  manner. 

''  This  is  singular!"  said  Arthur  Philipson;  ''  and,  to  my 
thinking,  I  saw  an  object  close  by  yonder  patch  of  thicket, 
where,  as  well  as  I  can  guess,  a  few  thorn  and  hazel  bushes 
surround  the  stems  of  four  or  five  large  trees.'' 

"  My  eye  has  been  on  that  very  thicket  for  these  five 
minutes  past,  and  I  saw  nothing,"  said  Rudolph. 

''Nay,  but,"  answered  the  young  Englishman,  "  I  saw  the 
object,  whatever  it  was,  while  you  were  engaged  in  attend- 
ing to  the  dog.  And  by  your  permission,  I  will  forward  and 
examine  the  spot." 

'•'  Were  you,  strictly  speaking,  under  my  command,"  said 
Donnerhugel,  ''  I  would  command  you  to  keep  your  place. 
If  they  be  foes,  it  is  essential  that  we  should  remain  together. 
But  you  are  a  volunteer  in  our  watch,  and  therefore  may  use 
your  freedom." 

''  I  thank  you,"  answered  Arthur,  and  sprung  quickly  for- 
ward. 

He  felt,  indeed,  at  the  moment,  that  he  was  not  acting 
courteously  as  an  individual,  nor  perhaps  correctly  as  a  sol- 
dier ;  and  that  he  ought  to  have  rendered  obedience,  for  the 
time,  to  the  captain  of  the  party  in  which  he  had  enlisted 
himself.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  the  object  which  he  had 
seen,  though  at  a  distance  and  imperfectly,  seemed  to  bear  a 
resemblance  to  the  retiring  form  of  Anne  of  Geierstein,  as 
she  had  vanished  from  his  eyes,  an  hour  or  two  before,  un- 
der the  cover  of  the  forest;  and  his  ungovernable  curiosity 
to  ascertain  whether  it  might  not  be  the  maiden  in  person 
allowed  him  to  listen  to  no  other  consideration. 

Ere  Eudolph  had  spoken  out  his  few  words  of  reply, 
Arthur  was  half-way  to  the  thicket.  It  was,  as  it  had  seemed 
at  a  distance,  of  small  extent,  and  not  fitted  to  hide  any 
person  who  did  not  actually  couch  down  amongst  the  dwarf 
bushes  and  underwood.  Anything  white,  also,  which  bore 
the  human  size  and  form,  must,  he  thought,  have  been  dis- 
covered among  the  dark-red  stems  and  swarthy-colored  bushes 
which  were  before  him.  These  observations  were  mingltd 
wi  th  other  thoughts.     If  it  was  Anne  of  Geierstein  whom  he 


/08  WAVERLET  NOVELS 

had  a  second  time  seen,  she  must  have  left  the  more  open 
path,  desirous  probably  of  avoiding  notice  ;  and  what  right 
or  title  had  he  to  direct  upon  her  the  observation  of  the  pa- 
trol ?  He  had,  he  thought,  observed  that  in  general  the 
maiden  rather  repelled  than  encouraged  the  attentions  of 
Kudolph  Donnerhugel ;  or,  where  it  would  have  been  dis- 
courteous to  have  rejected  them  entirely,  that  she  endured 
without  encouraging  them.  What,  then,  could  be  the  pro- 
priety of  his  intruding  upon  her  private  walk,  singular,  in- 
deed, from  time  and  place,  but  which,  on  that  account,  she 
might  be  more  desirous  to  keep  secret  from  the  observation 
of  one  who  was  disagreeable  to  her  ?  Nay,  was  it  not  pos- 
sible that  Rudolph  might  derive  advantage  to  his  otherwise 
unacceptable  suit  by  possessing  the  knowledge  of  something 
which  the  maiden  desired  to  be  concealed  ? 

As  these  thoughts  pressed  upon  him,  Arthur  made  a  pause, 
with  his  eyes  fixed  on  the  thicket,  from  which  he  was  now 
scarce  thirty  yards  distant ;  and  although  scrutinizing  it  with 
all  the  keen  accuracy  which  his  uncertainty  and  anxiety  dic- 
tated, he  was  actuated  by  a  strong  feeling  that  it  would  be 
wisest  to  turn  back  to  his  companions,  and  report  to  Rudolph 
that  his  eyes  had  deceived  him. 

But,  w^hile  he  was  yet  undecided  whether  to  advance  or 
return,  the  object  which  he  had  seen  became  again  visible 
on  the  verge  of  the  thicket,  and  advanced  straight  towards 
him,  bearing,  as  on  the  former  occasion,  the  exact  dress  and 
figure  of  Anne  of  Geierstein  !  This  vision — for  the  time, 
place,  and  suddenness  of  the  appearance  made  it  seem  rather 
an  illusion  than  a  reality — struck  Arthur  with  surprise,  which 
amounted  to  terror.  The  figure  passed  within  a  spear's- 
length,  unchallenged  by  him,  and  giving  not  the  slightest 
sign  of  recognition  ;  and,  directing  its  course  to  the  right 
hand  of  Rudolph  and  the  two  or  three  who  were  with  him, 
Tas  again  lost  among  the  broken  ground  and  bushes. 

Once  more  the  young  man  was  reduced  to  a  state  of  the 
most  inextricable  doubt ;  nor  was  he  roused  from  the  stupor 
into  which  he  was  thrown  till  the  voice  of  the  Bernese  sounded 
in  his  ear — "  Why,  how  now.  King  Arthur  ;  art  thou  asleep, 
or  art  thou  wounded  ?  " 

'^Neither,''  said  Philipson,  collecting  himself;  ''only 
much  surprised. '* 

'*  Surprised  !  and  at  what,  most  royal " 

'^Forbear  foolery,^'  said  Arthur,  somewhat  sternly,  ''and 
answer  as  thou  art  a  man — Did  she  not  meet  thee  ? — didst 
thou  not  see  her  ? " 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  109 

*'  See  her  ! — see  whom  ?  '*  said  Donnerhugel.  ''  I  saw  no 
one.  And  I  could  have  sworn  you  had  seen  no  .one  either, 
for  I  had  you  in  my  eye  the  whole  time  of  your  absence,  ex- 
cepting two  or  three  moments.  If  you  saw  aught,  why  gave 
you  not  the  alarm  ?  '^ 

''  Because  it  was  only  a  woman,''  answered  Arthur, 
faintly. 

*'  Only  a  woman  !"  repeated  Rudolph,  in  a  tone  of  con- 
tempt. "  By  my  honest  word,  King  Arthur,  if  I  had  not 
seen  pretty  flashes  of  valor  fly  from  thee  at  times,  I  should 
be  apt  to  think  that  thou  hadst  only  a  woman's  courage 
thyself.  Strange,  that  a  shadow  by  night,  or  a  precipice  in 
the  day,  should  quell  so  bold  a  spirit  as  thou  hast  often 
shown '' 

"  And  as  I  will  ever  show,  when  occasion  demands  it,'' 
interrupted  the  Englishman,  with  recovered  spirit.  ^'  But 
I  swear  to  you  that,  if  I  be  now  daunted,  it  is  by  no  rnerely 
earthly  fears  that  my  mind  hath  been  for  a  moment  sub- 
dued." 

*'  Let  us  proceed  on  our  walk,"  said  Rudolph  :  '^  we  must 
not  neglect  the  safety  of  our  friends.  This  appearance  of 
which  thou  speakest  may  be  but  a  trick  to  interrupt  our 
duty." 

They  moved  on  through  the  moonlight  glades.  A  minute's 
reflection  restored  young  Philipson  to  his  full  recollection, 
and  with  that  to  the  painful  consciousness  that  he  had  played 
a  ridiculous  and  unworthy  part  in  the  presence  of  the  person 
whom  (of  the  male  sex,  at  least)  he  would  the  very  last  have 
chosen  as  a  witness  of  his  weakness. 

He  ran  hastily  over  the  relations  which  stood  betwixt  him- 
self, Donnerhugel,  the  Landamman,  his  niece,  and  the  rest 
of  that  family  ;  and,  contrary  to  the  opinion  which  he  had 
entertained  but  a  short  while  before,  settled  in  his  own  mind 
that  it  was  his  duty  to  mention  to  the  immediate  leader  under 
whom  he  had  placed  hknself  the  appearance  which  he  had 
twice  observed  in  the  course  of  that  night's  duty.  There 
might  be  family  circumstances — the  payment  of  a  vow,  per- 
haps, or  some  such  reason — which  might  render  intelligible 
to  her  connections  the  behavior  of  this  young  lady.  Besides, 
he  was  for  the  present  a  soldier  on  duty,  and  these  mysteries 
might  be  fraught  with  evils  to  be  anticipated  or  guarded 
against  ;  in  either  case,  his  companions  were  entitled  to  be 
made  aware  of  what  he  had  seen.  It  must  be  supposed  that 
this  resolution  was  adopted  when  the  sense  of  duty,  and  of 
shame  for  the  weakness  which  he  had  exhibited,  had  for  the 


I 


110  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

moment  subdued  Arthur's  personal  feelings  towards  Anm 
of  Geierstein — feelings,  also,  liable  to  be  chilled  by  the  mys- 
terious uncertainty  which  the  events  of  that  evening  had 
cast,  like  a  thick  mist,  around  the  object  of  them. 

While  the  Englishman's  reflections  were  taking  this  turn, 
his  captain  or  companion,  after  a  silence  of  several  minutes, 
at  length  addressed  him. 

'^  I  believe,*'  he  said,  *'  my  dear  comrade,  that,  as  being  at 
present  your  officer,  I  have  some  title  to  hear  from  you  the 
report  of  what  you  have  just  now  seen,  since  it  must  be 
something  of  importance  which  could  so  strongly  agitate  a 
mind  so  firm  as  yours.  But  if,  in  your  own  opinion,  it  con- 
sists with  the  general  safety  to  delay  your  report  of  what 
you  have  seen  until  we  return  to  the  castle,  and  then  to 
deliver  it  to  the  private  ear  of  the  Landamman,  you  have 
only  to  intimate  your  purpose  ;  and,  far  from  urging  you  to 
place  confidence  in  me  personally,  though  I  hope  I  am  not 
undeserving  of  it,  I  will  authorize  your  leaving  us,  and  re- 
turning instantly  to  the  castle.'' 

This  proposal  touched  him  to  whom  it  was  made  exactly 
in  the  right  place.  An  absolute  demand  of  his  confidence 
might  perhaps  have  been  declined  ;  the  tone  of  moderate 
request  and  conciliation  fell  presently  in  with  the  English- 
man's own  reflections. 

''  I  am  sensible,"  he  said,  "  hauptman,  that  I  ought  to 
mention  to  you  that  which  I  have  seen  to-night ;  but  on  the 
first  occasion  it  did  not  fall  within  my  duty  to  do  so,  and. 
now  that  I  have  a  second  time  witnessed  the  same  appear- 
ance, I  have  felt  for  these  few  seconds  so  much  surprised  at 
what  I  have  seen,  that  even  yet  I  can  scarce  find  words  to 
express  it." 

^'  As  I  cannot  guess  what  you  may  have  to  say,"  replied 
the  Bernese,  '^  I  must  beseech  you  to  be  explicit.  We  are 
but  poor  readers  of  riddles,  we  thick-headed  Switzers." 

''^  Yet  it  is  but  a  riddle  which  I  have  to  place  before  you, 
Rudolph  Donnerhugel,"  answered  the  Englishman,  "and  a 
riddle  which  is  far  beyond  my  own  guessing  at."  He  then 
proceeded,  though  not  without  hesitation,  *' While  you  were 
performing  your  first  patrol  amongst  the  ruins,  a  female 
crossed  the  bridge  from  within  the  castle,  walked  by  my  post 
without  saying  a  single  word,  and  vanished  under  the 
shadows  of  the  forest." 

"  Ha  ! "  exclaimed  Donnerhugel,  and  made  no  further  an- 
swer. 

Arthur  proceeded.     "  Within  these  five  minutes,  the  same 


ANNE  OF  GEIER STEIN  111 

female  form  passed  me  a  second  time,  issuing  from  the  little 
thicket  and  clump  of  firs,  and  disappeared,  without  ex- 
changing a  word.  Know,  farther,  this  apparition  bore  the 
form,  face,  gait,  and  dress  of  your  kinswoman,  Anne  of 
Geierstein/' 

'^Singular  enough,"  said  Rudolph,  in  a  tone  of  incredu- 
lity. ''^I  must  not,  I  suppose,  dispute  your  word,  for  you 
would  receive  doubt  on  my  part  as  a  mortal  injury — such  is 
your  Northern  chivalry.  Yet,  let  me  say,  I  have  eyes  as 
well  as  you,  and  I  scarce  think  they  quitted  you  for  a  minute. 
We  were  not  fifty  yards  from  the  place  where  I  found  you 
standing  in  amazement.  How,  therefore,  should  not  we  also 
have  seen  that  which  you  say  and  think  you  saw  ?  " 

*^  To  that  I  can  give  no  answer,"  said  Arthur.  "  Perhaps 
your  eyes  were  not  exactly  turned  upon  me  during  the  short 
space  in  which  I  saw  this  form.  Perhaps  it  might  be  visible 
— as  they  say  fantastic  appearances  sometimes  are — to  only 
one  person  at  a  time." 

"  You  suppose,  then,  that  the  appearance  was  imaginary 
or  fantastic  ?  "  said  the  Bernese. 

"  Can  I  tell  you  ?  "  replied  the  Englishman.  ^^  The  church 
gives  its  warrant  that  there  are  such  things  ;  and  surely  it  is 
more  natural  to  belive  this  apparition  to  be  an  illusion  than 
to  suppose  that  Anne  of  Geierstein,  a  gentle  and  well-nurt- 
ured maiden,  should  be  traversing  the  woods  at  this  wild 
hour,  when  safety  and  propriety  so  strongly  recommend  her 
being  within  doors." 

"There  is  much  in  what  you  say,"  said  Eudolph  ;  "and  yet 
there  are  stories  afloat,  though  few  care  to  mention  them, 
which  seem  to  allege  that  Anne  of  Geierstein  is  not  altogether 
such  as  other  maidens ;  and  that  she  has  been  met  with,  in 
body  and  spirit,  where  she  could  hardly  have  come  by  her 
own  unassisted  efforts." 

"  Ha  !  "  said  Arthur  ;  "  so  young,  so  beautiful,  and.already 
in  league  with  the  destroyer  of  marxA^nd  !     It  is  impossible." 

"  I  said  not  so,"  replied  the  Bernese  ;  '^  nor  have  I  leisure 
at  present  to  explain  my  meaning  more  fully.  As  we  return 
to  the  castle  of  Graffslust,  I  may  have  an  opportunity  to  tell 
you  more.  But  I  chiefly  brought  you  on  this  patrol  to  in- 
troduce you  to  some  friends,  whom  you  will  be  pleased  to 
know,  and  who  desire  your  acquaintance ;  and  it  is  here  I 
expect  to  meet  them." 

So  saying,  he  turned  round  the  projecting  corner  of  a  rock, 
and  an  unexpected  scene  was  presented  to  the  eyes  of  the 
young  Englishman. 


112  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

In  a  sort  of  nook,  or  corner,  screened  by  the  rocky  projec- 
tion, there  burned  a  large  fire  of  wood,  and  around  it  sat, 
reclined,  or  lay,  twelve  or  fifteen  young  men  in  the  Swiss 
garb,  but  decorated  with  ornaments  and  embroidery,  which 
reflected  back  the  light  of  the  fire.  The  same  red  gleam 
was  returned  by  silver  wine-cups,  which  circulated  from 
hand  to  hand  with  the  flasks  which  filled  them.  Arthur 
could  also  observe  the  relics  of  a  banquet,  to  which  due 
honor  seemed  to  have  been  lately  rendered. 

The  revelers  started  joyfully  up  at  the  sight  of  Donner- 
hugel  and  his  companions,  and  saluted  him,  easily  distin- 
guished as  he  was  by  his  stature,  by  the  title  of  captain, 
warmly  and  exultingly  uttered,  while,  at  the  same  time,  every 
tendency  to  noisy  acclamation  was  cautiously  suppressed. 
The  zeal  indicated  that  Eudolph  came  most  welcome ; 
the  caution  that  he  came  in  secret,  and  was  to  be  received 
with  mystery. 

To  the  general  greeting  he  answered — ''  I  thank  you,  my 
brave  comrades.     Has  Kudiger  yet  reached  you  ?  " 

'^  Thou  see'st  he  has  not,"^  said  one  of  the  party  ;  ''^had  it 
been  so,  we  would  have  detained  him  here  till  your  coming, 
brave  captain.'^ 

'^  He  has  loitered  on  his  patrol,^'  said  the  Bernese.  ^'  We, 
too,  were  delayed,  yet  we  are  here  before  him.  I  bring  with 
me,  comrades,  the  brave  Englishmen  whom  I  mentioned  to 
you  as  a  desirable  associate  in  our  daring  purpose.^' 

^^  He  is  welcome — most  welcome  to  us,^'  said  a  young  man, 
whose  richly  embroidered  dress  of  azure  blue  gave  him  an 
air  of  authority — ''  most  welcome  is  he,  if  he  brings  with 
him  a  heart  and  a  hand  to  serve  our  noble  task.^^ 

"  For  both  I  will  be  responsible,^' said  Eudolph.  '^^Pass 
the  wine-cup,  then,  to  the  success  of  our  glorious  enterprise, 
and  the  health  of  this  our  new  associate  ! '' 

While  they  were  replenishing  the  cups  with  wine  of  a 
quality  far  superior  to  any  which  Arthur  had  yet  tasted  in 
these  regions,  he  thought  it  right,  before  engaging  himself 
in  the  pledge  to  learn  the  secret  objects  of  the  association 
which  seemed  desirous  of  adopting  him. 

*^  Before  I  engage  my  poor  services  to  you,  fair  sirs,  since 
it  pleases  you  to  desire  them,  permit  me,''  he  said,  '^  to  ask 
the  purpose  and  character  of  the  undertaking  in  which  they 
are  to  be  employed  ?  " 

"  Shouldest  thou  have  brought  him  hither,"  said  the  cav- 
alier in  blue  to  Eudolph,  '^  without  satisfying  him  and  thy- 
self on  that  point  ''* 


"To    the   general    greeting  he  answered — *  I  thank  you,    my   brave  comrades.' 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  113 

'^  Care  not  thou  about  it,  Laurenz/^  replied  the  Bernese, 
*'  I  know  my  man.  Be  it  known,  then,  to  you,  my  good 
friend,^^  he  continued,  addressing  the  Englishmen,  "  that  my 
comrades  and  I  are  determined  at  once  to  declare  the  free- 
dom of  the  Swiss  commerce,  and  to  resist  to  the  death,  if  it 
be  necessary,  all  unlawful  and  extortionate  demands  on  the 
part  of  our  neighbors/^ 

**  I  understand  so  much/'  said  the  young  Englishman,*'  and 
that  the  present  deputation  proceeds  to  the  Duke  of  Bur- 
gundy with  remonstrances  to  that  effect/' 

''  Hear  me,"  replied  Rudolph.  '^  The  question  is  like  to 
be  brought  to  a  bloody  determination  long  ere  we  see  the 
Duke  of  Burgundy's  most  august  and  most  gracious  coun- 
tenance. That  his  influence  should  be  used  to  exclude  us 
from  Bale,  a  neutral  town,  and  pertaining  to  the  Empire, 
gives  us  cause  to  expect  the  worst  reception  when  we  enter 
his  own  dominions.  We  have  every  reason  to  think  that  we 
might  have  suffered  from  his  hatred  already,  but  for  the 
vigilance  of  the  ward  which  we  have  kept.  Horsemen,  from 
the  direction  of  La  Ferette,  have  this  night  reconnoietred 
our  posts ;  and  had  they  not  found  us  prepared,  we  had, 
without  question,  been  attacked  in  our  quarters.  But  since 
we  have  escaped  to-night,  we  must  take  care  for  to-morrow. 
For  this  purpose,  a  number  of  the  bravest  youth  of  the  city 
of  Bale,  incensed  at  the  pusillanimity  of  their  magistrates, 
are  determined  to  join  us,  in  order  to  wipe  away  the  disgrace 
which  the  cowardly  inhospitality  of  their  magistracy  has 
brought  on  their  native  place." 

*'  That  we  will  do  ere  the  sun,  that  will  rise  two  hours 
hence,  shall  sink  into  the  western  sky,"  said  the  cavalier  in 
blue  ;  and  those  around  joined  him  in  stern  assent. 

'^  Gentle  sirs,"  replied  Arthur,  when  there  was  a  pause, 
"let  me  remind  you  that  the  embassy  which  you  attend  is 
a  peaceful  one,  and  that  those,  who  act  as  its  escort  ought  to 
avoid  anything  which  can  augment  the  differences  which  it 
comes  to  reconcile.  You  cannot  expect  to  receive  offense 
in  the  Duke's  dominions,  the  privileges  of  envoys  being  re- 
spected in  all  civilized  countries  :  and  you  will,  I  am  sure, 
desire  to  offer  none." 

*'  We  may  be  subjected  to  insult,  however,"  replied  the 
Bernese,  ^'  and  that  through  your  concerns,  Arthur  Philipson, 
and  those  of  thy  father." 

^'  I  understand  you  not,"  replied  Philipson. 

'^  Your  father,"  answered  Donnerhugel,  "  is  a  merchant, 
and  bears  with  him  wares  of  small  bulk  but  high  value  ?  " 
8 


114  WA  VERLET  NO  VEL8. 

'*  He  does  so/'  answered  Arthur;  *'  and  what  ol  thai  >'- 

"  Marry/'  answered  Eudolph,  "  that,  if  it  be  not  beV*yi 
looked  to,  the  Bandog  of  Burgundy  is  like  to  fall  h^ir  to  a 
large  proportion  of  your  silks,  satins,  and  jewelry  woi*k/' 

**  Silks,  satins,  and  jewels  V'  exclaimed  anothek*  of.  the 
revelers;  "  such  wares  will  not  pass  toll-free  where  Archibald 
of  Hagenbach  hath  authority/' 

'*  Fair  sirs,"  resumed  Arthur,  after  a  moment's  considera- 
tion, "  these  wares  are  my  father's  property,  not  Riine;  and 
it  is  for  him,  not  me,  to  pronounce  how  much  of  them  he 
might  be  content  to  part  with  in  the  way  of  toll,  rfa,ther  than 
give  occasion  to  a  fray,  in  which  his  companions,  who  have 
received  him  into  their  society,  must  be  exposed  to  injury  as 
well  as  himself.  I  can  only  say,  that  he  has  weighty  affairs 
at  the  court  of  Burgundy,  which  must  render  Lim  desirous 
of  reaching  it  in  peace  with  all  men  ;  and  it  iy  my  private 
belief  that,  rather  than  incur  the  loss  and  danger  of  a  broil 
with  the  garrison  of  La  Ferette,  he  would  be  contented  to 
sacrifice  all  the  property  which  he  has  at  present  with  him. 
Therefore,  I  must  request  of  you,  gentlemen,  a  space  to 
consult  his  pleasure  on  this  occasion  ;  assuring  you  that,  if 
it  be  his  will  to  resist  the  payment  of  these  duties  to  Bur- 
gundy, you  shall  find  in  me  one  who  is  fully  determined  to 
fight  to  the  last  drop  of  his  blood." 

"  Good  King  Arthur,"  said  Eudolph,  ^^  tliou  art  a  dutiful 
observer  of  the  Fourth  [Fifth]  Commandment,  and  thy  days 
shall  be  long  in  the  land.  Do  not  suppose  us  neglectful  of 
the  same  duty,  although,  for  the  present,  ^e,  conceive  our- 
selves bound,  in  the  first  place,  to  attend  to  the  weal  of  our 
country,  the  common  parent  of  our  fathers  and  ourselves. 
But,  as  you  know  our  profound  respect  foi^  the  Landammans 
you  need  not  fear  that  we  shall  willingly  offer  him  offenses 
by  rashly  engaging  in  hostilities,  or  witliout  some  weighty 
reason  ;  and  an  attempt  to  plunder  his  guest  would  have 
been  met,  on  his  part,  with  resistance  to  the  death.  I  had 
hoped  to  find  both  you  and  your  father  prompt  enough  to 
resent  such  a  gross  injury,  Neverthelesa,  if  your  father  in- 
clines to  present  his  fleece  to  be  shorn  by  Archibald  cf 
Hagenbach,  whose  scissors,  he  will  find,  clip  pretty  closely, 
it  would  be  unnecessary  and  uncivil  in  us  to  interpose. 
Meantime,  you  have  the  advantage  of  knowing  that,  in  case 
the  governor  of  La  Ferette  should  be  disposed  to  strip  you 
of  skin  as  well  as  fleece,  there  are  more  men  close  at  hand 
than  you  looked  for,  whom  you  will  find  both  able  and 
willing  to  render  you  prompt  assistaace." 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  116 

"On  these  terms/'  said  the  Englishman,  "I  make  my 
acknowledgments  to  these  gentlemen  of  Bale,  or  whatever 
other  country  hath  sent  them  forth,  and  pledge  them  in  a 
brotherly  cup  to  our  farther  and  more  intimate  acquaint- 
ance/' 

*'  Health  and  prosperity  to  the  United  Cantons  and  their 
friends  ! ''  answered  the  Blue  Cavalier.  '*  And  death  and 
confusion  to  all  besides/' 

The  cups  were  replenished  :  and,  instead  of  a  shout  of 
applause,  the  young  men  around  testified  their  devoted 
determination  to  the  cause  which  was  thus  announced  by 
grasping  each  other's  hands,  and  then  brandishing  their 
weapons  with  a  fierce  yet  noiseless  gesture. 

"  Thus,"  said  Kudolph  Donnerhugel,  *'  our  illustrious  an- 
cestors, the  fathers  of  Swiss  independence,  met  in  the  im- 
mortal field  of  Eutli,  between  Uri  and  Unterwalden.  Thus 
they  swore  to  each  other,  under  the  blue  firmament  of  heaven, 
that  they  would  restore  the  liberty  of  their  oppressed 
country  ;  and  history  can  tell  how  well  they  kept  their  word." 

"  And  she  shall  record,"  said  the  Blue  Cavalier,  *'  how 
well  the  present  Switzers  can  preserve  the  freedom -which 
their  fathers  won.  Proceed  in  your  rounds,  good  Eudolph, 
and  be  assured  that,  at  the  signal  of  the  hauptman,  the 
soldiers  will  not  be  far  absent  ;  all  is  arranged  as  formerly, 
unless  you  have  new  orders  to  give  us." 

*^  Hark  thee  hither,  Laurenz,"  said  Eudolph  to  the  Blue 
Cavalier ;  and  Arthur  could  hear  him  say,  '^  Beware,  my 
friend,  that  the  Ehine  wine  be  not  abused  ;  if  there  is  too 
much  provision  of  it,  manage  to  destroy  the  flasks — a  mule 
may  stumble,  thou  knowest,  or  so.  Give  not  way  to  Eudiger 
in  this.  He  is  grown  a  winebibber  since  he  joined  us.  We 
must  bring  both  heart  and  hand  to  what  may  be  done  to- 
morrow." They  then  whispered  so  low  that  Arthur  could 
hear  nothing  of  their  farther  conference,  and  bid  each  other 
adieu,  after  clasping  hands,  as  if  they  were  renewing  some 
solemn  pledge  of  union. 

Eudolph  and  his  party  then  moved  forward,  and  were 
scarce  out  of  sight  of  their  new  associates,  when  the  vidette, 
or  foremost  of  their  patrol,  gave  the  signal  of  alarm. 
Arthur's  heart  leaped  to  nis  lips.  ''  It  is  Anne  of  Geierstein  ! " 
he  said  internally. 

"  The  dogs  are  silent/' said  the  Bernese.  ''Those  who  ap- 
proach must  be  the  companions  of  our  watch." 

They  proved,  accoraingly,  to  be  Euliger  and  his  party, 
who,  halting  on  the  a]*?rsarance  of  their  comrades,  made  and 


I 


116  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

underwent  a  formal  challenge — such  advance  had  the  Swiss 
already  made  in  military  discipline,  which  was  but  little  and 
rudely  studied  by  the  infantry  in  other  parts  of  Europe. 
Arthur  could  hear  Kudolph  take  his  friend  Rudiger  to  task 
for  not  meeting  him  at  the  halting-place  appointed.  "  It 
leads  to  new  revelry  on  your  arrival/^  he  said,  "  and  to-morrow 
must  find  us  cool  and  determined.-'' 

'^  Cool  as  an  icicle,  noble  hauptman,"  answered  the  son  of 
the  Landamman,  ^'  and  determined  as  the  rock  it  hangs 
upon.'' 

Eudolph  again  recommended  temperance,  and  the  youug 
Biederman  promised  compliance.  The  two  parties  passed 
each  other  with  friendly  though  silent  greeting ;  and  there 
was  soon  a  considerable  distance  between  them. 

The  country  was  more  open  on  the  side  of  the  castle  around 
which  their  duty  now  led  them  than  where  it  lay  opposite  to 
the  principal  gate.  The  glades  were  broad,  the  trees  thinly 
scattered  over  pasture-land,  and  there  were  no  thickets, 
ravines,  or  similar  places  of  ambush,  so  that  the  eye  might, 
in  the  clear  moonlight,  well  command  the  country. 

''  Hear,"  said  Rudolph,  '^  we  may  judge  ourselves  secure 
enough  for  some  conference  ;  and  therefore  may  I  ask  thee, 
Arthur  of  England,  now  thou  hast  seen  us  more  closely,  what 
thinkest  thou  of  the  Switzer  youth  ?  If  thou  hast  learned 
less  than  I  could  have  wished,  thank  thine  own  uncommuni- 
cative temper,  which  retired  in  some  degree  from  our  con- 
fidence." 

'^  Only  in  so  far  as  I  could  not  have  answered,  and  there- 
fore ought  not  to  have  received,  it,"  said  Arthur.  "The 
judgment  I  have  been  enabled  to  form  amounts,  in  few  words, 
to  this  :  Your  purposes  are  lofty  and  noble  as  your  moun- 
tains ;  but  the  stranger  from  the  low  country  is  not  accus- 
tomed to  tread  the  circuitous  path  by  which  you  ascend 
them.  My  foot  has  been  always  accustomed  to  move  straight 
forward  upon  the  greensward." 

"  You  speak  in  riddles,"  answered  the  Bernese. 

*'  Not  so,"  returned  the  Englishman.  "  I  think  you  ought 
plainly  to  mention  to  your  seniors — the  nominal  leaders  of 
young  men  who  seem  well  disposed  to  take  their  own  road — - 
that  you  expect  an  attack  in  the  neighborhood  of  La  Ferette, 
and  hope  for  assistance  from  some  of  the  townsmen  of  Bele." 

"  Ay,  truly,"  answered  Donnerhugel ;  "  and  the  Landam- 
man would  stop  his  journey  till  he  despatched  a  messenger 
for  a  safe-conduct  to  the  Duke  of  Burgundy,  and  should  he 
grant  it,  there  were  an  end.  of  all  hope  of  war." 


ANNE  OF  GEIER8TEIN  117 

''  True,"  replied  Arthur  ;  ''  but  the  Landamman  would 
thereby  obtain  his  own  principal  object,  and  the  sole  purpose 
of  the  mission — that  is,  the  establishment  of  peace. '^ 

*'  Peace— peace  ! ''  answered  the  Bernese  hastily.  ''  Were 
my  wishes  alone  to  be  opposed  to  those  of  Arnold  Biederman, 
I  know  so  much  of  his  honor  and  faith,  I  would  sheathe  my 
sword,  even  if  my  most  mortal  enemy  stood  before  me.  But 
mine  is  not  the  single  wish  of  a  single  man  :  the  whole  of 
my  canton  and  that  of  Soleure  are  determined  on  war.  It 
was  by  war,  noble  war,  that  our  fathers  came  forth  from  the 
house  of  their  captivity  ;  it  was  by  war,  successful  and 
glorious  war,  that  a  race,  who  had  been  held  scarce  so  much 
worth  thinking  on  as  the  oxen  which  they  goaded,  emerged 
at  once  into  liberty  and  consequence,  and  were  honored  be- 
cause they  were  feared,  as  much  as  they  .had  been  formerly 
despised  because  they  were  unresisting.'^ 

''  This  may  be  all  very  true,''  said  the  young  Englishman  ; 
"but,  in  my  opinion,  the  object  of  your  mission  has  been 
determined  by  your  Diet  or  House  of  Commons.  They  have 
resolved  to  send  you  with  others  as  messengers  of  peace  ;  but 
you  are  secretly  blowing  the  coals  of  war,  and  while  all,  or 
most,  of  your  senior  colleagues  are  setting  out  to-morrow  in 
expectation  of  a  peaceful  journey,  you  stand  prepared  for  a 
combat,  and  look  for  the  means  of  giving  cause  for  it." 

"  And  is  it  not  well  that  I  do  stand  so  prepared  ?  "  an- 
swered Eudolph.  "  If  our  reception  in  Burgundy's  depend- 
encies be  peaceful,  as  you  say  the  rest  of  the  deputation  ex- 
pect, my  precautions  will  be  needless  ;  but  as  least  they  can 
do  no  harm.  If  it  prove  otherwise,  I  shall  be  the  means  of 
averting  a  great  misfortune  from  my  colleagues,  my  kinsman 
Arnold  Biederman,  my  fair  cousin  Anne,  your  father,  your- 
self—from all  of  us,  in  short,  who  are  joyously  traveling  to- 
gether." 

Arthur  shook  his  head.  "  There  is  something  in  all  this, 
he  said,  "which  I  understand  not,  and  will  not  seek  to  un- 
derstand. I  only  pray  that  you  will  not  make  my  father's 
concerns  the  subject  of  breaking  truce  ;  it  may,  as  you  hint, 
involve  the  Landamman  in  a  quarrel,  which  he  might  other- 
wise have  avoided.  I  am  sure  my  father  will  never  forgive 
it." 

"I  have  pledged  my  word,"  said  Eudolph,  "  already  to 
that  effect.  But  if  he  should  like  the  usage  of  the  Bandog 
of  Burgundy  less  than  you  seem  to  apprehended  he  will, 
there  is  no  harm  in  your  knowing  that,  in  time  of  need,  he 
may  be  well  and  actively  supported." 


118  WAVEBLET  NOVELS 

'*1  am  greatly  obliged  by  the  assurance/'  replied  tli« 
Englishman. 

*^And  thou  mayest  thyself,  my  friend,"  continued  Eu- 
dolph,  ''  take  a  warning  from  what  thou  hast  heard  :  men^ 
go  not  to  a  bridal  in  armor,  nor  to  a  brawl  in  silken  doublet/* 

"I  will  be  clad  to  meet  the  worst,"  said  Arthur  ;  ^^and 
for  that  purpose  I  will  don  a  light  hauberk  of  well-tempered 
steel,  proof  against  spear  or  arrow ;  and  I  thank  you  for 
your  kindly  counsel." 

"  Nay,  tbank  not  me,''  said  Eudolph  :  ''  I  were  ill  deserv- 
ing to  be  a  leader  did  1  not  make  those  who  are  to  follow 
me,  more  especially  so  trusty  a  follower  as  thou  art,  aware 
of  the  time  when  they  should  buckle  on  their  armor  and  pre- 
pare for  hard  blows." 

Here  the  conversation  paused  for  a  moment  or  two,  nei» 
ther  of  the  speakers  being  entirely  contented  with  his  com- 
panion, although  neither  pressed  any  further  remark. 

The  Bernese,  judging  from  the  feelings  which  he  had 
seen  predominate  among  the  traders  of  his  own  country,  had 
entertained  little  doubt  that  the  Englishman,  finding  him- 
self powerfully  supported  in  point  of  force,  would  have 
caught  at  the  opportunity  to  resist  paying  the  exorbitant 
imposts  with  which  he  was  threatened  at  the  next  town, 
which  probably,  without  any  effort  on  Eudolph's  part,  have 
led  to  breaking  off  the  truce  on  the  part  of  Arnold  Biederman 
himself,  and  to  an  instant  declaration  of  hostilities.  On  the 
other  hand,  young  Philipson  could  not  understand  or  ap- 
prove of  Donnerhu gel's  conduct,  who,  himself  a  member  of 
a  peaceful  deputation,  seemed  to  be  animated  with  the 
purpose  of  seizing  an  opportunity  to  kindle  the  flames  of 
war. 

Occupied  by'  these  various  reflections,  they  walked  side  by 
side  for  some  time  without  speaking  together,  until  Eudolph 
broke  silence. 

'^  Your  curiosity  is  then  ended,  sir  Englishman,"  said  he, 
'^  respecting  the  apparition  of  Anne  of  Geierstein  ?" 

"  Far  from  it,"  replied  Philipson  ;  '*  but  I  would  unwill- 
ingly intrude  any  questions  on  you  while  you  are  busy  with 
the  duties  of  your  patrol." 

*'That  maybe  considered  as  over," said  the  Bernese,  "for 
there  is  not  a  bush  near  us  to  cover  a  Burgundian  knave,  and 
a  glance  around  us  from  to  time  is  all  that  is  now  needful 
to  prevent  surprise.  And  so,  listen  while  I  tell  a  tale  never 
'sung  or  harped  in  hall  or  bower,  and  which,  I  begin  to  think, 
deserves  as  much  credit,  at  least,  as  is  due  to  the  Tales  of 


ANNE  OF  GEIEE8TEIN  119 

the  Kound  Table,  which  ancient  troubadours  and  minne- 
singers dole  out  to  us  as  the  authentic  chronicler  of  your  re- 
nowned namesake. 

*'  Of  Anne^s  ancestors  on  the  male  side  of  the  house,** 
continued  Rudolph,  ^^  I  daresay  you  have  heard  enough,  and 
are  well  aware  how  they  dwelt  in  the  old  walls  at  Geierstein 
beside  the  cascade,  grinding  their  vassals,  devouring  the  sub- 
stance of  their  less  powerful  neighbors,  and  plundering  the 
goods  of  the  travelers  whom  ill  luck  sent  within  ken  of  the 
vulture^s  eyrie,  the  one  year  ;  and  in  the  next,  wearying  the 
shrines  for  mercy  for  their  trespasses,  overwhelming  the 
priests  with  the  wealth  which  they  showered  upon  them,  and, 
finally,  vowing  vows,  and  making  pilgrimages,  sometimes  as 
palmers,  sometimes  as  crusaders,  as  far  as  Jerusalem  itself, 
to  atone  for  the  iniquities  which  they  had  committed  without 
hesitation  or  struggle  of  conscience." 

"  Such,  I  have  understood,"  replied  the  young  English- 
man, ''  was  the  history  of  the  house  of  Geierstein,  till  Ar- 
nold, or  his  immediate  ancestors,  exchanged  the  lance  for 
the  sheep-hook." 

**  But  it  is  said,"  replied  the  Bernese,  '^  that  the  powerful 
and  wealthy  Barons  of  Arnheim,  of  Swabia,  whose  only 
female  descendant  became  the  wife  to  Count  Albert  of  Geier- 
stein, and  the  mother  of  this  young  person,  whom  Swiss  call 
simply  Anne,  and  Germans  Countess  Anne  of  Geierstein, 
were  nobles  of  a  different  caste.  They  did  not  restrict  their 
lives  within  the  limits  of  sinning  and  repenting — of  plun- 
dering harmless  peasants  and  pampering  fat  monks  ;  but 
were  distinguished  for  something  more  than  building  castles 
with  dungeons  2iwdifolter hammers,  or  torture-chambers,  and 
founding  monasteries  with  galilees  and  refectories. 

*^  These  same  Barons  of  Arnheim  were  men  who  strove  to 
enlarge  the  boundaries  of  human  knowledge,  and  converted 
their  castle  into  a  species  of  college,  where  there  were  more 
ancient  volumes  than  the  monks  have  piled  together  in  the 
library  of  St.  Gall.  Nor  were  their  studies  in  books  alone. 
Deep  buried  in  their  private  laboratories,  they  attained  se- 
crets which  were  afterwards  transmitted  through  the  race 
from  father  to  son,  and  were  supposed  to  have  approached 
nearly  to  the  deepest  recesses  of  alchemy.  The  report  of 
tlieir  wisdom  and  their  wealth  was  often  brought  to  the  Im- 
perial footstool ;  and  in  the  frequent  disputes  which  the 
Emperors  maintained  with  the  Popes  of  old,  it  is  said  they 
were  encouraged,  if  not  instigated,  by  the  counsels  of  the 
Barons  of  Arnheim,  and  supported  by  their  treasures.     It 


120  WA  VERLEY  NO VELS 

was,  perhaps,  snch  a  course  of  politics,  joined  to  the  unusual 
and  mysterious  studies  which  the  family  of  Arnheim  so  long 
pursued,  which  excited  against  them  the  generally  received 
opinion  that  they  were  assisted  in  their  superhuman  re- 
searches by  supernatural  influences.  The  priests  were 
active  in  forwarding  this  cry  against  men  who,  perhaps,  had 
no  other  fault  than  that  of  being  wiser  than  themselves. 

" '  Look  what  guests,^  they  said,  "  are  received  in  the 
halls  of  Arnheim  !  Let  a  Christian  knight,  crippled  in  war 
with  the  Saracens,  present  himself  on  the  drawbridge,  he  is 
guerdoned  with  a  crust  and  a  cup  of  wine,  and  required  to 
pass  on  his  way.  If  a  palmer,  redolent  of  the  sanctity  ac- 
quired by  his  recent  visits  to  the  most  holy  shrines,  and  by 
the  sacred  relics  which  attest  and  reward  his  toil,  approach 
the  unhallowed  walls,  the  warder  bends  his  cross-bow,  and 
the  porter  shuts  the  gate,  as  if  the  wandering  saint  brought 
the  plague  with  him  from  Palestine.  But  comes  there  a 
graybearded,  glib-tongued  Greek,  with  his  parchment  scrolls, 
the  very  letters  of  which  are  painful  to  Christian  eyes  ; 
comes  there  a  Jewish  Eabbin,  with  his  Talmud  and  Cabala; 
comes  there  a  swarthy  sunburnt  Moor,  who  can  boast  of 
having  read  the  language  of  the  stars  in  Chaldea,  the  cradle 
of  astrological  science — lo,  the  wandering  impostor  or  sor- 
cerer occupies  the  highest  seat  at  the  Baron  of  Arnheim^s 
board,  shares  with  him  the  labors  of  the  alembic  and  the 
furnace,  learns  from  him  mystic  knowledge,  like  that  of 
which  our  first  parents  participated  to  the  overthrow  of  their 
race,  and  requites  it  with  lessons  more  dreadful  than  he  re- 
ceives, till  the  profane  host  has  added  to  his  hoard  of  un- 
holy wisdom  all  that  the  pagan  visitor  can  communicate. 
And  these  things  are  done  in  Almain,  which  is  called  the 
Holy  Roman  Empire,  of  which  so  many  priests  are  princes  ! 
— they  are  done,  ^and  neither  ban  nor  monition  is  issued 
against  a  race  of  sorcerers  who,  from  age  to  age,  go  on  tri- 
umphing in  their  necromancy.'' 

"  Such  arguments,  which  were  echoed  from  mitered  abbots 
to  the  cell  of  anchorites,  seem,  nevertheless,  to  have  made 
little  impression  on  the  Imperial  council.  But  they  served 
to  excite  the  zeal  of  many  a  baron  and  free  count  of  the 
Empire,  who  were  taught  by  them  to  esteem  a  war  or  feud 
with  the  Barons  of  Arnheim  as  partaking  of  the  nature,  and 
entitled  to  the  immunities,  of  a  crusade  against  the  ene- 
mies of  the  Faith,  and  to  regard  an  attack  upon  these  ob- 
Aoxious  potentates  as  a  mode  of  clearing  off  their  deep  scores 
with  the  Christian  Church.     But  the  Lords  of  Arnheim, 


ANNE  OF  GEIEBSTEIN  121 

though  not  seeking  for  (quarrel,  were  by  no  means  unwar- 
like,  or  averse  to  maintaining  their  own  defense.  Some,  on 
the  contrary,  belonging  to  this  obnoxious  race  were  not  the 
less  distinguished  as  gallant  knights  and  good  men-at-arms. 
They  were  besides  wealthy,  secured  and  strengthened  by 
great  alliances,  and  in  an  eminent  degree  wise  and  provident. 
This  the  parties  who  assailed  them  learned  to  their  cost. 

'^  The  confederacies  formed  against  the  Lords  of  Arnheim 
were  broken  up  ;  the  attacks  which  their  enemies  meditated 
were  anticipated  and  disconcerted  ;  and  those  who  em- 
ployed actual  violence  were  repelled  with  signal  loss  to  the 
assailants  ;  until  at  length  an  impression  was  produced  in 
their  neighborhood,  that,  by  their  accurate  information  con- 
cerning meditated  violence,  and  their  extraordinary  powers 
of  resisting  and  defeating  it,  the  obnoxious  barons  must 
have  brought  to  their  defense  means  which  merely  human 
force  was  incapable  of  overthrowing ;  so  that,  becoming  as 
much  feared  as  hated,  they  were  suffered  for  the  last  gener- 
ation to  remain  unmolested.  And  this  was  rather  the  case 
that  the  numerous  vassals  of  this  great  house  were  per- 
fectly satisfied  with  their  feudal  superiors,  abundantly  ready 
to  rise  in  their  defense,  and  disposed  to  believe  that, 
whether  their  lords  were  sorcerers  or  no,  their  own  condi- 
tion would  not  be  mended  by  exchanging  their  government 
either  for  the  rule  of  the  crusaders  in  this  holy  warfare  or 
that  of  the  churchmen  by  whom  it  was  instigated.  The 
race  of  these  barons  ended  in  Herman  von  Arnheim,  the 
maternal  grandfather  of  Anne  of  Geierstein.  He  was  buried 
with  his  helmet,  sword,  and  shield,  as  is  the  German  custom 
with  the  last  male  of  a  noble  family. 

'*  But  he  left  an  only  daughter,  Sybilla  of  Arnheim  to  in- 
herit a  considerable  portion  of  his  estate  ;  and  I  never  heard 
that  the  strong  imputation  of  sorcery  which  attached  to  her 
house  prevented  numerous  applications,  from  persons  of  the 
highest  distinction  in  the  Empire,  to  her  legal  guardian,  the 
Emperor,  for  the  rich  heiresses  hand  in  marriage.  Albert 
of  Geierstein,  however,  though  an  exile,  obtained  the  pref- 
erence. He  was  gallant  and  handsome,  which  recommended 
him  to  Sybilla  ;  and  the  Emperor,  bent  at  the  time  on  the 
vain  idea  of  recovering  his  authority  in  the  Swiss  mountains, 
was  desirous  to  show  himself  generous  to  Albert,  whom  he 
considered  as  a  fugitive  from  his  country  for  espousing  the 
Imperial  cause.  You  may  thus  see,  most  noble  King  Arthur, 
that  Anne  of  Geierstein,  the  only  child  of  their  marriage, 
descends  from  no  ordinary  stock ;  and  that  circumstances 


122  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

in  whicli  she  may  be  concerned  are  not  to  be  explained  or 
judged  of  so  easily,  or  upon  the  same  grounds  of  reasoning, 
as  in  the  case  of  ordinary  persons." 

"  By  my  honest  word.  Sir  Eudolph  of  Donnerhugel,"  said 
Arthur,  studiously  laboring  to  keep  a  command  upon  his 
feelings,  '*  I  can  see  nothing  in  your  narrative,  and  under- 
stand nothing  from  it,  unless  it  be  that,  because  in  Germany, 
as  in  other  countries,  there  have  been  fools  who  have  an- 
nexed the  idea  of  witchcraft  and  sorcery  to  the  possession  of 
knowledge  and  wisdom,  you  are  therefore  disposed  to  stig- 
matize a  young  maiden,  who  has  always  been  respected  and 
beloved  by  those  around  her,  as  a  disciple  of  arts  which,  I 
trust,  are  as  uncommon  as  unlawful." 

Eudolph  paused  ere  he  replied. 

*'  I  could  have  wished,"  he  said,  "  that  you  had  been  sat- 
isfied with  the  general  character  of  Anne  of  Geierstein^'s 
maternal  family,  as  offering  some  circumstances  which  may 
account  for  what  you  have,  according  to  your  own  report, 
this  night  witnessed,  and  I  am  really  unwilling  to  go  into 
more  particular  details.  To  no  one  can  Anne  of  Geierstein's 
fame  be  so  dear  as  to  me.  I  am,  after  her  nucleus  family, 
her  nearest  relative,  and  had  she  remained  in  Switzerland, 
or  should  she,  as  is  most  probable,  return  thither  after  the 
present  visit  to  her  father,  perhaps  our  connection  might  be 
drawn  yet  closer.  This  has,  indeed,  only  been  prevented  by 
certain  prejudices  of  her  uncle's  respecting  her  father's 
authority,  and  the  nearness  of  our  relationship,  which,  how- 
ever, comes  within  reach  of  a  license  very  frequently  ob- 
tained. But  I  only  mention  these  things  to  show  you  how 
much  more  tender  I  must  necessarily  hold  Anne  of  Geier- 
stein's  reputation  than  it  is  possible  for  you  to  do,  being  a 
stranger,  known  to  her  but  a  short  while  since,  and  soon  to 
part  with  her,  as  I  understand  your  purpose,  forever." 

The  turn  taken  in  this  kind  of  apology  irritated  Arthur 
so  highly,  that  it  required  all  the  reasons  which  recom- 
mended coolness  to  enable  him  to  answer  with  assumed  com- 
posure. 

*'  I  can  have  no  ground,  sir  hauptman,"  he  said,  *'  to  chal- 
lenge any  opinion  which  you  may  entertain  of  a  young  per- 
son with  whom  you  are  so  closely  connected  as  you  appear 
to  be  with  Anne  of  Geierstein.  I  only  wonder  that,  with 
such  regard  for  her  as  your  relationship  implies,  you  should 
be  disposed  to  receive,  on  popular  and  trivial  traditions,  a 
belief  which  must  injuriously  affect  your  kinswoman,  more 
especially  one  with  whom  you  intimate  a  wish  to  form  a  still 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  128 

more  close  connection.  Bethink  you,  sir,  that  in  all  Chris- 
tian lands  the  imputation  of  sorcery  is  the  most  foul  which 
can  be  thrown  on  Christian  man  or  woman." 

*'  And  I  am  so  far  from  intimating  such  an  imputation," 
said  Rudolph,  somewhat  fiercely,  '*that,  by  the  good  sword 
I  wear,  he  that  dared  give  breath  to  such  a  thought  against 
Anne  of  Geierstein  must  undergo  my  challenge,  and  take  my 
life  or  lose  his  own.  But  the  question  is  not  whether  the 
maiden  herself  practises  sorcery,  which  he  who  avers  had 
better  get  ready  his  tomb,  and  provide  for  his  soul's  safety; 
the  doubt  lies  here,  whether,  as  the  descendant  of  a  family 
whose  relations  with  the  unseen  world  are  reported  to  have 
been  of  the  closest  degree,  elfish  and  fantastical  beings  may 
not  have  power  to  imitate  her  form,  and  to  present  her  ap- 
pearance where  she  is  not  personally  present;  in  fine,  whether 
they  have  permission  to  play  at  her  expense  fantastical  tricks, 
which  they  cannot  exercise  over  other  mortals,  whose  fore- 
fathers have  ever  regulated  their  lives  by  the  rules  of  the 
church,  and  died  in  regular  communion  with  it.  And,  as 
I  sincerely  desire  to  retain  your  esteem,  I  have  no  objection 
to  communicate  to  you  more  particular  circumstances  re- 
specting her  genealogy,  confirming  the  idea  I  have  now  ex- 
pressed. But  you  will  understand  they  are  of  the  most  pri- 
vate nature,  and  that  I  expect  secrecy  under  the  strictest 
personal  penalty." 

'*  I  shall  be  silent,  sir,"  replied  the  young  Englishman, 
still  struggling  with  suppressed  passion,  "on  everything 
respecting  the  character  of  a  maiden  whom  I  am  bound  to 
respect  so  highly.  But  the  fear  of  no  man's  displeasure  can 
add  a  feather's  weight  to  the  guarantee  of  my  own  honor." 

^'  Be  it  so,"  said  Rudolph;  "it  is  not  my  wish  to  awake 
angry  feelings;  but  I  am  desirous,  both  for  the  sake  of  your 
good  opinion,  which  I  value,  and  also  for  the  plainer  ex- 
planation of  what  I  have  darkly  intimated,  to  communicate 
to  you  what  otherwise  I  would  much  rather  have  left  untold.  '* 

' '  You  must  be  guided  by  your  own  sense  of  what  is  neces- 
sary and  proper  in  the  case,"  answered  Philipson;  "  but  re- 
member I  press  not  on  your  confidence  for  the  communica- 
tion of  anything  that  ought  to  remain  secret,  far  less  where 
that  young  lady  is  the  subject." 

Rudolph  answered,  after  a  minute's  pause — "  Thou  hast 
seen  and  heard  too  much,  Arthur,  not  to  learn  the  whole,  or 
least  all  that  I  know  or  apprehend  on  the  mysterious  subject. 
It  is  impossible  but  the  circumstances  must  at  times  recur 
to  ycur  recollection,  and  I  am   desirous  that  you  should 


124  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

possess  all  the  information  necessary  to  understand  them  aa 
clearly  as  the  nature  of  the  facts  will  permit.  W^  have  yet, 
keeping  leftward  to  view  the  bog,  upwards  of  a  mile  to  make 
ere  the  circuit  of  the  castle  in  accomplished.  It  will  afford 
leisure  enough  for  the  tale  I  have  to  tell.'' 

'^  Speak  on — I  listen  !  "  answered  the  Englishman,  divided 
between  his  desire  to  know  all  that  it  was  possible  to  learn 
concerning  Anne  of  Geierstein  and  his  dislike  to  hear  her 
name  pronounced  with  such  pretensions  as  those  of  Donner- 
hugel,  together  with  the  revival  of  his  original  prejudices 
against  the  gigantic  Swiss,  whose  manners,  always  blunt, 
nearly  to  coarseness,  seemed  now  marked  by  assumed  supe- 
riority and  presumption.  Arthur  listened,  however,  to  his 
wild  tale,  and  the  interest  which  he  took  in  it  soon  overpow- 
ered all  other  sensations. 


CHAPTEK  XJ 

DOKKERHUGEl/S   NARRATIVE 

These  be  the  adept's  doctrines :   every  element 
Is  peopled  with  its  separate  race  of  spirits. 
The  airy  Sylphs  on  the  blue  ether  float  ; 
Deep  in  the  earthy  cavern  skulks  the  Gnome ; 
The  sea-green  Naiad  skims  the  ocean-billow  ; 
And  the  fierce  fire  is  yet  a  friendly  home 
To  its  peculiar  sprite,  the  Salamander. 

Anonymous^ 

I  TOLD  you  (said  Eudolph),  that  the  Lords  of  Arnheim, 
though  from  father  to  son  they  were  notoriously  addicted  to 
secret  studies,  were  nevertheless,  like  the  other  German 
nobles,  followers  of  war  and  the  chase.  This  was  peculiarly 
the  case  with  Anne^s  maternal  grandfather,  Herman  of  Arn- 
heim, who  prided  himself  on  possessing  a  splendid  stud  of 
horses,  and  one  steed  in  particular,  the  noblest  ever  known 
in  these  circles  of  Germany,  I  should  make  wild  work  were  I 
to  attempt  a  description  of  such  an  animal,  so  I  will  content 
myself  with  saying  his  color  was  jet-black,  without  a  hair  of 
white  either  on  his  face  or  feet.  For  this  reason,  and  the 
wildness  of  his  disposition,  his  master  had  termed  him 
Apollyon — a  circumstance  which  was  secretly  considered  as 
tending  to  sanction  the  evil  reports  which  touched  the  house 
of  Arnheim,  being,  it  was  said,  the  naming  of  a  favorite  ani- 
mal after  a  foul  fiend. 

It  chanced,  one  November  day,  that  the  baron  had  been 
hunting  in  the  forest,  and  did  not  reach  home  till  nightfall. 
There  were  no  gaests  with  him,  for,  as  I  hinted  to  you  be- 
fore, the  castle  of  Arnheim  seldom  received  any  other  than 
those  from  whom  its  inhabitants  hoped  to  gain  augmentation 
of  knowledge.  The  baron  was  seated  alone  in  his  hall,  illu- 
minated with  cressets  and  torches.  His  one  hand  held  a 
volume  covered  with  characters  unintelligible  to  all  save 
himself.  The  other  rested  on  the  marble  table,  on  which 
was  placed  a  flask  of  Tokay  wine.  A  page  stood  in  respect- 
ful attendance  near  the  bottom  of  the  large  and  dim  apart- 
ment, and  no  sound  was  heard  save  that  of  the  night  wind, 

125 


126  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

when  it  sighed  mournfully  through  the  rusty  coats  of  mail^ 
and  waved  the  tattered  banners  which  were  the  tapestry  of 
the  feudal  hall.  At  once  the  footstep  of  a  person  was  heard 
ascending  the  stairs  in  haste  and  trepidation  ;  the  door  of  the 
hall  was  thrown  violently  open,  and,  terrified  to  a  degree  of 
ecstasy,  Caspar,  the  head  of  the  baron's  stable,  or  his  master 
of  horse,  stumbled  up  almost  to  the  foot  of  the  table  at  which 
his  lord  was  seated,  with  the  exclamation  in  his  mouth — 

"  My  lord — my  lord,  a  fiend  is  in  the  stable  ! " 

''What  means  this  folly  ?''  said  the  baron,  arising,  sur- 
prised and  displeased  at  an  interruption  so  unusual. 

''  Let  me  endure  your  displeasure,''  said  Caspar,  ''  if  I 
speak  not  truth  !     Apollyon "     Here  he  paused. 

''  Speak  out,  thou  frightened  fool/^  said  the  baron  ;  "  ia 
my  horse  sick,  or  injured  ?  " 

The  master  of  the  stalls  again  gasped  forth  the  word 
''  Apollyon  ! " 

''Say  on,"  said  the  baron  ;  "were  Apollyon  in  presence 
personally,  it  were  nothing  to  shake  a  brave  man's  mind." 

"  The  devil,"  answered  the  master  of  the  horse,  "  is  in 
Apollyon's  stall ! " 

"  Fool ! "  exclaimed  the  nobleman,  snatching  a  torch  from 
the  wall ;  "  what  is  it  that  could  have  turned  thy  brain  in 
such  silly  fashion  ?  Things  like  thee,  that  are  born  to  serve 
us,  should  hold  their  brains  on  a  firmer  tenure,  for  our  sakes, 
if  not  for  that  of  their  worthless  selves." 

As  he  spoke,  he  descended  to  the  court  of  the  castle,  to 
visit  the  stately  range  of  stables  which  occupied  all  the  lower 
part  of  the  quadrangle  on  one  side.  He  entered,  where  fifty 
gallant  steeds  stood  in  rows  on  each  side  of  the  ample  hall. 

At  the  side  of  each  stall  hung  the  weapons  of  offense  and 
defense  of  a  man-at-arms,  as  bright  as  constant  attention 
could  make  them,  together  with  the  buff-coat  which  formed 
the  trooper's  under  garment.  The  baron,  followed  by  one  or 
two  of  the  domestics,  who  had  assembled  full  of  astonish- 
ment at  the  unusual  alarm,  hastened  up  to  the  head  of  the 
stable,  betwixt  the  rows  of  steeds.  As  he  approached  the  stall 
of  his  favorite  horse,  which  was  the  uppermost  of  the  right- 
hand  row,  the  gallant  steed  neither  neighed,  nor  shook  his 
head,  nor  stamped  with  his  foot,  nor  gave  the  usual  signs  of 
joy  at  his  lord's  approach  ;  a  faint  moaning,  as  if  he  implored 
assistance,  was  the  only  acknowledgement  he  gave  of  the 
baron's  presence. 

Sir  Herman  held  up  the  torch,  and  discovered  that  there 
was  indeed  a  tall  dark  figure  standing  in  the  stall,  resting  his 


ANNE  OF  GEIER STEIN  127 

hand  on  the  horse's  shoulder.  *' Who  art  thon/'  said  the 
baron,  "and  what  dost  thou  here  ?" 

"  I  seek  refuge  and  hospitality/'  replied  the  stranger  ; 
*'  and  I  conjure  thee  to  grant  it  me,  by  the  shoulder  of  thy 
horse,  and  by  the  edge  of  thy  sword,  and  so  as  they  may 
never  fail  thee  when  thy  need  is  at  the  utmost !  '^ 

"Thou  art,  then,  a  brother  of  the  sacred  fire,"  said  baron 
Herman  of  Arnheim  ;  "  and  I  may  not  refuse  thee  the  refuge 
which  thou  requirest  of  me,  after  the  ritual  of  the  Persian 
Magi.  From  whom,  and  for  what  length  of  time,  doest  thou 
crave  my  protection  ?  '^ 

"  From  those,"  replied  the  stranger,  "  who  shall  arrive  in 
quest  of  me  before  the  morning  cock  shall  crow,  and  for  the 
full  space  of  a  year  and  a  day  from  this  period." 

"  I  may  not  refuse  thee,"  said  the  baron,  "  consistently 
with  my  oath  and  my  honor.  For  a  year  and  a  day  I  will  be 
thy  pledge,  and  thou  shalt  share  with  me  roof  and  chamber, 
wine  and  food.  But  thou,  too  must  obey  the  law  of  Zoro- 
aster, which,  as  it  says,  '  Let  the  stronger  protect  the 
weaker  brother,'  says  also,  'Let  the  wiser  instruct  the 
brother  who  hath  less  knowledge.'  I  am  the  stronger,  and 
thou  shalt  be  safe  under  my  protection  ;  but  thou  art  the 
wiser,  and  must  instruct  me  in  the  most  secret  mysteries." 

"  You  mock  your  servant,"  said  the  strange  visitor  ;  "  but, 
if  aught  is  known  to  Dannischemend  which  can  a,vail  Her- 
man, his  instructions  shall  be  of  those  of  a  father  to  a  son." 

"  Come  forth,  then,  from  thy  place  of  refuge,"  said  the 
Baron  of  Arnheim.  "  I  swear  to  thee  by  the  sacred  fire 
which  lives  without  terrestrial  fuel,  and  by  the  fraternity 
which  is  betwixt  us,  and  by  the  shoulder  of  my  horse,  and 
the  edge  of  my  good  sword,  I  will  be  thy  warrant  for  a  year 
and  a  day,  if  so  far  my  power  shall  extend." 

The  stranger  came  forth  accordingly  ;  and  those  who  saw 
the  singularity  of  his  appearance  scarce  wondered  at  the  fears 
of  Caspar,  the  stall-master,  when  he  found  such  a  person  in 
the  stable,  by  what  mode  of  entrance  he  was  unable  to  con- 
ceive. When  he  reached  the  lighted  hall  to  which  the  baron 
conducted  him,  as  he  would  have  done  a  welcome  and 
honored  guest,  the  stranger  appeared  to  be  very  tall,  and  of 
a  dignified  aspect.  His  dress  was  Asiatic,  being  a  long  black 
caftan,  or  gown,  like  that  worn  by  Armenians,  and  a  lofty 
square  cap,  covered  with  the  wool  of  Astracan  lambs. 
Every  article  of  the  dress  was  black,  which  gave  relief  to  the 
long  white  beard  that  flowed  down  over  his  bosom.  His 
gown  was  fastened  by  a  sash  of  black  silk  net-work,  in 


128  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

which,  instead  of  a  poniard  or  sword,  was  stuck  a  silver  case, 
containing  writing-materials  and  a  roll  of  parchment.  The 
only  ornament  of  his  apparel  consisted  in  a  large  ruby  of 
uncommon  brilliancy,  which,  when  he  approached  the  light, 
seemed  to  glow  with  such  liveliness  as  if  the  gem  itself  had 
emitted  the  rays  which  it  only  reflected  back.  To  the  offer 
of  refreshment,  the  stranger  replied,  '^  Bread  I  may  not  eat, 
water  shall  not  moisten  my  lips,  until  the  avenger  shall  have 
passed  by  the  threshold.'" 

The  baron  commanded  the  lamps  to  be  trimmed  and  fresh 
torches  to  be  lighted,  and,  sending  his  whole  household  to 
rest,  remained  seated  in  the  hall  along  with  the  stranger,  his 
suppliant.  At  the  dead  hour  of  midnight,  the  gates  of  the 
castle  were  shaken  as  by  a  whirlwind,  and  a  voice,  as  of  a 
herald,  was  heard  to  demand  a  herald^s  lawful  prisoner, 
Dannischemend,  the  son  of  Hali.  The  warder  then  heard  a 
lower  window  of  the  hall  thrown  open,  and  could  distinguish 
his  master's  voice  addressing  the  person  who  had  thus  sum- 
moned the  castle.  But  the  night  was  so  dark  that  he  might 
not  see  the  speakers,  and  the  language  which  they  used  was 
either  entirely  foreign  or  so  largely  interspersed  with  strange 
words  that  he  could  not  understand  a  syllable  which  they 
said.  Scarce  five  minutes  had  elapsed,  when  he  who  was  with- 
out again  elevated  his  voice  as  before,  and  said  in  German, 
"  For  a  year  and  a  day,  then,  I  forbear  my  forfeiture  ;  but 
coming  for  it  when  that  time  shall  elapse,  I  come  for  my 
right,  and  will  no  longer  be  withstood. '^ 

From  that  period,  Dannischemend,  the  Persian,  was  a  con- 
stant guest  at  the  castle  of  Arnheim,  and,  indeed,  never  for 
any  visible  purpose  crossed  the  drawbridge.  His  amusements, 
or  studies,  seemed  centered  in  the  library  of  the  castle,  and 
in  the  laboratory,  where  the  baron  sometimes  toiled  in  con- 
junction with  him  for  many  hours  together.  The  inhabit- 
ants of  the  castle  could  find  no  fault  in  the  Magus,  or  Persian, 
excepting  his  apparently  dispensing  with  the  ordinances  of 
religion,  since  he  neither  went  to  mass  nor  confession,  nor 
attended  upon  other  religious  ceremonies.  The  chaplain  did 
indeed  profess  himself  satisfied  with  the  state  of  the  stranger^s 
conscience  ;  but  it  had  been  long  suspected  that  the  worthy 
ecclesiastic  held  his  easy  office  on  the  very  reasonable  condi- 
tion of  approving  the  principles  and  asserting  the  orthodoxy 
of  all  guests  whom  the  baron  invited  to  share  his  hospitality. 

It  was  observed  that  Dannischemend  was  rigid  in  paying 
his  devotions,  by  prostrating  himself  in  the  first  rays  of  the 
rising  sun,  and  that  he  constructed  a  silver  lamp  of  the  mosi? 


ANNE  OF  GEIEBSTEIN  129 

beautiful  proportions,  which  he  placed  on  a  pedestal,  repre- 
senting a  truncated  column  of  marble,  having  its  base  sculp- 
tured with  hieroglyphical  imagery.  With  what  essences  he 
fed  this  flame  was  unknown  to  all,  unless  perhaps  to  the 
baron  ;  but  the  flame  was  more  steady,  pure,  and  lustrous 
than  any  which  was  ever  seen,  excepting  the  sun  of  heaven 
itself,  and  it  was  generally  believed  that  the  Magian  made  it 
an  object  of  worship  in  the  absence  of  that  blessed  luminary. 
Nothing  else  was  observed  of  him,  unless  that  his  morals 
seemed  severe,  his  gravity  extreme,  his  general  mode  of  life 
very  temperate,  and  his  fasts  and  vigils  of  frequent  recurrence. 
Except  on  particular  occasions,  he  spoke  to  no  one  of  the 
castle  but  the  baron  ;  but,  as  he  had  money  and  was  liberal, 
he  was  regarded  by  the  domestics  with  awe  indeed,  but  with- 
out fear  or  dislike. 

Winter  was  succeeded  by  spring,  summer  brought  her 
flowers,  and  autumn  her  fruits,  which  ripened  and  were  fad- 
ing, when  a  foot-page,  who  sometimes  attended  them  in  the 
laboratory  to  render  manual  assistance  when  required,  heard 
the  Persian  say  to  the  Baron  of  Arnheim,  *'  You  will  do  well, 
my  son,  to  mark  my  words  ;  for  my  lessons  to  you  are  draw- 
ing to  an  end,  and  there  is  no  power  on  earth  which  can 
longer  postpone  my  fate.^^ 

*^  Alas,  my  master  \"  said  the  baron,  ''and  must  I  then 
lose  the  benefit  of  your  direction,  just  when  your  guiding 
hand  becomes  necessary  to  place  me  on  the  very  pinnacle  of 
the  temple  of  wisdom  ?  " 

"  Be  not  discouraged,  my  son,"  answered  the  sage.  *'  I 
will  bequeath  the  task  of  perfecting  you  in  your  studies  to 
my  daughter,  who  will  come  hither  on  purpose.  But  remem- 
ber, if  you  value  the  permanence  of  your  family,  look  not 
upon  her  as  aught  else  than  a  helpmate  in  your  studies  ;  for 
if  you  forget  the  instructress  in  the  beauty  of  the  maiden, 
you  will  be  buried  with  your  sword  and  your  shield,  as  the 
last  male  of  your  house  ;  and  farther  evil,  believe  me,  will 
arise,  for  such  alliances  never  come  to  a  happy  issue,  of  which 
my  own  is  an  example.     But  hush,  we  are  observed." 

The  household  of  the  Castle  of  Arnheim,  having  but  few 
things  to  interest  them,  were  the  more  eager  observers  of 
those  which  came  under  their  notice  ;  and  when  the  termina- 
tion of  the  period  when  the  Persian  was  to  receive  shelter  in 
the  castle  began  to  approach,  some  of  the  inmates,  under 
various  pretexts,  but  which  resolved  into  very  terror,  ab- 
sconded, while  others  held  themselves  in  expectation  of  some 
striking  and  terrible  catastrophe.     None  such,  however,  took 


130  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

place  ;  and,  on  the  expected  anniversary,  long  ere  the  witch- 
ing hour  of  midnight,  Dannischemend  terminated  his  visit, 
in  the  Castle  of  Arnheim  by  riding  away  from  the  gate  in 
the  guise  of  an  ordinary  traveler.  The  baron  had  meantime 
taken  leave  of  his  tutor  with  many  marks  of  regret,  and  some 
which  amounted  even  to  sorrow.  The  sage  Persian  com- 
forted him  by  a  long  whisper  of  which  the  last  part  only 
was  heard — "  By  the  first  beam  of  sunshine  she  will  be  with 
you.  Be  kind  to  her,  but  not  over  kind.'^  He  then  de- 
parted, and  was  never  again  seen  or  heard  of  in  the  vicinity 
of  Arnheim. 

The  baron  was  observed  during  all  the  day  after  the  de- 
parture of  the  stranger  to  be  particularly  melancholy.  He 
remained,  contrary  to  his  custom,  in  the  great  hall,  and 
neither  visited  the'library  nor  the  laboratory,  where  he  could 
no  longer  enjoy  the  company  of  his  departed  instructor.  At 
dawn  of  the  ensuing  morning.  Sir  Herman  summoned  his 
page,  and,  contrary  to  his  habits,  which  used  to  be  rather 
careless  in  respect  of  apparel,  he  dressed  himself  with  great 
accuracy  ;  and  as  he  was  in  the  prime  of  life,  and  of  a  noble 
figure,  he  had  reason  to  be  satisfied  with  his  appearance. 
Having  performed  his  toilet,  he  waited  till  the  sun  had  just 
appeared  above  the  horizon,  and,  taking  from  the  table  the 
key  of  the  laboratory,  which  the  page  believed  must  have 
lain  there  all  night,  he  walked  thither,  followed  by  his 
attendant.  At  the  door  the  baron  made  a  pause,  and  seemed 
at  one  time  to  doubt  whether  he  should  not  send  away  the 
page,  at  another  to  hesitate  whether  he  should  open 
the  door,  as  one  might  do  who  expected  some  strange  sight 
within.  He  pulled  up  resolution,  however,  turned  the  key, 
threw  the  door  open,  and  entered.  The  page  followed  close 
behind  his  master,  and  was  astonished  to  the  point  of  extreme 
terror  at  what  he  beheld,  although  the  sight,  however  extra- 
ordinary, had  in  it  nothing  save  what  was  agreeable  and 
lovely. 

The  silver  lamp  was  extinguished,  or  removed  from  its 
pedestal,  where  stood  in  place  of  it  a  most  beautiful  female 
figure  in  the  Persian  costume,  in  which  the  color  of  pink 
predominated.  But  she  wore  no  turban  or  head-dress  of  any 
kind,  saving  a  blue  ribbon  drawn  through  her  auburn  hair, 
and  secured  by  a  gold  clasp,  the  outer  side  of  which  was 
ornamented  by  a  superb  opal,  which,  amid  the  changing 
lights  peculiar  to  that  gem,  displayed  internally  a  slight 
tinge  of  red  like  a  spark  of  fire. 

The  figure  of  this  young  person  was  rather  under  the  mid- 


I 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  131 

die  size,  but  perfectly  well  formecj  ;  the  Eastern  dress,  with 
the  wide  trousers  gathered  round  the  ankles,  made  visible 
the  smallest  and  most  beautiful  feet  which  had  ever  been 
seen,  while  hands  and  arms  of  the  most  perfect  symmetry 
were  partly  seen  from  under  the"  folds  of  the  robe.  The  little 
lady's  countenance  was  of  a  lively  and  expressive  character, 
in  which  spirit  and  wit  seemed  to  predominate  ;  and  the 
quick  dark  eye,  with  its  beautifully  formed  eyebrow,  seemed 
to  presage  the  arch  remark  to  which  the  rosy  and  half -smil- 
ing lip  appeared  ready  to  give  utterance. 

The  pedestal  on  which  she  stood,  or  rather  was  perched, 
would  have  appeared  unsafe  had  any  figure  heavier  than  her 
own  been  placed  there.  But,  however  she  had  been  trans- 
ported thither,  she  seemed  to  rest  on  it  as  lightly  and  safely 
as  a  linnet  when  it  has  dropped  from  the  sky  on  the  tendril 
of  a  rosebud.  The  first  beam  of  the  rising  sun,  falling 
through  a  window  directly  opposite  to  the  pedestal,  increased 
the  effect  of  this  beautiful  figure,  which  remained  as  motion- 
less as  if  it  had  been  carved  in  marble.  She  only  expressed 
her  sense  of  the  Baron  of  Arnheim's  presence  by  something 
of  a  quicker  respiration,  and  a  deep  blush,  accompanied  by 
a  slight  smile. 

Whatever  reason  the  Baron  of  Arnheim  might  have  for 
expecting  to  see  some  such  object  as  now  exhibited  its  actual 
presence,  the  degree  of  beauty  which  it  presented  was  so 
much  beyond  his  expectation,  that  for  an  instant  he  stood 
without  breath  or  motion.  At  once,  however,  he  seemed  to 
recollect  that  it  was  his  duty  to  welcome  the  fair  stranger 
to  his  castle,  and  to  relieve  her  from  her  precarious 
situation.  He  stepped  forward  accordingly  with  the  words 
of  welcome  on  his  tongue,  and  was  extending  his  arms 
to  lift  her  from  the  pedestal,  which  was  nearly  six  feet  high  ; 
but  the  light  and  active  stranger  merely  accepted  the  support 
of  his  hand,  and  descended  on  the  floor  as  light  and  as  safe 
as  if  she  had  been  formed  of  gossamer.  It  was  indeed  only  by 
the  momentary  pressure  of  her  little  hand  that  the  Baron  of 
Arnheim  was  finally  made  sensible  that  he  had  to  do  with  a 
being  of  flesh  and  blood. 

''I  am  come  as  I  have  been  commanded, '^  she  said,  look- 
ing around  her.  "  You  must  expect  a  strict  and  diligent 
mistress,  and  I  hope  for  the  credit  of  an  attentive  pupil.'' 

After  the  arrival  of  this  singular  and  interesting  being  in 
the  castle  of  Arnheim,  various  alterations  took  place  within 
the  interior  of  the  household.  A  lady  of  high  rank  and 
small  fortune,  the  respectable  widow  of  a  count  of  the  Empire, 


132  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

who  was  the  baron^s  blood  jelation,  received  ai^d  accepted  an 
invitation  to  preside  over  her  kinsman^s  domestic  affairs,  and 
remove,  by  her  countenance,  any  suspicions  which  might 
arise  from  the  presence  of  Hermione,  as  the  beautiful  Persian 
was  generally  called. 

The  Countess  Waldstetten  carried  her  complaisance  so  far 
as  to  be  present  on  almost  all  occasions,  whether  in  the  lab- 
oratory or  library,  when  the  Baron  of  Arnheim  received 
lessons  from  or  pursued  studies  with  the  young  and  lovely 
tutor  who  had  been  thus  strangely  substituted  for  the  aged 
Magus.  If  this  lady^s  report  was  to  be  trusted,  their  pursuits 
were  of  a  most  extraordinary  nature,  and  the  results  which 
she  sometimes  witnessed  were  such  as  to  create  fear  as  well 
as  surprise.  But  she  strongly  vindicated  them  from  practis- 
ing unlawful  arts  or  overstepping  the  boundaries  of  natural 
science. 

A  better  judge  of  such  matters,  the  Bishop  of  Bamberg 
himself,  made  a  visit  to  Arnheim,  on  purpose  to  witness  the 
wisdom  of  which  so  much  was  reported  through  the  whole 
Rhine  country.  He  conversed  with  Hermione,  and  found 
her  deeply  impressed  with  the  truths  of  religion,  and  so  per- 
fectly acquainted  with  its  doctrines,  that  he  compared  her  to 
a  doctor  of  theology  in  the  dress  of  an  Eastern  dancing-girl. 
When  asked  regarding  her  knowledge  of  languages  and 
science,  he  answered,  that  he  had  been  attracted  to  Arnheim 
by  the  most  extravagant  reports  on  these  points,  but  that 
he  must  return  confessing  *'  that  half  thereof  had  not  been 
told  unto  him.'^ 

In  consequence  of  this  indisputable  testimony,  the  sinister 
reports  which  had  been  occasioned  by  the  singular  appearance 
of  the  fair  stranger  were  in  a  great  measure  lulled  to  sleep, 
especially  as  her  amiable  manners  won  the  involuntary  good- 
will of  every  one  that  approached  her. 

Meantime  a  marked  alteration  began  to  take  place  in  the 
interviews  between  the  lovely  tutor  and  her  pupil.  These 
were  conducted  with  the  same  caution  as  before,  and  never, 
so  far  as  could  be  observed,  took  place  without  the  presence  of 
the  Countess  of  Waldstetten  or  some  other  third  person  of 
respectability.  But  the  scenes  of  these  meetings  were  no 
longer  the  scholar's  library  or  the  chemist's  laboratory  :  the 
gardens,  the  groves  were  resorted  to  foi»  amusement,  and 
parties  of  hunting  and  fishing,  with  evenings  spent  in  the 
dance,  seemed  to  announce  that  the  studies  of  wisdom  were 
for  a  time  abandoned  for  the  pursuits  of  pleasure.  It  was 
not  difficult  to  guess  the  meaning  of  this  :  the  Baron  of  Arn- 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  133 

heim  and  his  fair  guest,  speaking  a  language  different  from 
all  others,  could  enjoy  their  private  conversation  even  amid 
all  the  tumult  of  gaiety  around  them  ;  and  no  one  was  sur- 
prised to  hear  it  formally  announced,  after  a  few  weeks  of 
gaiety,  that  the  fair  Persian  was  to  be  wedded  to  the  Baron 
of  Arnheim. 

The  manners  of  this  fascinating  young  person  were  so 
pleasing,  her  conversation  so  animated,  her  wit  so  keen,  yet 
so  well  tempered  with  good-nature  and  modesty,  that,  not- 
withstanding her  unknown  origin,  her  high  fortune  attracted 
less  envy  than  might  have  been  expected  in  a  case  so  singular. 
Above  all,  her  generosity  amazed  and  won  the  hearts  of  all 
the  young  persons  who  approached  her.  Her  wealth  seemed 
to  be  measureless,  for  the  many  rich  jewels  which  she  dis- 
tributed among  her  fair  friends  would  otherwise  have  left 
her  without  ornaments  for  herself.  These  good  qualities, 
her  liberality  above  all,  together  with  a  simplicity  of  thought 
and  character  which  formed  a  beautiful  contrast  to  the  depth 
of  acquired  knowledge  which  she  was  well  known  to  possess — 
these,  and  her  total  want  of  ostentation,  made  her  superiority 
be  pardoned  among  her  companions.  Still  there  was  notice 
taken  of  some  peculiarities,  exaggerated  perhaps  by  envy, 
which  seemed  to  draw  a  mystical  distinction  between  the 
beautiful  Hermione  and  the  mere  mortals  with  whom  she 
lived  and  conversed. 

In  the  merry  dance  she  was  so  unrivaled  in  lightness  and 
agility,  that  her  performance  seemed  that  of  an  aerial  being. 
She  could,  without  suffering  from  her  exertion,  continue 
the  pleasure  till  she  had  tired  out  the  most  active  revelers  ; 
and  even  the  young  Duke  of  Hochspringen,  who  was  reckoned 
the  most  indefatigable  at  the  exercise  in  Germany,  having 
been  her  partner  for  half  an  hour,  was  compelled  to  break  off 
the  dance,  and  throw  himself,  totally  exhausted,  on  a  couch, 
claiming,  he  had  been  dancing  not  with  a  woman,  but  with 
an  ignus  fatuus. 

Other  whispers  averred  that,  while  she  played  with  her 
young  companions  in  the  labyrinth  and  mazes  of  the  castle 
gardens  at  hide-and-seek,  or  similar  games  of  activity,  she 
became  animated  with  the  same  supernatural  alertness  which 
was  supposed  to  inspire  her  in  the  dance.  She  appeared 
amongst  her  companions  and  vanished  from  them  with  a 
degree  of  rapidity  which  was  inconceivable ;  and  hedges, 
treillage,  or  such-like  obstructions  were  surmounted  by  her 
in  a  manner  which  the  most  vigilant  eye  could  not  detect ; 
for,  after  being  observed  on  the  side  of  the  barrier  at  one 


134  WAVERLET  NOVELS 

instant,  in  another  she  was  beheld  close  beside  the  spec- 
tator. 

In  such  moments,  when  her  eyes  sparkled,  her  cheeks 
reddened,  and  her  whole  frame  became  animated,  it  was 
pretended  that  the  opal  clasp  amid  her  tresses,  the  ornament 
which  she  never  laid  aside,  shot  forth  the  little  spark,  or 
tongue  of  flame,  which  it  always  displayed,  with  an  increased 
vivacity.  In  the  same  manner,  if  in  the  half-darkened  hall 
the  conversation  of  Hermione  became  unusually  animated, 
it  was  believed  that  the  jewel  became  brilliant,  and  even  dis- 
played a  twinkling  and  flashing  gleam  which  seemed  to  be 
emitted  by  the  gem  itself,  and  not  produced  in  the  usual 
manner,  by  the  reflection  of  some  external  light.  Her 
maidens  were  also  heard  to  surmise  that,  when  their  mistress 
was  agitated  by  any  hasty  or  brief  resentment  (the  only 
weakness  of  temper  which  she  was  sometimes  observed  to 
display),  they  could  observe  dark-red  sparks  flash  from  the 
mystic  brooch,  as  if  it  sympathized  with  the  wearer's  emo- 
tions. The  women  who  attended  on  her  toilet  farther  re- 
ported that  this  gem  was  never  removed  but  for  a  few  min- 
utes, when  the  baroness's  hair  was  combed  out  ;  that  she 
was  unusually  pensive  and  silent  during  the  time  it  was  laid 
aside,  and  particularly  apprehensive  when  any  liquid  was 
brought  near  it.  Even  in  the  use  of  holy  water  at  the  door 
of  the  church,  she  was  observed  to  omit  the  sign  of  the  cross 
on  the  forehead,  for  fear,  it  was  supposed,  of  the  water 
touching  the  valued  jewel. 

These  singular  reports  did  not  prevent  the  marriage  of 
the  Baron  of  Arnheim  from  proceeding  as  had  been  ar- 
ranged. It  was  celebrated  in  the  usual  form,  and  with  the 
utmost  splendor,  and  the  young  couple  seemed  to  commence 
a  life  of  happiness  rarely  to  be  found  on  earth.  In  the 
course  of  twelve  months,  the  lovely  baroness  presented  her 
husband  with  a  daughter,  which  was  to  be  christened  Sybilla, 
after  the  count's  mother.  As  the  health  of  the  child  was 
excellent,  the  ceremony  was  postponed  till  the  recovery  of 
the  mother  from  her  confinement ;  many  were  invited  to  be 
present  on  the  occasion,  and  the  castle  was  thronged  with 
company. 

It  happened,  that  amongst  the  guests  was  an  old  lady, 
notorious  for  playing  in  private  society  the  part  of  a  mali- 
cious fairy  in  a  minstrel's  tale.  This  was  the  Baroness  of 
Steinfeldt,  famous  in  the  neighborhood  for  her  insatiable 
curiosity  and  overweening  pride.  She  had  not  been  many 
days  in  the  castle  ere,  by  the  aid  of  a  female  attendant,  who 


ANNE  OF  GEIEUSTEIN  135 

acted  as  an  intelligencer,  she  had  made  herself  mistress  of 
all  that  was  heard,  said,  or  suspected  concerning  the  pecul- 
iarities of  the  Baroness  Hermione.  It  was  on  the  morning 
of  the  day  appointed  for  the  christening,  while  the  whole 
company  were  assembled  in  the  hall,  and  waiting  till  the 
baroness  should  appear,  to  pass  with  them  to  the  chapel, 
that  there  arose  between  the  censorious  and  haughty  dame 
whom  we  have  just  mentioned  and  the  Countess  Waldstetten 
a  violent  discussion  concerning  some  point  of  disputed  pre- 
cedence. It  was  referred  to  the  Baron  von  Arnheim,  who 
decided  in  favor  of  the  countess.  Madame  de  Steinfeldt  in- 
stantly ordered  her  palfrey  to  be  prepared,  and  her  attend- 
ants to  mount. 

"  I  leave  this  place,''  she  said,  ''  which  a  good  Christian 
ought  never  to  have  entered — I  leave  a  house  of  which  the 
master  is  a  sorcerer,  the  mistress  a  demon  who  dares  not 
cross  her  brow  with  holy  water,  and  their  trencher  com- 
panion one  who  for  a  wretched  pittance  is  willing  to  act  as 
match-maker  between  a  wizard  and  an  incarnate  fiend." 

She  then  departed  with  rage  in  her  countenance  and  spite 
in  her  heart. 

The  Baron  of  Arnheim  then  stepped  forward,  and  de- 
manded of  the  knights  and  gentlemen  around  if  there  were 
any  among  them  who  would  dare  to  make  good  with  his 
sword  the  infamous  falsehoods  thrown  upon  himself,  his 
spouse,  and  his  kinswoman. 

There  was  a  general  answer,  utterly  refusing  to  defend  the 
Baroness  of  Steinfeldt's  words  in  so  bad  a  cause,  and  uni- 
versally testifying  the  belief  of  the  company  that  she  spoke 
in  the  spirit  of  calumny  and  falsehood. 

"Then  let  that  lie  fall  to  the  ground  which  no  man  of 
courage  will  hold  up,''  said  the  Baron  of  Arnheim  ;  "  only, 
all  who  are  here  this  morning  shall  be  satisfied  whether  the 
Baroness  Hermione  doth  or  doth  not  share  the  rites  of 
Christianity." 

The  Countess  of  Waldstetten  made  anxious  signs  to  him 
while  he  spoke  thus  ;  and  when  the  crowd  permitted  her  to 
approach  near  him,  she  was  heard  to  whisper,  '^  0,  be  not 
rash  ;  try  no  experiment.  There  is  something  mysterious 
about  that  opal  talisman  ;  be  prudent,  and  let  the  matter 
pass  by." 

The  baron,  who  was  in  a  more  towering  passion  than  well 
became  the  wisdom  to  which  he  made  pretense — although  it 
will  be  perhaps  allowed  that  an  affront  so  public,  and  in 
such  a  time  and  place,  was  enough  to  shake  the  prudence  of 


136  WAVJEBLEY  NOVELS 

the  most  staid,  and  the  philosophy  of  the  most  wise — an- 
swered sternly  and  briefly,  ''Are  you,  too,  such  a  fool?'^ 
and  retained  his  purpose. 

The  Baroness  of  Arnheim  at  this  moment  entered  the 
hall,  looking  just  so  pale  from  her  late  confinement  as  to 
render  her  lovely  countenance  more  interesting,  if  less  ani- 
mated, than  usual.  Having  paid  her  compliments  to  the 
assembled  company,  with  the  most  graceful  and  condescend- 
ing attention,  she  was  beginning  to  inquire  why  Madame  de 
Steinfeldt  was  not  present,  when  her  husband  made  the 
signal  for  the  company  to  move  forward  to  the  chapel,  and 
lent  the  baroness  his  arm  to  bring  up  the  rear.  The  chapel 
was  nearly  filled  by  the  splendid  company,  and  all  eyes  were 
bent  on  their  host  and  hostess,  as  they  entered  the  place  of 
devotion  immediately  after  four  young  ladies,  who  supported 
the  infant  babe  in  a  light  and  beautiful  litter. 

As  they  passed  the  threshold,  the  baron  dipt  his  finger  in 
the  font-stone,  and  offered  holy  water  to  his  lady,  who  ac- 
cepted it,  as  usual,  by  touching  his  finger  with  her  own. 
But  then,  as  if  to  confute  the  calumnies  of  the  malevolent 
lady  of  Steinfeldt,  with  an  air  of  sportive  familiarity  which 
was  rather  unwarranted  by  the  time  and  place,  he  flirted  on 
her  beautiful  forehead  a  drop  or  two  of  the  moisture  which 
remained  on  his  own  hand.  The  opal,  on  which  one  of  these 
drops  had  lighted,  shot  out  a  brilliant  spark  like  a  falling 
star,  and  became  the  instant  afterwards  lightless  and  color- 
less as  a  common  pebble,  while  the  beautiful  baroness  sunk 
on  the  floor  of  the  chapel  with  a  deep  sigh  of  pain.  All 
crowded  around  her  in  dismay.  The  unfortunate  Hermione 
was  raised  from  the  ground,  and  conveyed  to  her  chamber  ; 
and  so  much  did  her  countenance  and  pulse  alter,  within 
the  short  time  necessary  to  do  this,  that  those  who  looked 
upon  her  pronounced  her  a  dying  woman.  She  was  no  sooner 
in  her  own  apartment  than  she  requested  to  be  left  alone  with 
her  husband.  He  remained  an  hour  in  the  room,  and  when  he 
came  out  he  locked  and  double  locked  the  door  behind  him. 
He  then  betook  himself  to  the  chapel,  and  remained  there 
for  an  hour  or  more,  prostrated  before  the  altar. 

In  the  mean  time,  most  of  the  guests  had  dispersed  in  dis- 
may ;  though  some  abode  out  of  courtesy  or  curiosity.  There 
was  a  general  sense  of  impropriety  in  suffering  the  door  of 
the  sick  lady's  apartment  to  remain  locked  ;  but,  alarmed  at 
the  whole  circumstances  of  her  illness,  it  was  some  time  ere 
any  one  dared  disturb  the  devotions  of  the  baron.  At  length 
medical  aid  arrived,  and  the  Countess  of  Waldstetten  took 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  137 

apon  her  to  demand  the  key.  She  spoke  more  than  once  to 
a  man  who  seemed  incapable  of  hearing,  at  least  of  under- 
standing, what  she  said.  At  length  he  gave  her  the  key, 
and  added  sternly,  as  he  did  so,  that  all  aid  was  unavailing, 
and  that  it  was  his  pleasure  that  all  strangers  should  leave 
the  castle.  There  were  few  who  inclined  to  stay,  when,  upon 
opening  the  door  of  the  chamber  in  which  the  baroness  had 
been  deposited  little  more  than  two  hours  before,  no  traces 
of  her  could  be  discovered,  unless  that  there  was  about  a 
handful  of  'light  gray  ashes,  like  such  as  might  have  been 
produced  by  burning  fine  paper,  found  on  the  bed  where  she 
had  been  laid.  A  solemn  funeral  was  nevertheless  performed, 
with  masses  and  all  other  spiritual  rites,  for  the  soul  of  the 
high  and  noble  Lady  Hermione  of  Arnheim  ;  and  it  was  ex- 
actly on  that  same  day  three  years  that  the  baron  himself 
was  laid  in  the  grave  of  the  same  chapel  of  Arnheim,  with 
swords,  shield,  and  helmet,  as  the  last  male  of  his  family. 

Here  the  Swiss  paused,  for  they  were  approaching  the 
bridge  of  the  castle  of  Graffslust. 


CHAPTER  XII 

Believe  me,  sir, 
It  carries  a  rare  form  ;  but  'tis  a  spirit. 

The  Tempest, 

Thbre  was  a  short  silence  after  the  Bernese  had  concluded 
his  singular  tale.  Arthur  Philipson's  attention  had  been 
gradually  and  intensely  attracted  by  a  story  which  was  too 
much  in  unison  with  the  received  ideas  of  the  age  to  be  en- 
countered by  the  unhesitating  incredulity  with  which  it 
must  have  been  heard  in  later  and  more  enlightened 
times. 

He  was  also  considerably  struck  by  the  manner  in  which 
it  had  been  told  by  the  narrator,  whom  he  had  hitherto  only 
regarded  in  the  light  of  a  rude  huntsman  or  soldier  ;  whereas 
he  now  allowed  Donnerhugel  credit  for  a  more  extensive 
acquaintance  with  the  general  manners  of  the  world  than  he 
had  previously  anticipated.  The  Swiss  rose  in  his  opinion 
as  a  man  of  talent,  but  without  making  the  slightest  progress 
in  his  affections.  "  The  swashbuckler,^^  he  said  to  himself, 
**  has  brains,  as  well  as  brawn  and  bones,  and  is  fitter  for 
the  office  of  commanding  others  than  I  formerly  thought 
him."  Then,  turning  to  his  companion,  he  thanked  him 
for  the  tale,  which  had  shortened  the  way  in  so  interesting  a 
manner. 

"  And  it  is  from  this  singular  marriage,"  he  continued, 
"  that  Anne  of  Geierstein  derives  her  origin  ?  " 

"  Her  mother,"  answered  the  Swiss,  *'  was  Sybilla  of  Arn- 
heim,  the  infant  at  whose  christening  the  mother  died,  dis- 
appeared, or  whatever  you  may  list  to  call  it.  The  barony 
of  Arnheim,  being  a  male  fief,  reverted  to  the  Emperor. 
The  castle  has  never  been  inhabited  since  the  death  of  the 
last  lord  ;  and  has,  as  I  have  heard,  become  in  some  sort 
ruinous.-  The  occupations  of  its  ancient  proprietors,  and, 
above  all,  the  catastrophe  of  its  last  inhabitant,  have  been 
thought  to  render  it  no  eligible  place  of  residence." 

^'  Did  there  appear  anything  preternatural,"  said  the 
Englishman,  "  about  the  young  baroness,  who  married  the 
brother  of  the  Landamman  ?  '' 

138 


ANNE  OF  GEIER STEIN  139 

"  So  far  as  I  have  heard,"  replied  Rndolph,  ''there  were 
strange  stories.  It  was  said  that  the  nurses,  at  the  dead  of 
night,  have  seen  Hermione,  the  last  Baroness  of  Arnheim, 
stand  weeping  by  the  side  of  the  child^s  cradle,  and  other 
things  to  the  same  purpose.  But  here  I  speak  from  less  cor- 
rect information  than  that  from  which  I  drew  my  former 
narrative." 

''  And  since  the  credibility  of  a  story,  not  very  probable  in 
itself,  must  needs  be  granted  or  withheld  according  to  the 
evidence  on  which  it  is  given,  may  I  ask  you,"  said  Arthur, 
''  to  tell  me  what  is  the  authority  on  which  you  have  so  much 
reliance  ?  " 

'' Willingly,"  answered  the  Swiss.  ''Know  that  Theo- 
dore Donnerhugel,  the  favorite  page  of  the  last  Baron  of 
Arnheim,  was  my  father's  brother.  Upon  his  master's  death, 
he  retired  to  his  native  town  of  Berne,  and  most  of  his  time 
was  employed  in  training  me  up  to  arms  and  martial  exer- 
cises, as  well  according  to  the  fashion  of  Germany  as  of 
Switzerland,  for  he  was  master  of  all.  He  witnessed  with 
his  own  eyes,  and  heard  with  his  own  ears,  great  part  of  the 
melancholy  and  mysterious  events  which  I  have  detailed  to 
you.  Should  you  ever  visit  Berne,  you  may  see  the  good  old 
man." 

"You  think,  then,"  said  Arthur,  "that  the  appearance 
which  I  have  this  night  seen  is  connected  with  the  myste- 
rious marriage  of  Anne  of  Geierstein's  grandfather  ?  " 

"Nay,"  replied  Rudolph,  "  think  not  that  I  can  lay  down 
any  positive  explanation  of  a  thing  so  strange.  I  can  only 
say  that,  unless  I  did  you  the  injustice  to  disbelieve  your 
testimony  respecting  the  apparition  of  this  evening,  I  know 
no  way  to  account  for  it,  except  by  remembering  that  there 
is  a  portion  of  the  young  lady's  blood  which  is  thought  not 
to  be  derived  from  the  race  of  Adam,  but  more  or  less  di- 
rectly from  one  of  those  elementary  spirits  which  have  been 
talked  of  both  in  ancient  and  modern  times.  But  I  may  be 
mistaken.  We  will  see  how  she  bears  herself  in  the  morning, 
and  whether  she  carries  in  her  looks  the  weariness  and  pale- 
ness of  a  midnight  watcher.  If  she  doth  not,  we  may  be 
authorized  in  thinking  either  that  your  eyes  have  strangely 
deceived  you  or  that  they  have  been  cheated  by  some  spec- 
tral appearance  which  is  not  of  this  world." 

To  this  the  young  Englishman  attempted  no  reply,  nor 
was  there  time  for  any  ;  for  they  were  immediately  after- 
wards challenged  by  the  sentinel  from  the  drawbridge. 

The  question  "  Who  goes  there  ?  "  was  twice  satisfactorily 


140  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

answered  before  Sigismnnd  would  admit  the  patrol  to  cross 
the  drawbridge. 

"  Ass  and  mule  that  thou  art/^  said  Rudolph,  ^^  what  was 
the  meaning  of  thy  delay  ? '' 

''Ass  and  mule  thyself,  hauptman  !"  said  the  Swiss,  in 
answer  to  this  objurgation.  ^'  I  have  been  surprised  by  a 
goblin  on  my  post  once  to-night  already,  and  I  have  got  so 
much  experience  upon  that  matter,  that  I  will  not  easily  be 
caught  a  second  time.'' 

*'  What  goblin,  thou  fool,"  said  Donnerhugel,  ''would  be 
idle  enough  to  play  his  gambols  at  the  expense  of  so  very 
poor  an  animal  as  thou  art  ?  " 

"Thou  art  as  cross  as  my  father,  hauptman,'' replied  Sigis- 
mund,  "  who  cries  fool  and  blockhead  at  every  word  I  speak  ; 
and  yet  I  have  lips,  teeth,  and  tongue  to  speak  with,  just 
like  other  folk." 

"  We  will  not  contest  the  matter,  Sigismund,"  said 
Eudolph.  "  It  is  clear  that,  if  thou  dost  differ  from  other 
people,  it  is  in  a  particular  which  thou  canst  be  hardly  ex- 
pected to  find  out  or  acknowledge.  But  what,  in  the  name  of 
simplicity,  is  it  which  hath  alarmed  thee  on  thy  post  ?  " 

"  Marry,  thus  it  was,  hauptman,"  returned  Sigismund 
Biederman.  "I  was  something  tired,  you  see,  with  looking 
up  at  the  broad  moon,  and  thinking  what  in  the  universe  it 
could  be  made  of,  and  how  we  came  to  see  it  just  as  well  here 
as  at  home,  this  place  being  so  many  miles  from  Geierstein. 
I  was  tired,  I  say,  of  this  and  other  perplexing  thoughts,  so 
I  drew  my  fur  cap  down  over  my  ears,  for  I  promise  you  the 
wind  blew  shrill ;  and  then  I  planted  myself  firm  on  my  feet, 
with  one  of  my  legs  a  little  advanced,  and  both  my  hands 
resting  on  my  partizan,  which  I  placed  upright  before  me  to 
rest  upon ;  and  so  I  shut  mine  eyes." 

"  Shut  thine  eyes,  Sigismund,  and  thou  upon  thy  watch  ! " 
exclaimed  Donnerhugel. 

"  Care  not  thou  for  that,"  answered  Sigismund,  "  I  kept 
my  ears  open.  And  yet  it  was  to  little  purpose,  for  some- 
thing came  upon  the  bridge  with  a  step  as  stealthy  as  that  of 
a  mouse.  I  looked  up  with  a  start  at  the  moment  it  was 
opposite  to  me,  and  when  I  looked  up — whom  think  you  I 
saw?" 

"  Some  fool  like  thyself,"  said  Rudolph,  at  the  same  time 
pressing  Philipson^s  foot  to  make  him  attend  to  the  answer — 
a  hint  which  was  little  necessary,  since  he  waited  for  it  in 
the  utmost  agitation.     Out  it  came  at  last. 

"  By  St.  Mark,  it  was  our  own  Anne  of  Geierstein  ! " 


ANNE  OF  QMEBSTEIN  141 

''  It  is  impossible,"  replied  the  Bernese. 

''  I  should  have  said  so  too,"  quoth  Sigismund,  ^'  for  I  had 
peeped  into  her  bedroom  before  she  went  thither,  and  it  was 
so  bedizened  that  a  queen  or  a  princess  might  have  slept  in 
it ;  and  why  should  the  wench  get  out  of  her  good  quarters, 
with  all  her  friends  about  her  to  guard  her,  and  go  out  to 
wander  in  the  forest  ?  " 

"  Maybe,"  said  Eudolph,  "  she  only  looked  from  the  bridge 
to  see  how  the  night  waned." 

'^ No,"  said  Sigismund  ;  ''she  was  returning  from  the 
forest.  I  saw  her  when  she  reached  the  end  of  the  bridge, 
and  thought  of  striking  at  her,  conceiving  it  to  be  the  devil 
in  her  likeness.  But  I  remembered  my  halberd  is  no  birch 
switch  to  chastise  boys  and  girls  with  ;  and  had  I  done  Anne 
any  harm,  you  would  all  have  been  angry  with  me,  and,  to 
speak  truth,  I  should  have  been  ill  pleased  with  myself  ;  for 
although  she  doth  make  a  jest  of  me  now  and  then,  yet  it 
were  a  dull  house  ours  were  we  to  lose  Anne." 

''  Ass,"  answered  the  Bernese,  ''  didst  thou  speak  to  this 
form,  or  goblin  as  you  call  it  ?  " 

''  Indeed  I  did  not.  Captain  Wiseacre.  My  father  is  ever 
angry  with  me  when  I  speak  without  thinking,  and  I  could 
not  at  that  particular  moment  think  on  anything  to  the  pur- 
pose. Neither  was  there  time  to  think,  for  she  passed  me 
like  a  snowfiake  upon  a  whirlwind.  I  marched  into  the 
castle  after  her,  however,  calling  on  her  by  name  ;  so  the 
sleepers  were  awakened,  and  men  flew  to  their  arms,  and 
there  was  as  much  confusion  as  if  Archibald  of  Hagenbach 
had  been  among  us  with  sword  and  pike.  And  who  should 
come  out  of  her  little  bedroom,  as  much  startled  and  as  much 
in  a  bustle  as  any  of  us,  but  Mrs.  Anne  herself  !  And  as  she 
protested  she  had  never  left  her  room  that  night,  why  I, 
Sigismund  Biederman,  was  made  to  stand  the  whole  blame, 
as  if  I  could  prevent  people^s  ghosts  from  walking.  But  I 
told  her  my  mind  when  I  saw  them  all  so  set  against  me. 
'And,  Mistress  Anne,'  quoth  I,  '  it^s  well  known  the  kindred 
you  come  of  ;  and,  after  this  fair  notice,  if  you  send  any  of 
your  double-gangers*  to  me,  let  them  put  iron  skull-caps  on 
their  heads,  for  I  will  give  them  the  length  and  weight  of  a 
Swiss  halberd,  come  in  what  shape  they  list.'  However,  they 
all  cried  '  Shame  on  me  ! '  and  my  father  drove  me  out  again, 
with  as  little  remorse  as  if  I  had  been  the  old  house-dog, 
which  had  stolen  in  from  his  watch  to  the  fireside." 

The  Bernese  replied,  with  an  air  of  coldness  approaching 

*  See  Note  1. 


I 


142  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

to  contempt,  "  You  have  slept  on  your  watch,  Sigismund,  a 
high  military  offense,  and  you  have  dreamed  while  you 
slept.  You  were  in  good  luck  that  the  Landamman  did  not 
suspect  your  negligence,  or,  instead  of  being  sent  back  to 
your  duty  like  a  lazy  watch-dog,  you  might  have  been 
scourged  back  like  a  faithless  one  to  your  kennel  at  Geier- 
gtein,  as  chanced  to  poor  Ernest  for  a  less  matter/' 

"  Ernest  has  not  yet  gone  back  though,"  said  Sigismund, 
*'  and  I  think  he  may  pass  as  far  into  Burgundy  as  we  shall 
do  in  this  journey.  I  pray  you,  however,  hauptman,  to  treat 
me  not  dog-like,  but  as  a  man,  and  send  some  one  to  relieve 
me,  instead  of  prating  here  in  the  cold  night  air.  If  there 
be  anything  to  do  to-morrow,  as  I  well  guess  there  may,  a 
mouthful  of  food  and  a  minute  of  sleep  will  be  but  a  fitting 

E reparative,  and  I  have  stood  watch  here  these  two  mortal 
ours." 

With  that  the  young  giant  yawned  portentously,  as  if  to 
enforce  the  reasons  of  his  appeal. 

** A  mouthful  and  a  minute  ! "  said  Eudolph — '^  a  roasted 
ox  and  a  lethargy  like  that  of  the  Seven  Sleepers  would 
scarce  restore  you  to  the  use  of  your  refreshed  and  waking 
senses.  But  I  am  your  friend,  Sigismund,  and  you  are 
secure  in  my  favorable  report ;  you  shall  be  instantly  re- 
lieved, that  you  may  sleep,  if  it  be  possible,  without  disturb- 
ances from  dreams.  Pass  on,  young  men  (addressing  the 
others,  who  by  this  time  had  come  up),  and  go  to  your  rest ; 
Arthur  of  England  and  I  will  report  to  the  Landamman  and 
the  banneret  the  account  of  our  patrol." 

The  patrol  accordingly  entered  the  castle,  and  were  soon 
he&rd  joining  their  slumbering  companions.  Eudolph  Don- 
nerhugel  seized  Arthur's  arm,  and,  while  they  went  towards 
the  hall,  whispered  in  his  ear — 

'^  These  are  strange  passages  !  How  think  you  we  should 
report  them  to  the  deputation  ?" 

*'That  I  must  refer  to  yourself,"  said  Arthur  :  "you  are 
the  captain  of  our  watch.  I  have  done  my  duty  in  telling 
you  what  I  saw — or  thought  I  saw  ;  it  is  for  you  to  judge 
how  far  it  is  fitting  to  communicate  it  to  the  Landamman  ; 
only,  as  it  concerns  the  honor  of  his  family,  to  his  ear  alone 
I  think  it  should  be  confided." 

"  I  see  no  occasion  for  that,"  said  the  Bernese,  hastily ; 
"  it  cannot  affect  or  interest  our  general  safety.  But  I  may 
take  occasion  hereafter  to  speak  with  Anne  on  this  subject." 

This  latter  hint  gave  as  much  pain  to  Arthur  as  the  gen- 
eral proposal  of  silence  on  an  affair  so  delicate  had  afforded 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  148 

him  satisfaction.  But  his  uneasiness  was  of  a  kind  which 
he  felt  it  necessary  to  suppress,  and  he  therefore  replied 
with  as  much  composure  as  he  could  assume — 

''  You  will  act,  sir  hauptman,  as  your  sense  of  duty  and 
delicacy  shall  dictate.  For  me,  I  shall  be  silent  on  what 
you  call  the  strange  passages  of  the  night,  rendered  doubly 
wonderful  by  the  report  of  Sigismund  Biederman.^' 

*' And  also  on  what  you  have  seen  and  heard  concerning 
our  auxiliaries  of  Berne  ?  "  said  Eudolph. 

'^  On  that  I  shall  certainly  be  silent,^'  said  Arthur  ;  ^'un- 
less thus  far,  that  I  mean  to  communicate  to  my  father  the 
risk  of  his  baggage  being  liable  to  examination  and  seizure 
at  La  Ferette.'' 

*^  it  is  needless,"  said  Eudolph  ;  *'  I  will  answer  with  head 
and  hand  for  the  safety  of  everything  belonging  to  him." 

'^I  thank  you  in  his  name,"  said  Arthur  ;  "  but  we  are 
peaceful  travelers,  to  whom  it  must  be  much  more  desirable 
to  avoid  a  broil  than  to  give  occasion  for  one,  even  when 
secure  of  coming  out  of  it  triumphantly." 

*'  These  are  the  sentiments  of  a  merchant,  but  not  of  a 
soldier,"  said  Eudolph,  in  a  cold  and  displeased  tone  ;  "  but 
the  matter  is  your  own,  and  you  must  act  in  it  as  you  think 
best.  Only  remember,  if  you  go  to  La  Ferette  without  our 
assistance,  you  hazard  both  goods  and  life." 

They  entered,  as  he  spoke,  the  apartment  of  their  fellow- 
travelers.  The  companions  of  their  patrol  had  already  laid 
themselves  down  amongst  their  sleeping  comrades  at  the 
lower  end  of  the  room.  The  Landamman  and  the  banner- 
man  of  Berne  heard  Donnerhugel  make  a  report  that  his 
patrol,  both  before  and  after  midnight,  had  been  made  in 
safety,  and  without  any  encounter  which  expressed  either 
danger  or  suspicion.  The  Bernese  then  wrapped  him  in  his 
cloak,  and,  lying  down  on  the  straw,  with  that  happy  indif- 
ference to  accommodation,  and  promptitude  to  seize  the 
moment  of  repose,  which  is  acquired  by  a  life  of  vigilance 
and  hardship,  was  in  a  few  minutes  fast  asleep. 

Arthur  remained  on  foot  but  a  little  longer,  to  dart  an 
earnest  look  on  the  door  of  Anne  of  Geierstein's  apartment, 
and  to  reflect  on  the  wonderful  occurrences  of  the  evening. 
But  they  formed  a  chaotic  mystery,  for  which  he  could  see 
no  clue,  and  the  necessity  of  holding  instant  communication 
with  his  father  compelled  him  forcibly  to  turn  his  thoughts 
in  that  direction.  He  was  obliged  to  observe  caution  and 
secrecy  in  accomplishing  his  purpose.  For  this  he  laid  him- 
self down  beside  his  parent,  whose  couch,  with  the  hospi' 


144  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

tality  which  he  had  experienced  from  the  beginning  of  his 
intercourse  with  the  kind-hearted  Swiss,  had  been  arranged 
in  what  was  thought  the  most  convenient  place  of  the  apart- 
ment, and  somewhat  apart  from  all  others.  He  slept  sound, 
but  awoke  at  the  touch  of  his  son,  who  whispered  to  him  in 
English,  for  the  greater  precaution,  that  he  had  important 
tidings  for  his  private  ear. 

'^An  attack  on  our  post? ''said  the  elder  Philipson ; 
"must  we  take  to  our  weapons  ?" 

'^  Not  now,''  said  Arthur  ;  "  and  I  pray  of  you  not  to  rise 
or  make  alarm — this  matter  concerns  us  alone." 

'^  Tell  it  instantly,  my  son,"  replied  his  father  ;  "you 
speak  to  one  too  much  used  to  danger  to  be  startled  at 
it." 

"  It  is  a  case  for  your  wisdom  to  consider,"  said  Arthur. 
"  I  had  information,  while  upon  the  patrol,  that  the  gover- 
nor of  La  Ferette  will  unquestionably  seize  upon  your  bag- 
gage and  merchandise,  under  pretext  of  levying  dues  claimed 
by  the  Duke  of  Burgundy.  1  have  also  been  informed  that 
our  escort  of  Swiss  youth  are  determined  to  resist  this  exac- 
tion, and  conceive  themselves  possessed  of  the  numbers  and 
means  sufficient  to  do  so  successfully." 

"  By  St.  George,  that  must  not  be  ! "  said  the  elder 
Philipson  ;  "  it  would  be  an  evil  requital  to  the  true-hearted 
Landamman  to  give  the  fiery  Duke  a  pretext  for  that  war 
which  the  excellent  old  man  is  so  anxiously  desirous  to  avoid, 
if  it  be  possible.  Any  exactions,  however  unreasonable,  I  will 
gladly  pay.  But  to  have  my  papers  seized  on  were  utter 
ruin.  I  partly  feared  this,  and  it  made  me  unwilling  to  join 
myself  to  the  Landamman's  party.  We  must  now  break  ofl 
from  it.  This  rapacious  governor  will  not  surely  lay  hands 
on  the  deputation,  which  seeks  his  master's  court  under  pro- 
tection of  the  law  of  nations  ;  but  I  can  easily  see  how  he 
might  make  our  presence  with  them  a  pretext  for  quarrel, 
which  will  equally  suit  his  own  avaricious  spirit  and  the 
humor  of  these  fiery  young  men,  who  are  seeking  for  matter 
of  offense.  This  shall  not  be  taken  for  our '  sake.  We  will 
separate  ourselves  from  the  deputies,  and  remain  behind  till 
they  are  passed  on.  If  this  De  Hagenbach  be  not  the  most 
unreasonable  of  men,  I  will  find  a  way  to  content  him  so  far  as 
we  are  individually  concerned.  Meanwhile,  I  will  instantly 
wake  the  Landamman,"  he  said,  "  and  acquaint  him  with 
our  purpose." 

This  was  immediately  done,  for  Philipson  was  not  slow  in 
the  execution  of  his  resolutions.     In  a  minute  he  was  stand- 


ANNE  OF  GEIER STEIN  145 

ing  by  the  side  of  Arnold  Biederman,  who,  raised  on  his 
elbow,  was  listening  to  his  communication,  while  over  the 
shoulder  of  the  Landamman  rose  the  head  and  long  beard 
of  the  deputy  from  Schwytz,  his  large  clear  blue  eyes  gleam- 
ing from  beneath  a  fur  cap,  bent  on  the  Englishman's  face, 
but  stealing  a  glance  aside  now  and  then  to  mark  the  im- 
pression which  what  was  said  made  upon  his  colleague. 

*^^  Good  friend  and  host,'' said  the  elder  Philipson,  ^'^  we 
have  heard  for  a  certainty  that  our  poor  merchandise  will  be 
subjected  to  taxation  or  seizure  on  our  passage  through  La 
Ferette,  and  I  would  gladly  avoid  all  cause  of  quarrel,  for 
your  sake  as  well  as  our  own.'' 

•^  You  do  not  doubt  that  we  can  and  will  protect  you  ?" 
replied  the  Landamman.  "  I  tell  you.  Englishman,  that  the 
guest  of  a  Swiss  is  as  safe  by  his  side  as  an  eaglet  under  the 
wing  of  its  dam  ;  and  to  leave  us  because  danger  approaches 
is  but  a  poor  compliment  to  our  courage  or  constancy.  I 
am  desirous  of  peace  ;  but  not  the  Duke  of  Burgundy  him- 
self should  wrong  a  guest  of  mine,  so  far  as  my  power  might 
prevent  it." 

At  this  the  deputy  from  Schwytz  clenched  a  fist  like  a 
bull's  knuckles,  and  showed  it  above  the  shoulders  of  his 
friend. 

^^  It  is  even  to  avoid  this,  my  worthy  host,"  replied  Philip- 
son,  '^  that  I  intend  to  separate  from  your  friendly  company 
sooner  than  I  desire  or  purposed.  Bethink  you,  my  brave 
and  worthy  host,  you  are  an  ambassador  seeking  a  national 
peace,  I  a  trader  seeking  private  gain.  War,  or  quarrels 
which  may  cause  war,  are  alike  ruinous  to  your  purpose  and 
mine.  I  confess  to  you  frankly  that  I  am  willing  and  able 
to  pay  a  large  ransom,  and  when  you  are  departed  I  will 
negotiate  for  the  amount.  I  will  abide  in  the  town  of  Bale 
till  I  have  made  fair  terms  with  Archibald  de  Hagenbach  ; 
and  even  if  he  is  the  avaricious  extortioner  you  describe  him, 
he  will  be  somewhat  moderate  with  me  rather  than  run  the 
risk  of  losing  his  booty  entirely,  by  my  turning  back  or  tak- 
ing another  route." 

'^^  You  speak  wisely,  sir  Englishman," «said  the  Landam- 
man ;  '^and  I  tjbank  you  for  recalling  my  duty  to  my  re- 
membrance. But  you  must  not,  nevertheless,  be  exposed  to 
danger.  So  soon  as  we  move  forward,  the  country  will  be 
again  open  to  the  devastations  of  the  Burgundian  riders  and 
lanzknechts,  who  will  sweep  the  roads  in  every  direction. 
The  people  of  Bdle  are  unhappily  too  timorous  to  protect 
you  :  they  would  yield  you  up  upon  the  governor's  first  hint ; 


I 


146  WAVEBLET  NOVELS 

and  for  justice  or  lenity,  you  might  as  well  expect  it  in  Hell 
as  from  Hagenbach/' 

*'  There  are  conjurations,  it  is  said,  that  can  make  Hell 
itself  tremble,^^  said  Philipson  ;  *'  and  I  have  means  to  pro- 
pitiate even  this  De  Hagenbach,  providing  I  can  get  to  pri- 
vate speech  with  him.  But  I  own  I  can  expect  nothing 
from  his  wild  riders  but  to  be  put  to  death  for  the  value  of 
my  cloak." 

"  If  that  be  the  case,"  said  the  Landamman,  ''  and  if  you 
must  needs  separate  from  us,  for  which  I  deny  not  that  you 
have  alleged  wise  and  worthy  reasons,  wherefore  should  you 
not  leave  Graffslust  two  hours  before  us  ?  The  roads  will  be 
safe,  as  our  escort  is  expected  ;  and  you  will  probably,  if  you 
travel  early,  find  De  Hagenbach  sober,  and  as  capable  as  he 
ever  is  of  hearing  reason — that  is,  of  perceiving  his  own  in- 
terest. But,  after  his  breakfast  is  washed  down  with  Rhine 
wein,  which  he  drinks  every  morning  before  he  hears  mass, 
his  fury  blinds  even  his  avarice." 

''  All  I  want,  in  order  to  execute  this  scheme,"  said  Philip- 
son,  ''  is  the  loan  of  a  mule  to  carry  my  valise,  which  is 
packed  up  with  your  baggage." 

"  Take  the  she-mule,"  said  the  Landamman ;  '*  she  be- 
longs to  my  brother  here  from  Schwytz  :  he  will  gladly  be- 
stow her  on  thee." 

"  If  she  were  worth  twenty  crowns,  and  my  comrade 
Arnold  desired  me  to  do  so,"  said  the  old  whitebeard. 

''^  I  will  accept  her  as  a  loan  with  gratitude,"  said  the 
Englishman.  ^'  But  how  can  you  dispense  with  the  use  of 
the  creature  ?    You  have  only  one  left." 

'^We  can  easily  supply  our  want  from  B die,"  said  the 
Landamman.  ^ '  Nay,  we  can  make  this  little  delay  serve 
your  purpose,  sir  Englishman.  I  named  for  our  time  of  de- 
parture the  first  hour  after  daybreak  ;  we  well  postpone  it 
to  the  second  hour,  which  will  give  us  enough  of  time  to  get 
a  horse  or  mule,  and  you,  sir  Philipson,  space  to  reach  La 
Ferette,  where  I  trust  you  will  have  achieved  your  business 
with  De  Hagenbach  to  your  contentment,  and  will  join  com- 
pany again  with  us  as  we  travel  through  Burgundy." 

''  If  our  mutual  objects  will  permit  our  traveling  together, 
worthy  Landamman,"  answered  the  merchant,  '^  I  shall  es- 
teem myself  most  happy  in  becoming  the  partner  of  youi 
journey.  And  now  resume  the  repose  which  I  have  inter- 
rupted." 

''  God  bless  you,  wise  and  true-hearted  man,"  said  th« 
Landamman,     rising    and     embracing    the     Englishman. 


ANNE  OF  GEIER8TEIN  147 

'*  Should  we  never  meet  again,  I  will  still  remember  tha 
merchant  who  neglected  thoughts  of  gain  that  he  might 
keep  the  path  of  wisdom  and  rectitude.  I  know  not  an- 
other who  would  not  have  risked  the  shedding  a  lake  of 
blood  to  save  five  ounces  of  gold.  Farewell  thou  too,  gal- 
lant young  man.  Thou  hast  learned  among  us  to  keep  thy 
foot  firm  while  on  the  edge  of  a  Helvetian  crag,  but  none 
can  teach  thee  so  well  as  thy  father  to  keep  an  upright  path 
among  the  morasses  and  precipices  of  human  life.'' 

He  then  embraced  and  took  a  kind  farewell  of  his  friends, 
in  which,  as  usual,  he  was  imitated  by  his  friend  of  Schwytz, 
who  swept  with  his  long  beard  the  right  and  left  cheeks  of 
both  the  Englishmen,  and  again  made  them  heartily  welcome 
to  the  use  of  his  mule.  All  then  once  more  composed  them- 
selves to  rest  for  the  space  which  remained  before  the  ap- 
pearance of  the  autumnal  dawn. 


i 


CHAPTER  XIII 

The  enmity  and  discord,  which  of  late 
Sprung  from  the  rancorous  outrage  of  your  duke 
To  merchants,  our  well-dealing  countrymen, 
Who,  wanting  gilders  to  redeem  their  lives, 
Have  seal'd  his  rigorous  statutes  with  their  blood, 
Excludes  all  pity  from  our  threat'ning  looks. 

Comedy  of  Errors, 

The  dawn  had  scarce  begun  to  touch  the  distant  horizon 
when  Arthur  Philipson  was  on  foot  to  prepare  for  his  father's 
departure  and  his  own,  which,  as  arranged  on  the  preceding 
night,  was  to  take  place  two  hours  before  the  Landamman 
and  his  attendants  proposed  to  leave  the  ruinous  castle  of 
Graffslust.  It  was  no  difficult  matter  for  him  to  separate 
the  neatljr  arranged  packages  which  contained  his  father's 
effects  from  the  clumsy  bundles  in  which  the  baggage  of  the 
Swiss  was  deposited.  The  one  set  of  mails  was  made  up  with 
the  neatness  of  men  accustomed  to  long  and  perilous  jour- 
neys ;  the  other,  with  the  rude  carelessness  of  those  who 
rarely  left  their  luome,  and  who  were  altogether  inexperienced. 

A  servant  of  the  Landamman  assisted  Arthur  in  his  task^ 
and  in  placing  his  father's  baggage  on  the  mule  belonging  to 
the  bearded  deputy  from  Schwytz.  From  this  man  also  he 
received  instructions  concerning  the  road  from  Graffslust  to 
Brisach  (the  chief  citadel  of  La  Ferette),  which  was  too  plain 
and  direct  to  render  it  likely  that  they  should  incur  any  risk 
of  losing  their  way,  as  had  befallen  them  when  traveling  on 
the  Swiss  mountains.  Everything  being  now  prepared  for 
their  departure,  the  young  Englishman  awakened  his  father 
and  acquainted  him  that  all  was  ready.  He  then  retired 
towards  the  chimney,  while  his  father,  according  to  his  daily 
custom,  repeated  the  prayer  of  St.  Julian,  the  patron  of 
travelers,  and  adjusted  his  dress  for  the  journey. 

It  will  not  be  wondered  at  that,  while  the  father  went 
through  his  devotions  and  equipped  himself  for  travel,  Arthur, 
with  his  heart  full  with  what  he  had  seen  of  Anne  of  Geier- 
stein  for  some  time  before,  and  his  brain  dizzy  with  the 
recollection  of  the  incidents  of  the  preceding  night,  should 
have  kept  his  eyes  riveted  on  the  door  of  the  sleeping-apart- 

148 


ANNE  OF  GEIEB STEIN  149 

ment  at  which  he  had  last  seen  that  young  person  disappear ; 
that  iS;,  unless  the  pale  and  seemingly  fantastic  form  which 
had  twice  crossed  him  so  strangely  should  prove  no  wander- 
ing spirit  of  the  elements,  but  the  living  substance  of  the 
person  whose  appearance  it  bore.  So  eager  was  his  curiosity 
on  this  subject,  that  he  strained  his  eyes  to  the  utmost,  as  if 
it  had  been  possible  for  them  to  have  penetrated  through 
wood  and  walls  into  the  chamber  of  the  slumbering  maiden, 
in  order  to  discover  whether  her  eye  or  cheek  bore  any  mark 
that  she  had  last  night  been  a  watcher  or  a  wanderer. 

^'  But  that  was  the  proof  to  which  Rudolph  appealed,'^  he 
said,  internally,  ^'and  Eudolph  alone  will  have  the  oppor- 
tunity of  remarking  the  result.  Who  knows  what  advantage 
my  communication  ftiay  give  him  in  his  suit  with  yonder 
lovely  creature  ?  And  what  must  she  think  of  me,  save  as 
one  light  of  thought  and  loose  of  tongue,  to  whom  nothing 
extraordinary  can  chance  but  he  must  hasten  to  babble  it  into 
the  ears  of  those  who  are  nearest  to  him  at  the  moment  ? 
I  would  my  tongue  had  been  palsied  ere  I  said  a  syllable  to 
yonder  proud,  yet  wily,  prize-fighter  !  I  shall  never  see  her 
more,  that  is  to  be  counted  for  certain.  I  shall  never  know 
the  true  interpretation  of  those  mysteries  which  hang  around 
her.  But  to  think  I  may  have  prated  something  tending  to 
throw  her  into  the  power  of  yonder  ferocious  boor  will  be  a 
subject  of  remorse  to  me  while  I  live.'' 

Here  he  was  startled  out  of  his  reverie  by  the  voice  of  his 
father.  "  Why,  how  now,  boy  ;  art  thou  waking,  Arthur, 
or  sleeping  on  thy  feet  from  the  fatigue  of  last  night's 
service  ?  " 

'•^Not  so,  my  father,''  answered  Arthur,  at  once  recollect- 
ing himself.  *^  Somewhat  drowsy,  perhaps  ;  but  the  fresh 
morning  air  will  soon  put  that  to  flight." 

Walking  with  precaution  through  the  group  of  sleepers 
who  lay  around,  the  elder  Philipson,  when  they  had  gained 
the  door  of  the  apartment,  turned  back,  and,  looking  on  the 
straw  couch  which  the  large  form  of  the  Landamman,  and 
the  silvery  beard  of  his  constant  companion,  touched  by  the 
earliest  beams  of  light,  distinguished  as  that  of  Arnold 
Biederman,  he  muttered  between  his  lips  an  involuntary 
adieu. 

"  Farewell,  mirror  of  ancient  faith  and  integrity— farewell, 
noble  Arnold — farewell,  soul  of  truth  and  candor,  to  whom 
cowardice,  selfishness,  and  falsehood  are  alike  unknown  !  " 

'^  And  farewell,"  thought  his  son,  ''to  the  loveliest  and 
most  candid,  yet  most  mysterious,  of  maidens  ! "    But  the 


150  WAVEELEY  NOVELS 

adieu,  as  may  well  be  believed,  was  not,  like  that  of  his  father, 
expressed  in  words. 

They  were  soon  after  on  the  outside  of  the  gate.  The 
Swiss  domestic  was  liberally  recompensed,  and  charged  with 
a  thousand  kind  words  of  farewell  and  of  remembrance  to 
the  Landamman  from  his  English  guests,  mingled  with 
hopes  and  wishes  that  they  might  soon  meet  again  in  the 
Burgundian  territory.  The  young  man  then  took  the  bridle 
of  the  mule,  and  led  the  animal  forward  on  their  journey  at 
an  easy  pace,  his  father  walking  by  his  side. 

After  a  silence  of  some  minutes,  the  elder  Philipson  ad- 
dressed Arthur.  "  I  fear  me,^'  he  said,  ''  we  shall  see  the 
worth  Landamman  no  more.  The  youths  who  attend  him 
are  bent  upon  taking  offense ;  the  Duke  of  Burgundy  will 
not  fail,  I  fear,  to  give  them  ample  occasion  ;  and  the  peace 
which  the  excellent  man  desires  for  the  land  of  his  fathers 
will  be  shipwrecked  ere  they  reach  the  Duke's  presence ; 
though,  even  were  it  otherwise,  how  the  proudest  prince  in 
Europe  will  brook  the  moody  looks  of  burgesses  and  peas- 
ants— so  will  Charles  of  Burgundy  term  the  friends  we  have 
parted  from — is  a  question  too  easily  answered.  A  war, 
fatal  to  the  interests  of  all  concerned,  save  Louis  of  France, 
will  certainly  take  place ;  and  dreadful  must  be  the  contest 
if  the  ranks  of  the  Burgundian  chivalry  shall  encounter  those 
iron  sons  of  the  mountains,  before  whom  so  many  of  the 
Austrian  nobility  have  been  repeatedly  prostrated." 

'^  I  am  so  much  convinced  of  the  truth  of  what  you  say, 
mj  father, ''  replied  Arthur,  '*  that  I  judge  even  this  day 
will  not  pass  over  without  a  breach  of  truce.  I  have  already 
put  on  my  shirt  of  mail,  in  case  we  should  meet  bad  company 
betwixt  Graffslust  and  Brisach ;  and  I  would  to  Heaven  that 
you  would  observe  the  same  precaution.  It  will  not  delay 
our  journey  ;  and  I  confess  to  you  that  I,  at  least,  will  travel 
with  much  greater  consciousness  of  safety  should  you  do  so." 

^'  I  understand  you,  my  son,"  replied  the  elder  Philipson. 
''  But  I  am  a  peaceful  traveler  in  the  Duke  of  Burgundy's 
territories,  and  must  not  willingly  suppose  that,  while  under 
the  shadow  of  his  banner,  I  must  guard  myself  against 
banditti,  as  if  I  were  in  the  wilds  of  Palestine.  As  for  the 
authority  of  his  officers,  and  the  extent  of  their  exactions, 
I  need  not  tell  you  that  they  are,  in  our  circumstances, 
things  to  be  submitted  to  without  grief  or  grudging." 

Leaving  the  two  travelers  to  journey  towards  Brisach  at 
their  leisure,  I  must  transport  my  readers  to  the  eastern  gate 
of  that  small  town,  which,  situated  on  an  eminence,  had  a 


ANNE  OF  GEIER STEIN  151 

commanding  prospect  on  every  side,  but  especially  towards 
Bale.  It  did  not  properly  make  a  part  of  the  dominions  of 
the  Duke  of  Burgundy,  but  had  been  placed  in  his  hands  in 
pawn,  or  in  pledge,  for  the  repayment  of  a  considerable  sum 
of  money,  due  to  Charles  by  the  Emperor  Sigismund  of 
Austria,  to  whom  the  seigniory  of  the  place  belonged  in  prop- 
erty. But  the  town  lay  so  conveniently  for  distressing  the 
commerce  of  the  Swiss,  and  inflicting  on  that  people,  whom 
he  at  once  hated  and  despised,  similar  marks  of  his  malevo- 
lence, as  to  encourage  a  general  opinion  that  the  Duke  of 
Burgundy,  the  implacable  and  unreasonable  enemy  of  these 
mountaineers,  would  never  listen  to  any  terms  of  redemption, 
however  equitable  or  advantageous,  which  might  have  the 
effect  of  restoring  to  the  Emperor  an  advanced  post  of  such 
consequence  to  the  gratification  of  his  dislike  as  Brisach. 

The  situation  of  the  little  town  was  in  itself  strong,  but 
the  fortifications  which  surrounded  it  were  barely  sufficient 
to  repel  any  sudden  attack,  and  not  adequate  to  resist  for 
any  length  of  time  a  formal  siege.  The  morning  beams  had 
shone  on  the  spire  of  the  church  for  more  than  an  hour, 
when  a  tall,  thin,  elderly  man,  wrapt  in  a  morning  gown, 
over  which  was  buckled  a  broad  belt,  supporting  on  the  left 
side  a  sword,  on  the  right  a  dagger,  approached  the  barbican 
of  the  eastern  gate.  His  bonnet  displayed  a  feather,  which, 
or  the  tail  of  a  fox  in  lieu  of  it,  was  the  emblem  of  gentle 
blood  throughout  all  Germany,  and  a  badge  highly  prized 
by  those  who  had  a  right  to  wear  it. 

The  small  party  of  soldiers  who  had  kept  watch  there  dur- 
ing the  course  of  the  preceding  night,  and  supplied  sentinels 
both  for  ward  and  outlook,  took  arms  on  the  appearance  of 
this  individual,  and  drew  themselves  up  in  the  form  of  a 
guard,  which  receives  with  military  reverence  an  officer  of 
importance.  Archibald  de  Hagenbach^s  countenance,  for  it 
was  the  governor  himself,  expressed  that  settled  peevishness 
and  ill-temper  which  characterize  the  morning  hours  of  a 
valetudinary  debauchee.  His  head  throbbed,  his  pulse  was 
feverish,  and  his  cheek  was  pale — symptoms  of  his  having 
spent  the  last  night,  as  was  his  usual  custom,  amid  wine 
stoups  and  flagons.  Judging  from  the  haste  with  which  his 
soldiers  fell  into  their  ranks,  and  the  awe  and  silence  which 
reigned  among  them  it  appeared  that  they  were  accustomed 
to  expect  and  dread  his  ill-humor  on  such  occasions.  He 
glanced  at  them,  accordingly,  an  inquisitive  and  dissatis- 
fied look,  as  i'f  he  sought  something  on  which  to  vent  his 
peevishness  and  then  asked  for  the  *^  loitering  dog  Kilian/^ 


152  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

Kilian  presently  made  his  appearance — a  stout,  hard- 
favored  man-at-arms,  a  Bavarian  by  birth,  and  by  rank  the 
personal  squire  of  the  governor. 

"What  news  of  the  Swiss  churls,  Kilian?"  demanded 
Archibald  de  Hagenbach.  "  They  should,  by  their  thrifty 
habits,  have  been  on  the  road  two  hours  since.  Have  the 
peasant-clods  presumed  to  ape  the  manners  of  gentlemen, 
and  stuck  by  the  flask  till  cock-crow  ?  " 

"By  my  faith,  it  may  well  be,"  answered  Kilian:  ''the 
burghers  of  Bale  gave  them  full  means  of  carousal." 

"  How,  Kilian  !  They  dared  not  offer  hospitality  to  the 
Swiss  drove  of  bullocks,  after  the  charge  we  sent  them  to 
the  contrary  ?  " 

"  Nay,  the  Bdlese  received  them  not  into  the  town,"  re- 
plied the  squire  ;  ''but  I  learned,  by  sure  espial,  that  they 
afforded  them  means  of  quartering  at  Graffslust,  which  was 
furnished  with  many  a  fair  gammon  and  pasty,  to  speak 
nought  of  flasks  of  Rhine  wine,  barrels  of  beer,  and  stoups 
of  strong  waters." 

"  The  Balese  shall  answer  this,  Kilian,"  said  the  governor. 
"  Do  they  think  I  am  forever  to  be  thrusting  myself  be- 
tween the  Duke  and  his  pleasure  on  their  behalf  ?  The  fat 
porkers  have  presumed  too  much  since  we  accepted  some 
trifling  gifts  at  their  hands,  more  for  gracing  of  them  than 
for  any  advantage  we  could  make  of  their  paltry  donations. 
Was  it  not  the  wine  from  Bdle  which  we  were  obliged  to 
drink  out  in  pint  goblets,  lest  it  should  become  sour  before 
morning  ?  " 

"It  was  drunk  out,  and  in  pint  goblets  too,"  said  Kilian  ; 
^'so  much  I  can  well  remember." 

"Why,  go  to,  then,"  said  the  governor;  "they  shall 
know,  these  beasts  of  Bale,  that  I  hold  myself  no  way  obliged 
by  such  donations  as  these,  and  that  my  remembrance  of 
the  wines  which  I  carouse  rests  no  longer  than  the  headache 
which  the  mixtures  they  drug  me  with  never  fail  of  late 
years  to  leave  behind,  for  the  next  morning's  pastime." 

"  Your  Excellency,"  replied  the  squire,  "  will  make  it, 
then,  a  quarrel  between  the  Duke  of  Burgundy  and  the  city 
of  Bale,  that  they  gave  this  indirect  degree  of  comfort  and 
assistance  to  the  Swiss  deputation  ?  " 

"Ay,  marry  will  I,"  said  De  Hagenbach,  "unless  there  be 
Vv^ise  men  among  them  who  shall  show  me  good  reasons  for 
protecting  them.  Oh,  the  Balese  do  not  know  our  noble 
Duke,  nor  the  gift  he  hath  for  chastising  the  gutter-blooded 
citizens  of  a  free  town.     Thou  canst  tell  them,  Kilian,  as 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  153 

well  as  any  man,  how  lie  dealt  with  the  villains  of  Liege, 
when  they  would  needs  be  pragmatical." 

^'1  will  apprise  them  of  the  matter,"  said  Kilian,  '^when 
opportunity  shall  serve,  and  I  trust  I  shall  find  them  in  a 
temper  disposed  to  cultivate  your  honorable  friendship." 

^'Nay,  if  it  is  the  same  to  them,  it  is  quite  indiiferent  to 
me,  Kilian,"  continued  the  governor  ;  '^  but  methinks  whole 
and  sound  throats  are  worth  some  purchase,  were  it  only  to 
swallow  black  puddings  and  schwarzMer,  to  say  nothing  of 
"Westphalian  hams  and  JS^ierensteiner.  I  say,  a  slashed  throat 
is  a  useless  thing,  Kilian." 

^'  I  will  make  the  fat  citizens  to  understand  their  danger, 
and  the  necessity  of  making  interest, '^  answered  Kilian. 
'^  Sure,  I  am  not  now  to  learn  how  to  turn  the  ball  into  your 
Excellency's  lap." 

"You  speak  well,"  said  Sir  Archibald.  "But  how 
chanced  it  thou  hast  so  little  to  say  to  the  Switzers'  leaguer  ? 
I  should  have  thought  an  old  trooper  like  thee  would  have 
made  their  pinions  flutter  amidst  the  good  cheer  thou  tellest 
me  of." 

"  I  might  as  well  have  annoyed  an  angry  hedgehog  with 
my  bare  finger,"  said  Kilian.  "  I  surveyed  Graffslust  my- 
self :  there  were  sentinels  on  the  castle  walls,  a  sentinel  on 
the  bridge,  besides  a  regular  patrol  of  these  Swiss  fellows 
who  kept  strict  watch.  So  that  there  was  nothing  to  be 
done  ;  otherwise,  knowing  your  Excellency's  ancient  quarrel, 
I  would  have  had  a  hit  at  them,  when  they  should  never 
have  known  who  hurt  them.  I  will  tell  you,  however,  fairly, 
that  these  churls  are  acquiring  better  knowledge  in  the  art 
of  war  than  the  best  ritter  (knight)." 

"  Well,  they  will  be  the  better  worth  the  looking  after 
when  they  arrive,"  said  De  Hagenbach.  "  They  come 
forth  in  state,  doubtless,  with  all  their  finery,  their  wives' 
chains  of  silver,  their  own  medals,  and  rings  of  lead  and 
copper  ?  Ah,  the  base  hinds,  they  are  unworthy  that  a  man 
of  noble  blood  should  ease  them  of  their  trash  ! " 

"  There  is  better  ware  among  them,  if  my  intelligence 
hath  not  deceived  me,"  replied  Kilian :  "  there  are  mer- 
chants  " 

"  Pshaw  !  the  packhorses  of  Berne  and  Soleure."  said  the 
governor,  "  with  their  paltry  lumber,  cloth  too  coarse  to  make 
covers  for  horses  of  any  breeding,  and  linen  that  is  more  like 
haircloth  than  any  composition  of  flax.  I  will  strip  them, 
however,  were  it  but  to  vex  the  knaves.  What !  not  content 
with  claiming  to  be  treated  like  an  independent  people,  and 


154  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

Bending  forth  deputies  and  embassies  forsooth,  they  expect, 
I  warrant,  to  mate  the  indemnities  of  ambassadors  cover  the 
introduction  of  a  cargo  of  their  contraband  commodities,  and 
thus  insult  the  noble  Duke  of  Burgundy  and  cheat  him  at 
the  same  time  ?  But  De  Hagenbach  is  neither  knight  nor 
gentleman  if  he  allow  them  to  pass  unchallenged/^ 

'*^And  they  are  better  worth  being  stopped,"  said  Kilian, 
*^  than  your  Excellency  supposes  ;  for  they  have  English 
merchants  along  with  them,  and  under  their  protec- 
tion/' 

'^  English  merchants  !  '^  exclaimed  De  Hagenbach,  his 
eyes  sparkling  with  joy — '^  English  merchants,  Kilian  ! 
Men  talk  of  Cathay  and  Ind,  where  there  are  mines  of  silver, 
and  gold,  and  diamonds  ;  but,  on  the  faith  of  a  gentleman, 
I  believe  these  brutish  islanders  have  the  caves  of  treasure 
wholly  within  their  own  foggy  land  !  And  then  the  variety 
of  their  rich  merchandise  !  Ha,  Kilian,  is  it  a  long  train  of 
mules — a  jolly  tinkling  team  ?  By  Our  Lady's  glove  !  the 
sound  of  it  is  already  jingling  in  my  ears,  more  musically 
than  all  the  harps  of  all  the  minnesingers  at  Heilbronn  ! " 

*'  Nay,  my  lord,  there  is  no  great  train,''  replied  the  squire  : 
"  only  two  men,  as  I  am  given  to  understand,  with  scarce  so 
much  baggage  as  loads  a  mule ;  but,  it  is  said,  of  infinite 
value — silk  and  samite,  lace  and  furs,  pearls  and  jewelry- 
work,  perfumes  from  the  East,  and  gold-work  from  Venice." 

'*  Eaptures  and  paradise  !  say  not  a  word  more,"  exclaimed 
the  rapacious  knight  of  Hagenbach  ;  '^  they  are  all  our  own, 
Kilian  !  Whw,  these  are  the  very  men  I  have  dreamed  of 
twice  a-week  for  this  month  past — ay,  two  men  of  middle 
stature,  or  somewhat  under  it,  with  smooth,  round,  fair, 
comely  visages,  having  stomachs  as  plump  as  partridges,  and 
purses  as  plump  as  their  stomachs.  Ha,  what  sayst  thou  to 
my  dream,  Kilian  ?" 

''  Only  that,  to  be  quite  soothfast,"  answered  the  squire, 
*'it  should  have  included  the  presence  of  a  score,  or  there- 
abouts, of  sturdy  young  giants  as  ever  climbed  cliff  or  carried 
bolt  to  whistle  at  a  chamois  ;  a  lusty  plump  of  clubs,  bills, 
and  partizans,  such  as  make  shields  crack  like  oaten  cakes 
and  helmets  ring  like  church-bells." 

*'  The  better,  knave — the  better  ! "  exclaimed  the  governor, 
rubbing  his  hands.  *'  English  peddlers  to  plunder  !  Swiss 
bullies  to  beat  into  submission  !  I  wot  well,  we  can  have 
nothing  of  the  Helvetian  swine  save  their  beastly  bristles  : 
it  is  lucky  they  bring  these  two  island  sheep  along  with  them. 
.  But  we  must  get  ready  our  boar-spears,  and  clear  the  clipping' 


ANNE  OF  GEIEB STEIN  156 

pens  for  exercise  of  our  craft.     Here,  Lieutenant  Schon- 

feldt ! " 

An  officer  stepped  forth. 

"How  many  men  are  here  on  duty  ^" 

"  About  sixty /^  replied  the  officer.  *'  Twenty  out  on 
parties  in  different  directions,  and  there  may  be  forty  or  fifty 
m  their  quarters/' 

"  Order  them  all  under  arms  instantly  ;  hark  ye,  not  by 
trumpet  or  bugle,  but  by  warning  them  individually  in  their 
quarters  to  draw  to  arms  as  quietly  as  possible,  and  rendez- 
vous here  at  the  eastern  gate.  Tell  the  villains  there  is 
booty  to  be  gained,  and  they  shall  have  their  share.'' 

'*  On  these  terms,"  said  Schonfeldt,  "they  will  walk  over 
a  spider's  web  without  startling  the  insect  that  wove  it.  I 
will  collect  them  without  loss  of  an  instant." 

"I  tell  thee,  Kilian,"  continued  the  exulting  commandant, 
again  speaking  apart  with  his  confidential  attendant,  "  noth- 
ing could  come  so  luckily  as  the  chance  of  this  onslaught. 
Duke  Charles  desires  to  affront  the  Swiss — not,  look  you,  that 
he  cares  to  act  towards  them,  by  his  own  direct  orders,  in  such 
a  manner  as  might  be  termed  a  breach  of  public  faith  towards 
a  peaceful  embassy  ;  but  the  gallant  follower  who  shall  save 
his  prince  the  scandal  of  such  an  affair,  and  whose  actions 
may  be  termed  a  mistake  or  misapprehension,  shall,  I  warrant 
you,  be  accounted  to  have  done  knightly  service.  Perchance 
a  frown  may  be  passed  upon  him  in  public,  but  in  private 
the  Duke  will  know  how  to  esteem  him.  Why  standest  thou 
so  silent,  man,  and  what  ails  thy  ugly,  ill-looking  aspect  ? 
Thou  art  not  afraid  of  twenty  Switzer  boys,  and  we  at  the 
head  of  such  a  band  of  spears  ?  " 

"  The  Swiss,"  answered  Kilian,  "  will  give  and  take  good 
blows,  yet  I  have  no  fear  of  them.  But  I  like  not  that  we 
should  trust  too  much  to  Duke  Charles.  That  he  would  be, 
in  the  first  instance,  pleased  with  any  dishonor  done  the 
Swiss  is  likely  enough  ;  but  if,  as  your  Excellency  hints,  he 
finds  it  afterwards  convenient  to  disown  the  action,  he  is  a 
prince  likely  to  give  a  lively  color  to  his  disavowal  by  hang- 
ing up  the  actors." 

"  Pshaw  !"  said  the  commandant,  "I  know  where  I  stand. 
Such  a  trick  were  like  enough  to  be  played  by  Louis  of 
Prance,  but  it  is  foreign  to  the  blunt  character  of  our  bold 
one  of  Burgundy.  Why  the  devil  stand'st  thou  still,  man, 
simpering  like  an  ape  at  a  roasted  chestnut,  which  he  thinka 
too  warm  for  his  fingers  ?  " 

"Your  Excellency  is  wise  as  well  as  warlike,"  said  the 


156  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

esquire,  ''and  it  is  not  for  me  to  contest  your  pleasure. 
But  this  peaceful  embassy — these  English  merchants — if 
Charles  goes  to  war  with  Louis,  as  the  rumor  is  current, 
what  he  should  most  of  all  desire  is  the  neutrality  of  Switzer- 
land, and  the  assistance  of  England,  whose  king  is  crossing 
the  sea  with  a  great  army.  Now;  you.  Sir  Archibald  of 
Hagenbach,  may  well  do  that  in  the  course  of  this  very  morn- 
ing which  will  put  the  Confederated  Cantons  in  arms  against 
Charles,  and  turn  the  English  from  allies  into  enemies/' 

''  I  care  not/'  said  the  commandant ;  ^'  I  know  the  Duke's 
humor  well,  and  if  he,  the  master  of  so  many  provinces,  is 
willing  to  risk  them  in  a  self-willed  frolic,  what  is  it  to 
Archibald  de  Hagenbach,  who  has  not  a  foot  of  land  to  lose 
in  the  cause  ?  " 

*'  But  you  have  life,  my  lord,"  said  the  esquire. 

"Ay,  life  !"  replied  the  knight — ''  a  paltry  right  to  exist, 
which  I  have  been  ready  to  stake  every  day  of  my  -life  for 
dollars — ay,  and  for  kreutzers — and  think  you  I  will  hesitate 
to  pledge  it  for  broad-pieces,  jewels  of  the  East,  and  gold- 
smith's work  of  Venice  ?  No,  Kilian ;  these  English  must 
be  eased  of  their  bales,  that  Archibald  de  Hagenbach  may 
drink  a  purer  flask  than  their  thin  Moselle,  and  wear  a 
brocade  doublet  instead  of  greasy  velvet.  Nor  is  it  less 
necessary  that  Kilian  should  have  a  seemly  new  jerkin,  with 
a  purse  of  ducats  to  jingle  at  his  girdle." 

"By  my  faith,"  said  Kilian,  "that  last  argument  hath 
disarmed  my  scruples,  and  I  give  up  the  point,  since  it  il] 
befits  me  to  dispute  with  your  Excellency." 

"  To  the  work,  then,"  said  his  leader.  "  But  stay  ;  we 
must  first  take  the  church  along  with  us.  The  priest  of  St. 
Paul's  hath  been  moody  of  late,  and  spread  abroad  strange 
things  from  the  pulpit,  as  if  we  were  little  better  than 
common  pillagers  and  robbers.  Nay,  he  hath  had  the  in- 
solence to  warn  me,  as  he  termed  it,  twice,  in  strange  form. 
It  were  well  to  break  the  growling  mastiff's  bald  head  ;  but, 
since  that  might  be  ill  taken  by  the  Duke,  the  next  point  of 
wisdom  is  to  fling  him  a  bone." 

"  He  may  be  a  dangerous  enemy,"  said  the  squire,  dubi- 
ously ;  "his  power  is  great  with  the  people." 

"Tush!"  replied  Hagenbach,  "I  know  how  to  disarm 
the  shaveling.  Send  to  him,  and  tell  him  to  come  hither  to 
speak  with  me.  Meanwhile,  have  all  our  force  under  arms  ; 
let  the  barbican  and  barrier  be  well  manned  with  archers ; 
station  spearmen  in  the  houses  on  each  hand  of  the  gateway  ; 
and  let  the  street  be  barricaded  with  carts  well  bound  to< 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  157 

gether,  but  placed  as  if  they  had  been  there  by  accident ; 
place  a  body  of  determined  fellows  in  these  carts,  and  behind 
them.  So  soon  as  the  merchants  and  their  mules  enter,  for 
that  is  the  main  point,  up  with  your  drawbridge,  down  with 
the  portcullis,  send  a  volley  of  arrows  among  those  who  are 
without,  if  they  make  any  scuffle  ;  disarm  and  secure  those 
who  have  entered,  and  are  cooped  up  between  the  barricade 
before  and  the  ambush  behind  and  around  them.  And 
then,  Kilian " 

"  And  then,^^  said  his  esquire,  "  shall  we,  like  merry  Free 
Companions,  be  knuckle-deep  in  the  English  budgets " 

*'  And,  like  jovial  hunters,"  replied  the  knight,  "  elbow- 
deep  in  Swiss  blood.  ^* 

^'  The  game  will  stand  at  bay  though,"  answered  Kilian. 
'^  They  are  led  by  that  Donnerhugel  whom  we  have  heard 
of,  whom  they  call  the  Young  Bear  of  Berne.  They  will 
turn  to  their  defense." 

"  The  better,  man  ;  wouldst  thou  kill  sheep  rather  than 
hunt  wolves  ?  Besides,  our  toils  are  set,  and  the  whole 
garrison  shall  assist.  Shame  on  thee,  Kilian,  thou  wert  not 
wont  to  have  so  many  scruples  ! " 

'^  Nor  have  I  now,"  said  Kilian.  '^  But  these  Swiss  bills, 
and  two-handed  swords  of  the  breadth  of  four  inches,  are  no 
child^s  play.  And  then,  if  you  call  all  our  garrison  to  the 
attack,  to  whom  will  your  Excellency  entrust  the  defense  of 
the  other  gates  and  the  circuit  of  the  walls  ?  " 

'^  Lock,  bolt,  and  chain  up  the  gates,"  replied  the  governor, 
"  and  bring  the  keys  hither.  There  shall  no  one  leave  the 
place  till  this  affair  is  over.  Let  some  score  of  the  citizens 
take  arms  for  the  duty  of  guarding  the  walls ;  and  look  they 
discharge  it  well,  or  I  will  lay  a  fine  on  them  which  they 
shall  discharge  to  purpose." 

^'  They  will  grumble,"  said  Kilian.  '^  They  say  that,  not 
being  the  Duke's  subjects,  though  the  place  is  impledged  to 
his  Grace,  they  are  not  liable  to  military  service." 

'*  They  lie  !  the  cowardly  slaves,"  answered  De  Hagenbach. 
''  If  I  have  not  employed  them  much  hitherto,  it  is  because 
I  scorn  their  assistance ;  nor  would  I  now  use  their  help, 
were  it  for  anything  save  to  keep  a  watch,  by  looking  out 
straight  before  them.  Let  them  obey,  as  they  respect  their 
property,  persons,  and  families." 

A  deep  voice  behind  them  repeated  the  emphatic  language 
of  Scripture — "  I  have  seen  the  wicked  man  flourish  in  his 
power  even  like  unto  a  laurel,  but  I  returned  and  he  was  not 
—yea,  I  sought  him,  but  he  was  not  to  be  found." 


158  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

Sir  Archibald  de  Hagenbach  turned  sternly,  and  encoun* 
tared  the  dark  and  ominous  looks  of  the  priest  of  St.  Paul's, 
dressed  in  the  vestments  of  his  order. 

''  We  are  busy,  father,"  said  the  governor,  ''and  will  hear 
yonr  preachments  another  time.'' 

*'  I  come  by  your  summons,  sir  governor,"  said  the  priest, 
"  or  I  had  not  intruded  myself  where  I  well  knew  my 
preachments,  if  you  term  them  so,  will  do  no  good." 

"  0,  I  crave  your  mercy,  reverend  father,"  said  De  Hagen- 
bach. "  Yes,  it  is  true  that  I  did  send  for  you,  to  desire 
your  prayers  and  kind  intercession  with  Our  Lady  and  St. 
Paul  in  some  transactions  which  are  likely  to  occur  this 
morning,  and  in  which,  as  the  Lombard  says,  I  do  espy 
roha  di  guadagno." 

''  Sir  Archibald,"  answered  the  priest,  calmly,  ''  I  will 
hope  and  trust  that  you  do  not  forget  the  nature  of  the 
glorified  saints  so  far  as  to  ask  them  for  their  blessing  upon 
such  exploits  as  3^ou  have  been  too  oft  engaged  in  since  your 
arrival  amongst  us — an  event  which  of  itself  gave  token  of 
the  Divine  anger.  Nay,  let  me  say,  humble  as  I  am,  that 
decency  to  a  servant  of  the  altar  should  check  you  from 
proposing  to  me  to  put  up  prayers  for  the  success  of  pillage 
and  robbery." 

''  I  understand  you,  father,"  said  the  rapacious  governor, 
*'  and  you  shall  see  I  do.  While  you  are  the  Duke's  subject, 
you  must  by  your  office  put  up  your  prayers  for  his  success 
m  matters  that  are  fairly  managed.  You  acknowledge  this 
with  a  graceful  bend  of  your  reverend  head  ?  Well  then,  1 
will  be  as  reasonable  as  you  are.  Say  we  desire  the  interces- 
sion of  the  good  saints,  and  of  you,  their  pious  orator,  in 
something  a  little  out  of  the  ordinary  path,  and,  if  you  will, 
somewhat  of  a  doubtful  complexion — are  we  entitled  to  ask 
you  or  them  for  their  pains  and  trouble  without  a  just  con- 
sideration ?  Surely  no.  Therefore  I  vow  and  solemnly 
promise  that,  if  I  have  good  fortune  in  this  morning's 
adventure,  St.  Paul  shall  have  an  altar-cloth  and  a  basin  of 
silver,  large  or  little,  as  my  booty  will  permit ;  Oiir  Lady  a 
web  of  satin  for  a  full  suit,  with  a  necklace  of  pearl  for 
holidays ;  and  thou,  priest,  some  twenty  pieces  of  broad 
English  gold,  for  acting  as  go-between  betwixt  ourselves  and 
the  blessed  Apostles,  whom  we  acknowledge  ourselves  un- 
worthy to  negotiate  with  in  our  profane  person.  And  now, 
sir  priest,  do  we  understand  each  other,  for  I  have  little 
time  to  lose  ?  I  know  you  have  hard  thoughts  of  me,  but 
you  see  the  devil  is  not  quite  so  horrible  as  he  is  painted." 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  16J 

''Do  we  understand  each  other?"  answered  the  black 
priest  of  St.  Paul's,  repeating  the  governor's  question. 
"  Alas,  no  !  and  I  fear  me  we  never  shall.  Hast  thou  never 
heard  the  words  spoken  by  the  holy  hermit,  Berchtold  of 
Off  ringen,  to  the  implacable  Queen  Agnes,  who  had  revenged 
with  such  dreadful  severity  the  assassination  of  her  father, 
the  Emperor  Albert  ?" 

''  Not  I/'  returned  the  knight ;  "  I  have  neither  studied 
the  chronicles  of  emperors  nor  the  legends  of  hermits  ;  and, 
therefore,  sir  priest,  an  you  like  not  my  proposal,  let  us 
have  no  farther  words  on  the  matter.  I  am  unwont  to 
press  my  favors,  or  to  deal  with  priests  who  require  entreaty 
when  gifts  are  held  out  to  them." 

^^  Hear  yet  the  words  of  the  holy  man,"  said  the  priest. 
''  The  time  may  come,  and  that  shortly,  when  you  would 
gladly  desire  to  hear  what  you  scornfully  reject." 

*'  Speak  on,  but  be  brief,"  said  Archibald  de  Hagenbach  } 
''  and  know,  though  thou  mayst  terrify  or  cajole  the  multi- 
tude, thou  now  speakest  to  one  whose  resolution  is  fixed  far 
beyond  the  power  of  thy  eloquence  to  melt." 

"  Know,  then,"  said  the  priest  of  St.  Paul's,  *'  that 
Agnes,  daughter  of  the  murdered  Albert,  after  shedding 
oceans  of  blood  in  avenging  his  bloody  death,  founded  at 
length  the  rich  abbey  of  Koenigsfeldt  ;  and,  that  it  might 
have  a  superior  claim  to  renowned  sanctity,  made  a  pil- 
grimage in  person  to  the  cell  of  the  holy  hermit,  and  besought 
of  him  to  honor  her  abbey  by  taking  up  his  residence  there. 
But  what  was  his  reply  ?  Mark  it  and  tremble.  *  Begone, 
ruthless  woman,'  said  the  holy  man  ;  ^  God  will  not  be 
served  with  blood-guiltiness,  and  rejects  the  gifts  which  are  ob- 
tained by  violence  and  robbery.  The  Almighty  loves  mercy, 
justice,  and  humanity,  and  by  the  lovers  of  these  only  will 
He  be  worshiped.'  And  now,  Archibald  of  Hagenbach, 
once,  twice,  thrice  hast  thou  had  warning.  Live  as  becomes 
a  man  on  whom  sentence  is  passed,  and  who  must  expect 
execution." 

Having  spoken  these  words  with  a  menacing  tone  and 
frowning  aspect,  the  priest  of  St.  Paul's  turned  away  from 
the  governor,  whose  first  impulse  was  to  command  him  to  be 
arrested.  But,  when  he  recollected  the  serious  consequences 
which  attached  to  the  laying  violent  hands  on  a  priest,  he 
suffered  him  to  depart  in  peace,  conscious  that  his  own  un- 
popularity might  render  any  attempt  to  revenge  himself  an 
act  of  great  rashness.  He  called,  therefore,  for  a  beaker  of. 
Burgundy,  in  which  he  swallowed  down  his  displeasure,  an<C 


160  WA VEELET  NOVELS 

had  jnst  returned  to  Kilian  the  cup,  which  he  had  drained 
to  the  bottom,  when  the  warden  winded  a  blast  from  the 
watch  tower,  which  betokened  the  arrival  of  strangers  at  the 
gate  of  the  city. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

I  will  resist  such  entertainment,  till 
My  enemy  has  more  power. 

The  Tempest 

**  That  blast  was  but  feebly  blown/^  said  De  Hagenbach, 
ascending  to  the  ramparts,  from  which  he  could  see  what 
passed  on  the  outside  of  the  gate.  "Who  approaches, 
Kilian  ?" 

The  trusty  squire  was  hastening  to  meet  him  with  the 
news. 

''  Two  men  with  a  mule,  an  it  please  your  Excellency  ;  and 
merchants,  I  presume  them  to  be." 

"Merchants  !  'Sdeath,  villain  !  peddlers  you  mean.  Heard 
ever  man  of  English  merchants  tramping  it  on  foot,  with  no 
more  baggage  than  one  mule  can  manage  to  carry  ?  They 
must  be  beggarly  Bohemians,  or  those  whom  the  French 
people  call  Ecossais.  The  knaves  !  they  shall  pay  with  the 
pining  of  their  paunches  for  the  poverty  of  their  purses. ■" 

"  Do  not  be  too  hasty,  an't  please  your  Excellency,"  quoth 
the  squire  :  "'  small  budgets  hold  rich  goods.  But  rich  or 
poor,  they  are  our  men,  at  least  they  have  all  the  marks  : 
the  elder,  well-sized  and  dark-visaged,  may  write  fifty-and- 
five  years,  a  beard  somewhat  grizzled  ;  the  younger,  some 
two-and-twenty,  taller  than  the  first,  and  a  well-favored  lad, 
with  a  smooth  chin  and  light-brown  mustachios." 

"  Let  them  be  admitted,"  said  the  governor,  turning  back 
in  order  again  to  descend  to  the  street,  "and  bring  them 
Into  the  foUerkammer  of  the  toll-house." 

So  saying,  he  betook  himself  to  the  place  appointed,  which 
was  an  apartment  in  the  large  tower  that  protected  the 
eastern  gateway,  in  which  were  deposited  the  rack,  with 
various  other  instruments  of  torture,  which  the  cruel  and 
rapacious  governor  was  in  the  habit  of  applying  to  such 
prisoners  from  whom  he  was  desirous  of  extorting  either 
booty  or  information.  He  entered  the  apartment,  which 
was  dimly  lighted,  and  had  a  lofty  Gothic  roof  which  could 
be  but  imperfectly  seen,  while  nooses  and  cords  hanging 
down  from  thence  announced  a  fearful  connection  with 

16X 


162  WA VEBLEY  NOVELS 

various  implements  of  rusted  iron  that  hung  round  the  walls 
or  lay  scattered  on  the  floor. 

A  faint  stream  of  light  through  one  of  the  numerous  and 
narrow  slits,  or  shot-holes,  with  which  the  walls  were  gar- 
nished, fell  directly  upon  the  person  and  visage  of  a  iiall, 
swarthy  man,  seated  in  what,  hut  for  the  partial  illumina- 
tion, would  have  been  an  obscure  corner  of  this  evil-boding 
apartment.  His  features  were  regular,  and  even  handsome,  • 
but  of  a  character  peculiarly  stern  and  sinister.  This  per* 
son's  dress  was  a  cloak  of  scarlet  ;  his  head  was  bare,  and 
surrounded  by  shaggy  locks  of  black,  which  time  had  partly 
grizzled.  He  was  busily  employed  in  furbishing  and  bur- 
nishing a  broad  two-handed  sword,  of  a  peculiar  shape,  and 
considerably  shorter  than  the  weapons  of  that  kind  which 
we  have  described  as  used  by  the  Swiss.  He  was  so  deeply 
engaged  in  his  task,  that  he  started  as  the  heavy  door  opened 
with  a  jarring  noise,  and  the  sword,  escaping  from  his  hold, 
rolled  on  the  stone  floor  with  a  heavy  clash. 

*'  Ha  !  scharfgerichtery"  said  the  knight,  as  he  entered 
the  foUerkammer,  "  thou  art  preparing  for  thy  duty  ?" 

"  It  would  ill  become  your  Excellency's  servant,"  answered 
the  man,  in  a  harsh,  deep  tone,  'Ho  be  found  idle.  But  the 
prisoner  is  not  far  off,  as  I  can  judge  by  the  fall  of  my  sword, 
which  infallibly  announces  the  presence  of  him  who  shall 
feel  its  edge."*' 

*' The  prisoners  are  at  hand,  Francis,''  replied  the  gov- 
ernor ;  ''but  thy  omen  has  deceived  thee  for  once.  They 
are  fellows  for  whom  a  good  rope  will  sufiice,  and  thy  sword 
drinks  only  noble  blood." 

"  The  worse  for  Francis  Steinernherz,"  replied  the  official 
in  scarlet :  "  I  trusted  that  your  Excellency,  who  have  ever 
been  a  bountiful  patron,  should  this  day  have  made  me 
noble. '» 

"Noble!"  said  the  governor;  "thou  art  mad.  Thou 
noble — the  common  executioner  !  '* 

"  And  wherefore  not.  Sir  Archibald  de  Hagenbach  ?  I 
think  the  name  of  Francis  Steinernherz  von  Blutacker  will 
suit  nobility,  being  fairly  and  legally  won,  as  well  as  another. 
Nay,  do  not  stare  on  me  thus.  If  one  of  my  prof ession  shall 
do  his  grim  office  on  nine  men  of  noble  birth,  with  the  same 
weapon,  and  with  a  single  blow  to  each  patient,  hath  he  not 
a  right  to  his  freedom  from  taxes,  and  his  nobility  by 
patent  ?  " 

"  So  says  the  law,"  said  Sir  Archibald,  after  reflecting  for 
a  moment ;  "  but  rather  more  in  scorn  than  seriously,  I 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  163 

should  judge,  since  no  one  was  ever  known  to  claim  the 
benefit  of  it." 

**  The  prouder  boast  for  him/'  said  the  functionary,  ''  that 
shall  be  the  first  to  demand  the  honors  due  to  a  sharp  sword 
and  a  clean  stroke.  I,  Francis  Steinernherz,  will  be  the  first 
noble  of  my  profession,  when  I  shall  have  despatched  one 
more  knight  of  the  Empire/* 

"  Thou  hast  been  ever  in  my  service,  hast  thou  not  ?  "  de- 
manded De  Hagenbach. 

*' Under  what  other  master,'*  replied  the  executioner, 
** could  I  have  enjoyed  sueh  constant  practice?  I  have 
executed  your  decrees  on  condemned  sinners  since  I  could 
swing  a  scourge,  lift  a  crowbar,  or  wield  this  trusty  weapon  ; 
and  who  can  say  I  ever  failed  of  my  first  blow,  or  needed  to 
deal  a  second  ?  Tristrem  of  the  Hospital,  and  his  famous 
assistants.  Petit  Andr6  and  Trois-Eschelles,  *  are  novices 
compared  with  me  in  the  use  of  the  noble  and  knightly 
sword.  Marry,  I  should  be  ashamed  to  match  myself  with 
them  in  the  field  practice  with  bowstring  and  dagger  ;  these 
are  no  feats  worthy  of  a  Christian  man  who  would  rise  to 
honor  and  nobility/' 

"  Thou  art  a  fellow  of  excellent  address,  and  I  do  not  deny 
it,**  replied  De  Hagenbach.  '^  But  it  cannot  be — I  trust  it 
cannot  be — that,  when  noble  blood  is  becoming  scarce  in 
the  land,  and  proud  churls  are  lording  it  over  knights  and 
barons,  I  myself  should  have  caused  so  much  to  be  spilled  ?  " 

"  I  will  number  the  patients  to  your  Excellency  by  name 
and  title,'*  said  Francis,  drawing  out  a  scroll  of  parchment, 
and  reading  with  a  commentary  as  he  went  on.  "  There 
was  Count  William  of  Elvershoe ;  he  was  my  assay-piece,  a 
sweet  youth,  and  died  most  like  a  Christian.'* 

*^I  remember;  he  was  indeed  a  most  smart  j^outh,  and 
courted  my  mistress,'*  said  Sir  Archibald. 

''  He  died  on  St.  Jude's,  in  the  year  of  grace  1455/'  said 
the  executioner. 

^'  Go  on,  but  name  no  dates,**  said  the  governor. 

'^  Sir  Miles  of  Stockenborg " 

*'  He  drove  off  my  cattle,"  observed  his  Excellency. 

"  Sir  Louis  of  Kiesenfeldt "  continued  the  executioner. 

''  He  made  love  to  my  wife,"  commented  the  governor. 

*'  The  three  Jungherrn  of  Lammerborg  ;  you  made  their 
father,  the  count,  childless  in  one  day." 

*  Three  well-known  characters  who  figure  in  Quentin  Durward 
{Laing), 


164  WAVEBLET  NOVELS 

"And  lie  made  me  landless/'  said  Sir  Archibald^  '^  so  that 
account  is  settled.  Thou  needest  read  no  farther/'  he  con- 
tinued, "  I  admit  thy  record,  though  it  is  written  in  letters 
somewhat  of  the  reddest.  I  had  counted  these  three  young 
gentlemen  as  one  executiono"" 

"  You  did  me  the  greater  wrong/'  said  Francis  :  "  they 
cost  three  good  separate  blows  of  this  good  sword." 

"Be  it  so,  and  God  be  with  their  souls/'  said  Hagenbachc 
"  But  thy  ambition  must  go  to  sleep  for  a  while,  scharfge- 
richter,  for  the  stuff  that  came  hither  to-day  is  for  dungeon 
and  cord,  or  perhaps  a  touch  of  the  rack "  or  strappado  : 
there  is  no  honor  to. win  on  them." 

"  The  worse  luck  mine,"  said  the  executioner.  "  I  had 
dreamed  so  surely  that  your  honor  had  made  me  noble — and 
then  the  fall  of  my  sword  ?  " 

"  Take  a  bowl  of  wine,  and  forget  your  auguries." 

"With  your  honor's  permission,  no,"  said  the  execu- 
tioner :  "  to  drink  before  noon  were  to  endanger  the  nicety 
of  my  hand." 

"  Be  silent,  then,  and  mind  your  duty,^'  said  De  Hagen- 
bach. 

Francis  took  up  his  sheathless  sword,  wiped  the  dust  rev- 
erently from  it,  and  withdrew  into  a  corner  of  the  chamber, 
where  he  stood  leaning  with  his  hands  on  the  pommel  of  the 
fatal  weapon. 

Almost  immediately  afterwards,  Kilian  entered  at  the  head 
of  five  or  six  soldiers,  conducting  the  two  Philipsons,  whose 
arms  were  tied  down  with  cords. 

"  Approach  me  a  chair,"  said  the  governor,  and  took  his 
place  gravely  beside  a  table,  on  which  stood  writing-mate- 
rials. '*  Who  are  these  men,  Kilian,  and  wherefore  are  they 
bound  ?  " 

''  So  please  your  Excellency,"  said  Kilian,  with  a  deep 
respect  of  manner  which  entirely  differed  from  the  tone, 
approaching  to  familiarity,  with  which  he  communicated 
with  his  master  in  private,  "  we  thought  it  well  that  these 
two  strangers  should  not  appear  armed  in  your  gracious 
presence  ;  and  when  we  required  of  them  to  surrender  their 
weapons  at  the  gate,  as  is  the  custom  of  the  garrison,  this 
young  gallant  must  needs  offer  resistance.  I  admit  he  gave 
up  his  weapon  at  his  father's  command." 

"  It  is  false  !"  exclaimed  young  Philipson  ;  but  his  father 
making  a  sign  to  him  to  be  silent,  he  obeyed  instantly. 

"  Noble  sir,"  said  the  elder  Philipson,  "we  are  strangers, 
and  unacquainted  with    the  rules  of  this  citadel ;  we  are 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  165 

Englishmen,  and  unaccustomed  to  submit  to  personal  mis- 
handling ;  we  trust  you  will  have  excuse  for  us,  when  we 
found  ourselves,  without  any  explanation  of  the  cause, 
rudely  seized  on  "by  we  knew  not  whom.  My  son,  who  is 
young  and  unthinking,  did  partly  draw  his  weapon,  but  de- 
sisted at  my  command,  without  having  altogether  unsheathed 
his  sword,  far  less  made  a  blow.  For  myself,  I  am  a  merch- 
ant, accustomed  to  submit  to  the  laws  and  customs  of  the 
countries  in  which  I  traffic ;  I  am  in  the  territories  of  the 
Duke  of  Burgundy,  and  I  know  his  laws  and  customs  must 
be  just  and  equitable.  He  is  the  powerful  and  faithful  ally 
of  England,  and  I  fear  nothing  while  under  his  banner. ^^ 

"  Hem — hem  ! ''  replied  De  Hagenbach,  a  little  discon- 
certed by  the  Englishman's  composure,  and  perhaps  recol- 
lecting that,  unless  his  passions  were  awakened,  as  in  the 
case  of  the  Swiss,  whom  he  detested,  Charles  of  Burgundy 
deserved  the  character  of  a  just  though  severe  prince. 
^'  Fair  words  are  well,  but  hardly  make  amends  for  foul  ac- 
tions. You  have  drawn  swords  in  riot  and  opposition  to 
the  Duke's  soldiers,  when  obeying  the  mandates  which  regu- 
late their  watch.^' 

"  Surely,  sir,^^  answered  Philipson,  '^  this  is  a  severe  con- 
struction of  a  most  natural  action.  But,  in  a  word,  if  you 
are  disposed  to  be  rigorous,  the  simple  action  of  drawing,  or 
attempting  to  draw,  a  sword  in  a  garrison  town  is  only  pun- 
ishable by  pecuniary  fine,  and  such  we  must  pay,  if  it  be 
your  will.'' 

'^  Now,  here  is  a  silly  sheep,"  said  Kilian  to  the  execu- 
tioner, beside  whom  he  had  stationed  himself,  somewhat 
apart  from  the  group,  **  who  voluntarily  offers  his  own  fleece 
to  the  clipper." 

"  It  will  scarcely  serve  as  a  ransom  for  his  throat,  sir 
squire,"  answered  Francis  Steinernherz  ;  ^'  for,  look  you,  I 
dreamed  last  night  that  our  master  made  me  noble,  and  I 
knew  by  the  fall  of  my  sword  that  this  is  the  man  by  whom 
I  am  to  mount  to  gentility.  I  must  this  very  day  deal  on 
him  with  my  good  sword." 

^'  Why,  thou  ambitious  fool,"  said  the  esquire,  ''  this  is  no 
noble,  but  an  island  peddler — a  mere  English  citizen." 

"Thou  art  deceived,"  said  the  executioner,  "and  hast 
never  looked  on  men  when  they  are  about  to  die." 

"  Have  I  not  ?"  said  the  squire.  "  Have  I  not  looked  on 
five  pitched  fields,  besides  skirmishes  and  ambuscades  in- 
numerable ?  '* 

**  That  tries  not  the  courage,"  said  the  scharfgericJiter, 


166  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

"  All  men  will  fight  when  pitched  against  each  other.  So 
will  the  most  paltry  curs,  so  will  the  dunghill  fowls.  But 
he  is  brave  and  noble  who  can  look  on  a  scaffold  and  a 
block,  a  priest  to  give  him  absolution,  and  the  headsman 
and  good  sword  which  is  to  mow  him  down  in  his  strength, 
as  he  would  look  upon  things  indifferent ;  and  such  a  man 
is  that  whom  we  now  behold.^' 

"  Yes,^'  answered  Kilian,  ''  but  that  man  looks  not  on  such 
an  apparatus  :  he  only  sees  our  illustrious  patron.  Sir  Archi- 
bald de  Hagenbach.'' 

**  And  he  who  looks  upon  Sir  Archibald,'^  said  the  execu- 
tioner,  ''  being,  as  yonder  man  assuredly  is,  a  person  of  sense 
and  apprehension,  looks  he  not  upon  sword  and  headsman  ? 
Assuredly  that  prisoner  apprehends  as  much,  and  being  so 
composed  as  he  is  under  such  conviction,  it  shows  him  to  be 
a  nobleman  by  blood,  or  may  I  myself  never  win  nobility  ! '' 

"  Our  master  will  come  to  compromise  with  him,  I  judge,'' 
replied  Kilian  ;  '^he  looks  smilingly  on  him.'* 

''  Never  trust  to  me  then,"  said  the  man  in  scarlet ;  '^  there 
is  a  glance  in  Sir  Archibald's  eye  which  betokens  blood,  as 
surely  as  the  dog-star  bodes  pestilence." 

While  these  dependants  of  Sir  Archibald  de  Hagenbach 
were  thus  conversing  apart,  their  master  had  engaged  the 
prisoners  in  a  loug  train  of  captious  interrogatories  concern- 
ing their  business  in  Switzerland,  their  connection  with  the 
Landamman,  and  the  cause  of  their  traveling  into  Burgundy, 
to  all  which  the  senior  Philipson  gave  direct  and  plain  answers, 
excepting  to  the  last.  He  was  going,  he  said,  into  Burgundy, 
for  the  purpose  of  his  traffic  ;  his  wares  were  at  the  disposal 
of  the  governor,  who  might  detain  all,  or  any  part,  of  them, 
as  he  might  be  disposed  to  make  himself  answerable  to  his 
master.  But  his  business  with  the  Duke  was  of  a  private 
nature,  respecting  some  particular  matters  of  commerce,  in 
which  others  as  well  as  he  himself  were  interested.  To  the 
Duke  alone,  he  declared,  would  he  communicate  the  affair  ; 
and  he  pressed  it  strongly  on  the  governor,  that,  if  he  should 
sustain  any  damage  in  his  own  person  or  that  of  his  son,  the 
Duke's  severe  displeasure  would  be  the  inevitable  conse- 
quence. 

De  Hagenbach  was  evidently  much  embarrassed  by  the 
steady  tone  of  his  prisoner,  and  more  than  once  held  counsel 
with  the  bottle,  his  never-failing  oracle  in  cases  of  extreme 
difficulty.  Philipson  had  readily  surrendered  to  the  governor 
a  list  or  invoice  of  his  merchandise,  which  was  of  so  inviting 
a  character,  that  Sir  Archibald  absolutely  gloated  over  it. 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  167 

After  remaining  in  deep  meditation  for  some  time,  he  raised 
his  head  and  spoke  thus  : — 

^'  You  must  be  well  aware,  sir  merchant,  that  it  is  the 
Duke's  pleasure  that  no  Swiss  merchandise  shall  pass  through 
his  territories ;  and  that,  nevertheless,  you  having  been,  by 
your  own  account,  some  time  in  that  country,  and  having 
also  accompanied  a  body  of  men  calling  themselves  Swiss  dep- 
uties, I  am  authorized  to  believe  that  these  valuable  articles 
are  rather  the  property  of  those  persons  than  of  a  single  in- 
dividual of  so  poor  an  appearance  as  yourself,  and  that, 
should  I  demand  pecuniary  satisfaction,  three  hundred  pieces 
of  gold  would  not  be  an  extravagant  fine  for  so  bold  a  prac- 
tice ;  and  you  might  wander  where  you  will  with  the  rest  of 
your  wares,  so  you  bring  them  not  into  Burgundy." 

^'  But  it  is  to  Burgundy,  and  to  the  Duke's  presence,  that 
I  am  expressly  bound,''  said  the  Englishman.  *'  If  I  go  not 
thither  my  journey  is  wrecked,  and  the  Duke's  displeasure 
is  certain  to  light  on  those  who  may  molest  me.  For  I  make 
your  Excellency  aware,  that  your  gracious  prince  already 
knows  of  my  journey,  and  will  make  strict  inquiry  where 
and  by  whom  I  have  been  intercepted." 

Again  the  governor  was  silent,  endeavoring  to  decide  how 
he  might  best  reconcile  the  gratification  of  his  rapacity  with 
precaution  for  his  safety.  After  a  few  minutes'  considera- 
tion, he  again  addressed  his  prisoner. 

''  Thou  art  very  positive  in  thy  tale,  my  good  friend  ;  but 
my  orders  are  equally  so  to  exclude  merchandise  coming 
from  Switzerland.  What  if  I  put  thy  mule  and  baggage 
under  arrest  ?" 

'^  I  cannot  withstand  your  power,  my  lord,  to  do  what  you 
will.  I  will  in  that  case  go  to  the  Duke's  footstool  and  do 
my  errand  there." 

'*^Ay,  and  my  errand  also,"  answered  the  governor. 
"  That  is,  thou  wilt  carry  thy  complaint  to  the  Duke  against 
the  governor  of  La  Eerette,  for  executing  his  orders  too 
strictly?" 

^'  On  my  life  and  honest  word,"  answered  the  Englishman, 
*'  I  will  make  no  complaint.  Leave  me  but  my  ready  money, 
without  which  I  can  hardly  travel  to  the  Duke's  court,  and 
I  will  look  no  more  after  these  goods  and  wares  than  the  stag 
looks  after  the  antlers  which  he  shed  last  year." 

Again  the  governor  of  La  Eerette  looked  doubtful,  and 
shook  his  head. 

*' Men  in  such  a  case  as  yours,"  he  said,  '^  cannot  be 
trusted,  nor,  to  say  truth,  is  it  reasonable  to  expect  they 


168  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

should  be  trustworthy.  These  same  wares,  designed  for  the 
Duke^s  private  hand,  in  what  do  they  consist  ?'' 

'^  They  are  under  seal/'  replied  the  Englishman. 

'^They  are  of  rare  value,  doubtless  ?"  continued  the  gov- 
ernor. 

''  I  cannot  tell,  "  answered  the  elder  Philipson  ;  ^^  I  know 
the  Duke  sets  great  store  by  them.  But  your  Excellency 
knows  that  great  princes  sometimes  place  a  high  value  on 
■trifles." 

"  Bear  you  them  about  you  ?"  said  the  governor.  '^  Take 
heed  -how  you  answer.  Look  around  you  on  these  engines, 
which  can  bring  a  dumb  man  to  speak,  and  consider  I  have 
the  power  to  employ  them  ! '' 

*'And  I  the  courage  to  support  their  worst  infliction," 
answered  Philipson,  with  the  same  impenetrable  coolness 
which  he  had  maintained  throughout  the  whole  confer- 
ence. 

"  Eemember  also,"  said  Hagenbach,  "  that  I  can  have 
your  person  searched  as  thoroughly  as  your  mails  and 
budgets." 

^'  1  do  remember  that  I  am  wholly  in  thy  power ;  and 
that  I  may  leave  thee  no  excuse  for  employing  force  on  a 
peaceful  traveler,  I  will  own  to  you,"  said  Philipson,  ^'  that 
I  have  the  Duke's  packet  in  the  bosom  of  my  doublet." 

"  Bring  it  forth,"  answered  the  governor. 

''  My  hands  are  tied,  both  in  honor  and  literally,"  said 
the  Englishman. 

^'  Pluck  it  from  his  bosom,  Kilian,"  said  Sir  Archibald  ; 
*'  let  us  see  this  gear  he  talks  of." 

'^  Could  resistance  avail,"  r-eplied  the  stout  merchant, 
*'  you  should  pluck  forth  my  heart  first.  But  I  pray  all  who 
are  present  to  observe  that  the  seals  are  every  one  whole  and 
unbroken  at  this  moment  when  it  is  forcibly  taken  from  my 
person." 

As  he  spoke  thus,  he  looked  around  on  the  soldiers,  whose 
presence  De  Hagenbach  had  perhaps  forgotten. 

"  How,  dog!"  said  Sir  Archibald,  giving  way  tohis  pas' 
si  on,  '^  would  you  stir  up  mutiny  among  my  men-at-arms  ? 
Kilian,  let  the  soldiers  wait  without." 

So  saying,  he  hastily  placed  under  cover  of  his  own  robe 
the  small  but  remarkably  well-secured  packet  which  Kilian 
had  taken  from  the  merchant's  person.  The  soldiers  with- 
drew, lingering,  however,  and  looking  back,  like  children 
brought  away  from  a  show  before  its  final  conclusion. 

"  So,  fellow  ! "  again  began  De  Hagenbach,  ''  we  are  now 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  169 

more  private.  Wilt  thou  deal  more  on  the  level  with  me, 
and  tell  me  what  this  packet  is,  and  whence  it  comes  ? " 

"  Could  all  your  garrison  be  crowded  into  this  room,  I  can 
only  answer  as  before.  The  contents  I  do  not  precisely 
know  ;  the  person  by  whom  it  was  sent  I  am  determined  not 
to  name.^' 

^'  Perhaps  your  son,''  said  the  governor,  ''  may  be  more 
compliant.'' 

"  He  cannot  tell  you  that  of  which  he  is  himself  ignorant," 
answered  the  merchant. 

'^  Perchance  the  rack  may  make  you  both  find  your 
tongues  ;  and  we  will  try  it  on  the  young  fellow  first,  Kilian, 
since  thou  knowest  we  have  seen  men  shrink  from  beholding 
the  wrenched  joints  of  their  children,  that  would  have  com- 
mitted their  own  old  sinews  to  the  stretching  with  much 
endurance." 

'^  You  may  make  the  trial,"  said  Arthur,  ^'  and  Heaven 
will  give  me  strength  to  endure " 

^'  And  me  courage  to  behold,"  added  his  father. 

All  this  while  the  governor  was  turning  and  returning  the 
little  packet  in  his  hand,  curiously  inspecting  every  fold, 
and  regretting,  doubtless,  in  secret,  that  a  few  patches  of 
wax,  placed  under  an  envelope  of  crimson  satin,  and  ligatures 
of  twisted  silk  cord,  should  prevent  his  eager  eyes  from 
ascertaining  the  nature  of  the  treasure  which  he  doubted 
not  it  concealed.  At  length  he  again  called  in  the  soldiers, 
and  delivered  up  the  two  prisoners  to  their  charge,  com- 
manding that  they  should  be  kept  safely,  and  in  separate 
holds,  and  that  the  father,  in  particular,  should  be  most 
carefully  looked  after. 

''  I  take  you  all  here  to  witness,"  exclaimed  the  elder 
Philipson,  despising  the  menacing  signs  of  De  Hagenbach, 
'^that  the  governor  detains  from  me  a  packet,  addressed 
to  his  most  gracious  lord  and  master,  the  Duke  of  Bur- 
gundy." 

De  Hagenbach  actually  foamed  at  the  mouth  with  passion. 

'^  And  should  I  not  detain  it  ?  "  he  exclaimed,  in  a  voice 
inarticulate  with  rage.  '^  May  there  not  be  some  foul  prac- 
tise against  the  life  of  our  most  gracious  sovereign,  by  poison 
or  otherwise,  in  this  suspicious  packet,  brought  by  a  most 
suspicious  bearer  ?  Have  we  never  heard  of  poisons  which 
do  their  work  by  the  smell  ?  And  shall  we,  who  keep  the 
gate,  as  I  may  say,  of  his  Grace  of  Burgundy's  dominions, 
give  access  to  what  may  rob  Europe  of  its  pride  of  chivalry. 
Burgundy  of  its  prince,  and  Flanders  of  her  father  ?    No  \ 


170  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

Away  with  these  miscreants,  soldiers — down  to  the  lowest 
dungeons  with  them — keep  them  separate,  and  watch  them 
carefully.  This  treasonable  practise  has  been  meditated 
with  the  connivance  of  Berne  and  Soleure." 

Thus  Sir  Archibald  de  Hagenbach  raved,  with  a  raised 
voice  and  inflamed  countenance,  lashing  himself  as  it  were 
into  passion,  until  the  steps  of  the  soldiers,  and  the  clash  of 
their  arms,  as  they  retired  with  the  prisoners,  were  no  longer 
audible.  His  complexion,  when  these  had  ceased,  waxed 
paler  than  was  natural  to  him,  his  brow  was  furrowed  with 
anxious  wrinkles,  and  his  voice  became  lower  and  more  hesi- 
tating than  ordinary,  as,  turning  to  his  esquire,  he  said, 
''Kilian,  we  stand  upon  a  slippery  plank,  with  a  raging 
torrent  beneath  us.    What  is  to  be  done  ?  " 

"  Marry,  to  move  forward  with  a  resolved  yet  prudent  step," 
answered  the  crafty  Kilian.  "  It  is  unlucky  that  all  these 
fellows  should  have  seen  the  packet,  and  heard  the  appeal  of 
yonder  iron-nerved  trader.  But  this  ill-luck  has  befallen  us, 
and  the  packet  havi:,t^  been  in  your  Excellency's  hands,  you 
will  have  all  the  credit  of  having  broken  the  seals  ;  for,  thougli 
you  leave  them  as  entire  as  the  moment  they  were  impressed, 
it  will  only  be  supposed  they  have  been  ingeniously  replaced. 
Let  us  see  what  are  the  contents,  before  we  determine  what 
is  to  be  done  with  them.  They  must  be  of  rare  value,  since 
the  churl  merchant  was  well  contented  to  leave  behind  all  his 
rich  muleVload  of  merchandise,  so  that  this  precious  packet 
might  pass  unexamined.'* 

"  They  may  be  papers  on  some  political  matter.  Many 
such,  and  of  high  importance,  pass  secretly  between  Edward 
of  England  and  our  bold  Duke.''  Snch  was  the  reply  of  De 
Hagenbach. 

'^  If  they  be  papers  of  consequence  to  the  Duke,"  answered 
Kilian,  '^  we  can  forward  them  to  Dijon.  Or  they  may  be 
such  as  Louis  of  France  would  purchase  with  their  weight  of 
gold." 

*'  For  shame,  Kilian,"  said  the  knight ;  "  wouldst  thou 
have  me  betray  my  master's  secrets  to  the  King  of  France  ? 
Sooner  would  I  lay  my  head  on  the  block." 

'^  Indeed  !     And  yet  your  Excellency  hesitates  not  to " 

Here  the  squire  stopped,  apparently  for  fear  of  giving 
offence,  by  affixing  a  name  too  broad  and  intelligible  to  the 
practises  of  his  patron. 

*'  To  plunder  the  Duke,  thou  wouldst  say,  thou  impudent 
slave  !  And,  saying  so,  thou  wouldst  be  as  dull  as  thou  art 
wont  to  be,"  answered  De  Hagenbach.     ''  I  partake,  indeed, 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  171 

in  the  plunder  which  the  Dnke  takes  from  aliens  ;  and  reason 
good.  Even  so  the  hound  and  the  hawk  have  their  share  of 
the  quarry  they  bring  down — ay,  and  the  lion's  share,  too, 
unless  the  huntsman  or  falconer  be  all  the  nearer  to  them. 
Such  are  the  perquisites  of  my  rank;  and  the  Duke,  who 
placed  me  here  for  'the  gratification  of  his  resentment,  and 
the  bettering  of  my  fortune,  does  not  grudge  them  to  a  faith- 
ful servant.  And,  indeed,  I  may  term  myself,  in  so  far  as 
this  territory  of  La  Ferette  extends,  the  Duke's  full  repre- 
sentative, or,  as  it  may  be  termed,  alter  ego  ;  and,  thereupon, 
I  will  open  this  packet,  which,  being  addressed  to  him,  is 
thereby  equally  addressed  to  me." 

Having  thus  in  a  manner  talked  himself  up  to  an  idea  of 
his  own  high  authority,  he  cut  the  strings  of  the  packet, 
which  he  had  all  this  while  held  in  his  hand,  and,  undoing 
the  outer  coverings,  produced  a  very  small  case  made  of 
sandalwood. 

*' The  contents,"  he  said,  ^'^had  need  to  be  valuable,  as 
they  lie  in  so  little  compass.'* 

So  saying,  he  pressed  the  spring,  and  the  casket,  opening, 
displayed  a  necklace  of  diamonds,  distinguished  by  brilliancy 
and  size,  and  apparently  of  extraordinary  value.  The  eyes 
of  the  avaricious  governor,  and  his  no  less  rapacious  attend- 
ant, were  so  dazzled  with  the  unusual  splendor,  that  for  some 
time  they  could  express  nothing  save  joy  and  surprise. 

'^  Ay,  marry,  sir,"  said  Kilian,  '^  the  obstinate  old  knave 
had  reasons  for  his  hardihood.  My  own  joints  should  have 
stood  a  strain  or  two  ere  I  surrendered  sach  sparklers  as  these. 
And  now.  Sir  Archibald,  may  your  trusty  follower  ask  you 
how  this  booty  is  to  be  divided  between  the  Duke  and  his 
governor,  according  to  the  most  approved  rules  of  garrison 
towns  ?  " 

''  Faith,  we  will  suppose  the  garrison  stormed,  Kilian  ; 
and  in  a  storm,  thou  know'st,  the  first  finder  takes  all — with 
due  consideration  always  of  his  trusty  followers." 

*^^  As  myself,  for  example,"  said  Kilian. 

^'  Ay,  and  myself,  for  example,"  answered  a  voice,  which 
sounded  like  the  echo  of  the  esquire's  words,  from  the  remote 
corner  of  the  ancient  apartment. 

*''Sdeath!  we  are  overheard,"  exclaimed  the  governor, 
starting  and  laying  his  hand  on  his  dagger. 

"  Only  by  a  faithful  follower,  as  the  worthy  esquire 
observes,"  said  the  executioner,  moving  slowly  forward. 

'^  Villain,  how  didst  thou  dare  watch  me  ?  "  said  Sir  Archi 
bald  de  Hagenbach. 


172  WA  VEBLET  NO  VELS 

''  Trouble  not  yourself  for  that,  sir/^  said  Kilian.  "  Honest 
Steinernherz  has  no  tongue  to  speak,  or  ear  to  hear,  save 
according  to  your  pleasure.  Indeed  we- must  shortly  have 
taken  him  into  our  counsels,  seeing  these  men  must  be  dealt 
upon,  and  that  speedily/' 

"  Indeed  ! "  said  De  Hagenbach  ;  "  I  had  thought  they 
might  be  spared/' 

'^  To  tell  the  Duke  of  Burgundy  how  the  governor  of  La 
Ferette  accounts  to  his  treasurer  for  the  duties  and  forfeit- 
ures at  his  custom-house  ? "  demanded  Kilian. 

"  'Tis  true,''  said  the  knight ;  "  dead  men  have  neither 
teeth  nor  tongue :  they  bite  not,  and  they  tell  no  tales.  Thou 
wilt  take  order  with  them,  scharfgerichter," 

'^  I  will,  my  lord,"  answered  the  executioner,  ''  on  condi- 
tion that,  if  this  must  be  in  the  way  of  dungeon  execution, 
which  I  call  cellar  practise,  my  privilege  to  claim  nobility 
shall  be  saved  and  reserved  to  me,  and  the  execution  shall 
be  declared  to  be  as  effectual  to  my  claim  as  it  might  have 
been  if  the  blow  had  been  dealt  in  broad  daylight,  with  my 
honorable  blade  of  office." 

De  Hagenbach  stared  at  the  executioner,  as  not  under- 
standing what  he  meant ;  on  which  Kilian  took  occasion  to 
explain  that  the  scharfgericMer  was  strongly  impressed,  from 
the  free  and  dauntless  conduct  of  the  elder  prisoner,  that  he 
was  a  man  of  noble  blood,  from  whose  decapitation  he  would 
himself  derive  all  the  advantages  proposed  to  the  headsman 
who  should  execute  his  function  on  nine  men  of  illustrious 
extraction. 

"  He  may  be  right,''  said  Sir  Archibald,  '^  for  here  is  a 
slip  of  parchment  commending  the  bearer  of  this  carcanet  to 
the  Duke,  desiring  him  to  accept  it  as  a  true  token  from  one 
well  known  to  him,  and  to  give  the  bearer  full  credence  in 
all  that  he  should  say  on  the  part  of  those  by  whom  he  is 
sent." 

*'  By  whom  is  the  note  signed,  if  I  may  make  bold  to  ask?  " 
Baid  Kilian. 

*^  There  is  no  name  :  the  Duke  must  be  supposed  to  col- 
lect that  information  from  the  gems,  or  perhaps  the  hand- 
writing." 

''  On  neither  of  which  he  is  likely  to  have  a  speedy  oppor- 
tunity of  exercising  his  ingenuity,"  said  Kilian. 

De  Hagenbach  looked  at  the  diamonds,  and  smiled  darkly. 
The  scharfgericMer,  encouraged  by  the  familiarity  into  which 
he  had  in  a  manner  forced  himself,  returned  to  his  plea,  and 
inmsted  on  the  nobility  of  the  supposed  merchant.     Such  a 


ANNE  OF  GEIEBSTEIN  173 

trust,  and  such  a  letter  of  unlimited  credence,  could  never, 
he  contended,  be  entrusted  to  a  man  meanly  born.* 

'^  Thou  art  deceived,  thou  fool,^^  said  the  knight :  '^  kings 
now  use  the  lowest  tools  to  do  their  dearest  ofi&ces.  Louis 
has  set  the  example  of  putting  his  barber  and  the  valets  of 
his  chamber  to  do  the  work  formerly  entrusted  to  dukes  and 
peers  ;  and  other  monarchs  begin  to  think  that  it  is  better, 
in  choosing  their  agents  for  important  affairs,  to  judge  rather 
by  the  quality  of  men's  brains  than  that  of  their  blood. 
And  as  for  the  stately  look  and  bold  bearing  which  distin- 
guish yonder  fellow  in  the  eyes  of  cravens  like  thee,  it  be- 
longs to  his  country,  not  his  rank.  Thou  think'st  it  is  in 
England  as  in  Flanders,  where  a  city-bred  burgher  of  Ghent, 
Liege,  or  Ypres  is  as  distinct  an  animal  from  a  knight  of 
Hainault  as  a  Flanders  wagon  horse  from  a  Spanish  jennet. 
But  thou  art  deceived.  England  has  many  a  merchant  as 
haughty  of  heart  and  as  prompt  of  hand  as  any  noble-born 
son  of  her  rich  bosom.  But  be  not  dejected,  thou  foolish 
man  ;  do  thy  business  well  on  this  merchant,  and  we  shall 
presently  have  on  our  hands  the  Landamman  of  Unterwal- 
den,  who,  though  a  churl  by  his  choice,  is  yet  a  nobleman 
by  blood,  and  shall,  by  his  well-deserved  death,  aid  thee  to 
get  rid  of  the  peasant  slough  which  thou  art  so  weary  of." 

"Were  not  your  Excellency  better  adjourn  these  men's 
fate,"  said  Kilian,  "till  you  hear  something  of  them  from 
the  Swiss  prisoners  whom  we  shall  presently  have  in  our 
power  ?  " 

"  Be  it  as  you  will,^'  said  Hagenbach,  waving  his  hand,  as 
if  putting  aside  some  disagreeable  task.  "  But  let  all  be 
finished  ere  I  hear  of  it  again." 

The  stern  satellites  bowed  obedience,  and  the  deadly  con- 
clave broke  up,  their  chief  carefully  securing  the  valuable 
gems,  which  he  was  willing  to  purchase  at  the  expense  of 
treachery  to  the  sovereign  in  whose  employment  he  had  en- 
listed himself,  as  well  as  the  blood  of  two  innocent  men. 
Yet,  with  a  weakness  of  mind  not  uncommon  to  great  crimi- 
nals, he  shrunk  from  the  thoughts  of  his  own  baseness  and 
cruelty,  and  endeavored  to  banish  the  feeling  of  dishonor  from 
his  mind,  by  devolving  the  immediate  execution  of  his 
villainy  upon  his  subordinate  agents. 

*  See  Louis  XI.'s  Ministers.    Note  3. 


CHAPTER  XV 

And  this  place  our  forefathers  built  for  man  I 

Old  Play. 

The  dungeon  in  which  the  yotinger  Philipson  was  immured 
was  one  of  those  gloomy  caverns  which  cry  shame  on  the  in- 
humanity of  our  ancestors.*  They  seem  to  have  been  almost 
insensible  to  the  distinction  betwixt  innocence  and  guilt,  as 
the  consequences  of  mere  accusation  must  have  been  far 
more  severe  in  those  days  than  is  in  our  own  that  species  of 
imprisonment  which  is  adjudged  as  an  express  punishment 
for  crime. 

The  cell  of  Arthur  Philipson  was  of  considerable  length, 
but  dark  and  narrow,  and  dug  out  of  the  solid  rock  upon 
which  the  tower  was  founded.  A  small  lamp  was  allowed 
him,  not,  however,  without  some  grumbling,  but  his  arms 
were  still  kept  bound  ;  and  when  he  asked  for  a  draught  of 
water,  one  of  the  grim  satellites  by  whom  he  was  thrust  into 
this  cell  answered  surlily,  that  he  might  endure  his  thirst 
for  all  the  time  his  life  was  likely  to  last — a  gloomy  response, 
which  augured  that  his  privations  would  continue  as  long  as 
his  life,  yet  neither  be  of  long  duration.  By  the  dim  lamp 
he  had  groped  his  way  to  a  bench,  or  rough  seat,  cut  in  the 
rock ;  and,  as  his  eyes  got  gradually  accustomed  to  the  ob- 
scurity of  the  region  in  which  he  was  immured,  he  became 
aware  of  a  ghastly  cleft  in  the  floor  of  his  dungeon,  somewhat 
resembling  the  opening  of  a  draw-well,  but  irregular  in  its 
aperture,  and  apparently  the  mouth  of  a  gulf  of  nature's 
conformation,  slightly  assisted  by  the  labor  of  human  art. 

"  Here,  then,  is  my  death-bed,^'  he  said,  ''  and  that  gulf 
perhaps  the  grave  which  yawns  for  my  remains  !  Nay,  I 
have  heard  of  prisoners  being  plunged  into  such  horrid 
abysses  while  they  were  yet  alive,  to  die  at  leisure,  crushed 
with  wounds,  their  groans  unheard,  and  their  fate  nnpitied. " 

He  approached  his  head  to  the  dismal  cavity,  and  heard, 
as  at  a  great  depth,  the  sound  of  a  sullen,  and,  as  it  seemed, 
subterranean  stream.  The  sunless  waves  appeared  murmur- 
ing for  their  victim.     Death  is  dreadful  at  all  ages  ;  but  in 

*  See  German  Dungeon.    Note  3. 
174 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  175 

the  first  springtide  of  youth,  with  all  the  feelings  of  enjoy- 
ment afloat  and  eager  for  gratification,  to  be  snatched  forci- 
bly from  the  banquet  to  which  the  individual  has  but  just  sat 
down  is  peculiarly  appalling,  even  when  the  change  comes  in 
the  ordinary  course  of  nature.  But  to  sit,  like  young  Philip- 
son,  on  the  brink  of  the  subterranean  abyss,  and  ruminate 
in  horrid  doubt  concerning  the  mode  in  which  death  was  to 
be  infiicted,  was  a  situation  which  might  break  the  spirit  of 
the  boldest ;  and  the  unfortunate  captive  was  wholly  unable 
to  suppress  the  natural  tears  that  flowed  from  his  eyes  in 
torrents,  and  which  his  bound  arms  did  not  permit  him  to 
wipe  away.  We  have  already  noticed  that,  although  a  gal- 
lant young  man  in  aught  of  danger  which  was  to  be 
faced  and  overcome  by  active  exertion,  the  youth  was 
strongly  imaginative,  and  sensitive  to  a  powerful  extent  to 
all  those  exaggerations  which,  in  a  situation  of  helpless  un- 
certainty, fancy  lends  to  distract  the  soul  of  him  who  must 
passively  expect  an  approaching  evil. 

Yet  the  feelings  of  Arthur  Philipson  were  not  selfish. 
They  reverted  to  his  father,  whose  just  and  noble  character 
was  as  much  formed  to  attract  veneration  as  his  unceasing 
paternal  care  and  affection  to  excite  love  and  gratitude.  He, 
too,  was  in  the  hands  of  remorseless  villains,  who  were  de- 
termined to  conceal  robbery  by  secret  murder  ;  he,  too,  un- 
daunted in  so  many  dangers,  resolute  in  so  many  encounters, 
lay  bound  and  defenseless,  exposed  to  the  dagger  of  the 
meanest  stabber.  Arthur  remembered,  too,  the  giddy  peak 
of  the  rock  near  Geierstein,  and  the  grim  vulture  which 
claimed  him  as  its  prey.  Here  was  no  angel  to  burst  through 
the  mist,  and  marshal  him  on  a  path  of  safety  ;  here  the 
darkness  was  subterranean  and  eternal,  saving  when  the 
captive  should  behold  the  knife  of  the  rufiian  flash  against 
the  lamp,  which  lent  him  light  to  aim  the  fatal  blow.  This 
agony  of  mind  lasted  until  the  feelings  of  the  unhappy  pris- 
oner arose  to  ecstasy.  He  started  up,  and  struggled  so 
hard  to  free  himself  of  his  bonds,  that  it  seemed  they  should 
have  fallen  from  him  as  from  the  arms  of  the  mighty  Naz- 
arene  [Nazarite].  But  the  cords  were  of  too  firm  a  texture  ; 
and,  after  a  violent  and  unavailing  struggle,  in  which  the 
ligatures  seemed  to  enter  his  flesh,  the  prisoner  lost  his 
balance,  and,  while  the  feeling  thrilled  through  him  that  he 
was  tumbling  backward  into  the  subterranean  abyss,  he  fell 
to  the  ground  with  great  force. 

Fortunately  he  escaped  the  danger  which  in  his  agony  he 
apprehended,  but  so  narrowly,  that  his  head  struck  against 


176  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

the  low  and  broken  fence  with  which  the  month  of  the  hor- 
rible pit  was  partly  surrounded.  Here  he  lay  stunned  and 
motionless,  and,  as  the  lamp  was  extinguished  in  his  fall, 
immersed  in  absolute  and  total  darkness.  He  was  recalled 
to  sensation  by  a  jarring  noise. 

"  They  come — they  come,  the  murderers  !  Oh,  Lady  of 
Mercy  !  and  oh,  gracious  Heaven,  forgive  my  transgressions  !  ^' 

He  looked  up,  and  observed  with  dazzled  eyes  that  a  dark 
form  approached  him,  with  a  knife  in  one  hand  and  a  torch 
in  the  other.  He  might  well  have  seemed  the  man  who  was 
to  do  the  last  deed  upon  the  unhappy  prisoner,  if  he  had 
come  alone.  But  he  came  not  alone  :  his  torch  gleamed 
upon  the  white  dress  of  a  female,  which  was  so  much  illu- 
minated by  it,  that  Arthur  could  discover  a  form,  and  had 
even  a  glimpse  of  features,  never  to  be  forgotten,  though 
now  seen  under  circumstances  least  of  all  to  be  expected. 
The  prisoner's  unutterable  astonishment  impressed  him  with 
a  degree  of  awe  which  overcame  even  his  personal  fear. 
^'  Can  these  things  be  ? ''  was  his  muttered  reflection — "  has 
she  really  the  power  of  an  elementary  spirit  ? — has  she  con- 
jured up  this  earthlike  and  dark  demon  to  concur  with  her 
in  my  deliverance  ?" 

It  appeared  as  if  his  guess  were  real ;  for  the  figure  in 
black,  giving  the  light  to  Anne  of  Geierstein,  or  at  least  the 
form'  which  bore  her  perfect  resemblance,  stooped  over  the 
prisoner,  and  cut  the  cord  that  bound  his  arms,  with  so  much 
despatch  that  it  seemed  as  if  it  fell  from  his  person  at  a 
touch.  Arthur's  first  attempt  to  arise  was  unsuccessful,  and 
a  second  time  it  was  the  hand  of  Anne  of  Geierstein — a 
living  hand,  sensible  to  touch  as  to  sight — which  aided  to 
raise  and  to  support  him,  as  it  had  formerly  done  when  the 
tormented  waters  of  the  river  thundered  at  their  feet.  Her 
touch  produced  an  effect  far  beyond  that  of  the  slight  per- 
sonal aid  which  the  maiden's  strength  could  have  rendered. 
Courage  was  restored  to  his  heart,  vigor  and  animation  to 
his  benumbed  and  bruised  limbs ;  such  influence  does  the 
human  mind,  when  excited  to  energy,  possess  over  the  in- 
firmities of  the  human  body.  He  was  about  to  address  Anne 
in  accents  of  the  deepest  gratitude  ;  but  the^  accents  died 
away  on  his  tongue  when  the  mysterious  female,  laying  her 
finger  on  her  lips,  made  him  a  sign  to  be  silent,  and  at  the 
same  time  beckoned  him  to  follow  her.  He  obeyed  in  silent 
amazement.  They  passed  the  entrance  of  the  melancholy 
dungeon,  and  through  one  or  two  short  but  intricate  pas- 
sages, which,  cut  out  of  the  rock  in  some  places,  and  built 


ANNE  OF  GEIEBSTEIN  177 

in  others  with  hewn  stone  of  the  same  kind,  probably  led  to 
holds  similar  to  that  in  which  Arthur  was  so  lately  a  cap- 
tive. 

The  recollection  that  his  father  might  be  immnred  in 
some  such  horrid  cell  as  he  himself  had  just  quitted  induced 
Arthur  to  pause  as  they  reached  the  bottom  of  a  small  wind- 
ing staircase,  which  conducted  apparently  from  this  region 
of  the  building. 

'^  Come,"  he  said,  "  dearest  Anne,  lead  me  to  his  deliver- 
ance !     I  must  not  leave  my  father/^ 

She  shook  her  head  impatiently,  and  beckoned  him  on. 

"  If  your  power  extends  not  to  save  my  father's  life,  I  will 
remain  and  save  him  or  die  !     Anne — dearest  Anne " 

She  answered  not ;  but  her  companion  replied,  in  a  deep 
voice,  not  unsuitable  to  his  appearance,  "  Speak,  young  man, 
to  those  who  are  permitted  to  answer  you  ;  or  rather  be 
silent,  and  listen  to  my  instructions,  which  direct  to  the 
only  course  which  can  bring  thy  father  to  freedom  and 
safety." 

They  ascended  the  stair,  Anne  of  Geierstein  going  first ; 
while  Arthur,  who  followed  close  behind,  could  not  help 
thinking  that  her  form  gave  existence  to  a  part  of  the  light 
which  her  garment  reflected  from  the  torch.  This  was 
probably  the  effect  of  the  superstitious  belief  impressed  on 
his  mind  by  Rudolph's  tale  respecting  her  [grand]  mother, 
and  which  was  confirmed  by  her  sudden  appearance  in  a 
place  and  situation  where  she  was  so  little  to  have  been  ex- 
pected. He  had  not  much  time,  however,  to  speculate  upon 
her  appearance  or  demeanor,  for,  mounting  the  stair  with  a 
lighter  pace  than  he  was  able  at  the  time  to  follow  closely, 
she  was  no  longer  to  be  seen  when  he  reached  the  landing- 
place.  But  whether  she  had  melted  into  the  air,  or  turned 
aside  into  some  other  passage,  he  was  not  permitted  a  mo- 
ment's leisure  to  examine. 

'^  Here  lies  your  way,"  said  his  sable  guide  ;  and  at  the 
same  time  dashing  out  the  light  and  seizing  Philipson  by 
the  arm,  he  led  him  along  a  dark  gallery  of  considerable 
length.  The  young  man  was  not  without  some  momentary 
misgivings,  while  he  recollected  the  ominous  looks  of  his 
conductor,  and  that  he  was  armed  with  a  dagger,  or  knife, 
which  he  could  plunge  of  a  sudden  into  his  bosom.  But  he 
could  not  bring  himself  to  dread  treachery  from  any  one 
whom  he  had  seen  in  company  with  Anne  of  Geierstein  ; 
and  in  his  heart  he  demanded  her  pardon  for  the  fear  which 
had  flashed  across  him,  and  resigned  himself  to  the  guidance 

12 


178  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

of  his  companion,  who  advanced  with  hasty  but  light  foot- 
steps, and  cautioned  him  by  a  whisper  to  do  the  same. 

"  Our  journey/'  he  at  length  said,  ''  ends  here/' 

As  he  spoke,  a  door  gave  way  and  admitted  them  into  a 
gloomy  Gothic  apartment,  furnished  with  large  oaken  presses, 
apparently  filled  with  books  and  manuscripts.  As  Arthur 
looked  round,  with  eyes  dazzled  with  the  sudden  gleam  of 
daylight,  from  which  he  had  been  for  some  time  excluded, 
the  door  by  which  they  had  entered  disappeared.  This,  how- 
ever, did  not  greatly  surprise  him,  who  judged  that,  being 
formed  in  appearance  to  correspond  with  the  presses  around 
the  entrance  which  they  had  used,  it  could  not  when  shut  be 
distinguished  from  them — a  device  sometimes  then  practised, 
as  indeed  it  often  is  at  the  present  day.  He  had  now  a  full 
view  of  his  deliverer,  who,  when  seen  by  daylight,  showed 
only  the  vestments  and  features  of  a  clergyman,  without  any 
of  that  expression  of  supernatural  horror  which  the  partial 
light  and  the  melancholy  apjjearance  of  all  in  the  dungeon 
had  combined  to  impress  on  him. 

Young  Philipson  once  more  breathed  with  freedom,  as  one 
awakened  from  a  hideous  dream  ;  and  the  supernatural  quali- 
ties with  which  his  imagination  had  invested  Anne  of  Geier- 
stein  having  begun  to  vanish,  he  addressed  his  deliverer 
thus — '^  That  I  may  testify  my  thanks,  holy  father,  where 
they  are  so  especially  due,  let  me  inquire  of  you  if  Anne  ot 
Geierstein '' 

'^  Speak  of  that  which  pertains  to  your  house  and  family," 
answered  the  priest,  as  briefly  as  before.  "  Hast  thou  so  soon 
forgot  thy  father's  danger  ?  "  , 

"  By  Heavens,  no  !  '^  replied  the  youth  ;  ''  tell  me  but  how 
to  act  for  his  deliverance,  and  thou  shalt  see  how  a  son  can 
fight  for  a  parent ! " 

^'  It  is  well,  for  it  is  needful,''  said  the  priest.  ''  Don  thou 
this  vestment,  and  follow  me." 

The  vestment  presented  was  the  gown  and  hood  of  a  novice. 

*'  Draw  the  cowl  over  thy  face,"  said  the  priest,  ^'  and  re- 
turn no  answer  to  any  man  who  meets  thee.  I  will  say  thou 
art  under  a  vow.  May  Heaven  forgive  the  unworthy  tyrant 
who  imposes  on  us  the  necessity  of  such  profane  dissimula- 
tion !  Follow  me  close  and  near ;  beware  that  you  speak 
not." 

The  business  of  diguise  was  soon  accomplished,  and  the 
priest  of  St.  Paul's,  for  such  he  was,  moving  on,  Arthur  fol- 
lowed him  a  pace  or  two  behind,  assuming  as  well  as  he  could 
the  modest  step  and  humble  demeanor  of  a  spiritual  novice. 


ANNE  OF  GEIEBSTEIN  179 

On  leaving  the  library,  or  study,  and  descending  a  short  stair, 
he  found  himself  in  the  street  of  Brisach.  Irresistibly 
tempted  to  look  back,  he  had  only  time,  however,  to  see  that 
the  house  he  had  left  was  a  very  small  building  of  a  Gothic 
character,  on  the  one  side  of  which  rose  the  church  of  St. 
PauFs,  and  on  the  other  the  stern  black  gate-house,  or  en- 
trance-tower. 

"  Follow  me,  Melchior,''  said  the  deep  voice  of  the  priest ; 
and  his  keen  eyes  were  at  the  same  time  fixed  upon  the  sup- 
posed novice,  with  a  look  which  instantly  recalled  Arthur  to 
a  sense  of  his  situation. 

They  passed  along,  nobody  noticing  them,  unless  to  greet 
the  priest  with  a  silent  obeisance,  or  muttered  phrase  of  sal- 
utation, until,  having  nearly  gained  the  middle  of  the  vil- 
lage, the  guide  turned  abruptly  off  from  the  street,  and,  mov- 
ing northward  by  a  short  lane,  reached  a  flight  of  steps,  which, 
as  usual  in  fortified  towns,  led  to  the  banquette,  or  walk,  be- 
hind the  parapet,  which  was  of  the  old  Gothic  fashion,  flanked 
with  towers  from  space  to  space,  of  different  forms  and  vari- 
ous heights  at  different  angles. 

There  were  sentinels  on  the  walls  ;  but  the  watch,  as  it 
seemed,  was  kept  not  by  regular  soldiers,  but  by  burghers, 
with  spears  or  swords  in  their  hands.  The  first  whom  they 
passed  said  to  the  priest,  in  a  half -whispered  tone,  '*^  Holds 
our  purpose  ?  " 

^'  It  holds,"  replied  the  priest  of  St.  PauFs.  '^  Benedicite  I " 

^'  Deo  gratias  f  replied  the  armed  citizen,  and  continued 
his  walk  upon  the  battlements. 

The  other  sentinels  seemed  to  avoid  them  ;  for  they  dis- 
appeared when  they  came  near,  or  passed  them  without  look- 
ing or  seeming  to  observe  them.  At  last  their  walk  brought 
them  to  an  ancient  turret,  which  raised  its  head  above  the 
wall,  and  in  which  there  was  a  small  door  opening  from  the 
battlement.  It  was  in  a  corner,  distinct  from  and  uncom- 
manded  by  any  of  the  angles  of  the  fortification.  In  a  well- 
guarded  fortress,  such  a  point  ought  to  have  had  a  sentinel 
for  its  special  protection,  but  no  one  was  there  upon  duty. 

''  Now  mark  me,"  said  the  priest,  ''  for  your  father's  life, 
and,  it  may  be,  that  of  many  a  man  besides,  depends  upon 
your  attention,  and  no  less  upon  your  despatch.  You  can 
run  ? — you  can  leap  ?  " 

*'I  feel  no  weariness,  father,  since  you  freed  me,"  answered 
Arthur  ;  ''  and  the  dun  deer  that  I  have  often  chased  shall 
not  beat  me  in  such  a  wager." 

"  Observe,  then,"  replied  the  black  priest  of  St.  Paul's ; 


180  WAVER  LET  NOVELS 

'^  this  turret  contains  a  staircase,  whicli  descends  to  a  small 
sally-port.  I  will  give  you  entrance  to  it.  The  sally-port 
is  barred  on  the  inside,  but  not  locked.  It  will  give  you  ac- 
cess to  the  moat,  which  is  almost  entirely  dry.  On  crossing 
it,  you  will  find  yourself  in  the  circuit  of  the  outer  barriers. 
You  may  see  sentinels,  but  they  will  not  see  you  ;  speak 
not  to  them,  but  make  your  way  over  the  palisade  as  you 
can.     I  trust  you  can  climb  over  an  undefended  rampart  ?  " 

"  I  have  surmounted  a  defended  one,"'  said  Arthur.  "  What 
is  my  next  charge  ?    All  this  is  easy."' 

^'  You  will  see  a  species  of  thicket,  or  stretch  of  low  bushes  ; 
make  for  it  with  all  speed.  When  you  are  there,  turn  to  the 
eastward ;  but  beware,  while  holding  that  course,  that  you 
are  not  seen  by  the  Burgundian  Free  Companions,  who  are 
on  watch  on  that  part  of  the  walls.  A  volley  of  arrows,  and 
the  sally  of  a  body  of  cavalry  in  pursuit,  will  be  the  con- 
sequence, if  they  get  sight  of  you  ;  and  their  eyes  are  those 
of  the  eagle,  that  spy  the  carnage  afar  off.'' 

'^1  will  be  heedfuV'  said  the  young  Englishman. 

'^You  will  find,'"  continued  the  priest,  ''^  upon  the  outer 
«ide  of  the  thicket  a  path,  or  rather  a  sheep-track,  which, 
sweeping  at  some  distance  from  the  walls,  will  conduct  yoa 
at  last  into  the  road  leading  from  Brisach  to  Bale.  Hasten 
forward  to  meet  the  Swiss,  who  are  advancing.  Tell  them 
your  father's  hours  are  counted,  and  that  they  must  press  on  if 
they  would  save  him  ;  and  say  to  Eudolph  Donnerhugel,  in 
especial,  that  the  black  priest  of  St.  PauFs  waits  to  bestow 
upon  him  his  blessing  at  the  northern  sally-port.  Dost  thou 
understand  me  ?  " 

''  Perfectly,''  answered  the  young  man. 

.The  priest  of  St.  Paul's  then  pushed  open  the  low-browed 
gate  of  the  turret,  and  Arthur  was  about  to  precipitate  him- 
self down  the  stair  which  opened  before  him. 

^^  Stay  yet  a  moment,"  said  the  priest,  "  and  doff  the 
novice's  habit,  which  can  only  encumber  thee." 

Arthur  in  a  trice  threw  it  from  him,  and  was  again  about 
to  start. 

^^  Stay  yet  a  moment  longer,"  continued  the  black  priest. 
''  This  gown  may  be  a  tell-tale ;  stay,  therefore,  and  help 
me  to  pull  off  my  upper  garment." 

Inwardly  glowing  with  impatience,  Arthur  yet  saw  the 
necessity  of  obeying  his  guide  ;  and  when  he  had  pulled  the 
long  and  loose  upper  vestment  from  the  old  man,  he  stood 
before  him  in  a  cassock  of  black  serge,  befitting  his  order 
and  profession,  but  begirt,  not  with  a  suitable  sash  such  as 


AI^NE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  181 

clergymen  wear,  but  with  a  most  uncanonical  baff-belt,  sup- 
porting a  short  two-edged  sword,  calculated  alike  to  stab 
and  to  smite. 

^^Give  me  now  the  novice^s  habit,"  said  the  venerable 
father,  '^and  over  that  I  will  put  the  priestly  vestment. 
Since  for  the  present  I  have  some  tokens  of  the  laity  about 
me,  it  is  fitting  it  should  be  covered  with  a  double  portion  of 
the  clerical  habit." 

As  he  spoke  thus  he  smiled  grimly  ;  and  his  smile  had  some- 
thing more  frightful  and  withering  than  the  stern  frown, 
which  suited  better  with  his  features,  and  was  their  usual 
expression. 

^^And  now,"  said  he,  '^  what  does  the  fool  tarry  for,  when 
life  and  death  are  in  his  speed  ?  " 

The  young  messenger  waited  not  a  second  hint,  but  at 
once  descended  the  stairs,  as  if  it  had  been  by  a  single  step, 
found  the  portal,  as  the  priest  had  said,  only  secured  by 
bars  on  the  inside,  offering  little  resistance  save  from  their 
rusted  state,  which  made  it  difficult  to  draw  them.  Arthur 
succeeded,  however,  and  found  himself  at  the  side  of  the 
moat,  which  presented  a  green  and  marshy  appearance, 
without  stopping  to  examine  whether  it  was  deep  or  shallow, 
and  almost  without  being  sensible  of  the  tenacity  of  the 
morass,  the  young  Englishman  forced  his  way  through  it,  and 
attained  the  opposite  side,  without  attracting  the  attention 
of  two  worthy  burghers  of  Brisach,  who  were  the  guardians 
of  the  barriers.  One  of  them,  indeed,  was  deeply  employed 
in  the  perusal  of  some  profane  chronicle  or  religious  legend  ; 
the  other  was  as  anxiously  engaged  in  examining  the  margin 
for  of  the  moat,  in  search  of  eels,  perhaps,  or  frogs,  for  he  wore 
over  his  shoulder  a  scrip  for  securing  some  such  amphibious 
booty. 

Seeing  that,  as  the  priest  foretold,  he  had  nothing  to  ap- 
prehend from  the  vigilance  of  the  sentinels,  Arthur  dashed 
at  the  palisade,  in  hope  to  catch  hold  of  the  top  of  the 
stockade,  and  so  to  clear  it  by  one  bold  leap.  He  overrated 
his  powers  of  activity,  however,  or  they  were  diminished  by 
his  recent  bonds  and  imprisonment.  He  fell  lightly  back- 
wards on  the  ground,  and,  as  he  got  to  his  feet,  became 
aware  of  the  presence  of  a  soldier,  in  yellow  and  blue,  the 
livery  of  De  Hagenbach,  who  came  running  towards  him, 
crying  to  the  slothful  and  unobservant  sentinels,  ''Alarm — 
alarm  !  you  lazy  swine  !  Stop  the  dog,  or  you  are  both  dead 
men." 

The  fisherman,  who  was  on  the  further  side,  laid  down  his 


182  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

eel-spear,  drew  his  sword,  and,  flourishing  it  over  his  head, 
advanced  towards  Philipson  with  very  moderate  haste.  The 
student  was  yet  more  unfortunate,  for,  in  his  hurry  to  fold 
up  his  book  and  attend  to  his  duty,  he  contrived  to  throw 
himself  (inadvertently,  doubtless)  full  in  the  soldier's  way. 
The  latter,  who  was  running  at  top  speed,  encountered  the 
burgher  with  a  severe  shock,  which  threw  both  down ;  but 
the  citizen,  being  a  solid  and  substantial  man,  lay  still  where 
he  fell,  while  the  other,  less  weighty,  and  probably  less  pre- 
pared for  the  collision,  lost  his  balance  and  the  command  of 
his  limbs  at  once,  and,  rolling  over  the  edge  of  the  moat,  was 
immersed  in  the  mud  and  marsh.  The  fisher  and  the  student 
went  with  deliberate  speed  to  assist  the  unexpected  and  un- 
welcome partner  of  their  watch  ;  while  Arthur,  stimulated 
by  the  imminent  sense  of  danger,  sprung  at  the  barrier  with 
more  address  and  vigor  than  before,  and,  succeeding  in  his 
leap,  made,  as  he  had  been  directed,  with  his  utmost  speed 
for  the  covert  of  the  adjacent  bushes.  He  reached  them 
without  hearing  any  alarm  from  the  walls.  But  he  was  con- 
scious that  his  situation  had  become  extremely  precarious, 
since  his  escape  from  the  town  was  known  to  one  man,  at 
least,  who  would  not  fail  to  give  the  alarm  in  case  he  was  able 
to  extricate  himself  from  the  marsh — a  feat,  however,  in  which 
it  seemed  to  Arthur  that  the  armed  citizens  were  likely  to 
prove  rather  his  apparent  than  actual  assistants. 

While  such  thoughts  shot  across  his  mind,  they  served  to 
augment  his  natural  speed  of  foot,  so  that,  in  less  space  than 
could  have  been  thought  possible,  he  reached  the  thinner  ex- 
tremity of  the  thicket,  whence,  as  intimated  by  the  black 
priest,  he  could  see  the  eastern  tower  and  the  adjoining  bat- 
tlements of  the  town — 

With  hostile  faces  throng'd,  and  fiery  arms. 

It  required,  at  the  same  time,  some  address  on  the  part  of 
the  fugitive  to  keep  so  much  under  shelter  as  to  prevent  him- 
self from  being  seen  in  his  turn  by  those  whom  he  saw  so 
plainly.  He  therefore  expected  every  moment  to  hear  a 
bugle  wind,  or  to  behold  that  bustle  and  commotion  among 
the  defenders  which  might  prognosticate  a  sally.  Neither, 
however,  took  place,  and  heedfully  observing  the  footpath, 
or  track,  which  the  priest  had  pointed  out  to  him,  young 
Philipson  wheeled  his  course  out  of  sight  of  the  guarded 
towers,  and  soon  falling  into  the  public  and  frequented  road, 
by  which  his  father  and  he  had  approached  the  town  in  the 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  183 

morning,  lie  had  the  happiness,  by  the  dust  and  flash  of  arms, 
to  see  a  small  body  of  armed  men  advancing  towards  Brisach, 
whom  he  justly  concluded  to  be  the  van  of  the  Swiss  deputa- 
tion. 

He  soon  met  the  party,  which  consisted  of  about  ten  men, 
with  Rudolph  Donnerhugel  at  their  head.  The  figure  of 
Philipson,  covered  with  mud,  and  in  some  places  stained 
with  blood,  for  his  fall  in  the  dungeon  had  cost  him  a  slight 
wound,  attracted  the  wonder  of  every  one  who  crowded 
around  to  hear  the  news.  Rudolph  alone  appeared  unmoved. 
Like  the  visage  on  the  ancient  statues  of  Hercules,  the  physi- 
ognomy of  the  bulky  Bernese  was  large  and  massive,  having 
an  air  of  indifferent  and  almost  sullen  composure,  which  did 
not  change  but  in  moments  of  the  fiercest  agitation. 

He  listened  without  emotion  to  the  breathless  tale  of 
Arthur  Philipson,  that  his  father  was  in  prison,  and  ad- 
judged to  death. 

"  And  what  else  did  you  expect  ?  "  said  the  Bernese, 
coldly.  "  Were  you  not  warned  !  It  had  been  easy  to  have 
foreseen  the  misfortune,  but  it  may  be  impossible  to  prevent 
it." 

"  I  own — I  own,"  said  Arthur,  wringing  his  hands,  "that 
you  were  wise,  and  that  we  were  foolish.  But  oh  !  do  not 
think  of  our  folly  in  the  moment  of  our  extremity.  Be  the 
gallant  and  generous  champion  which  your  cantons  proclaim 
you  :  give  us  your  aid  in  this  deadly  strait." 

"  But  how,  or  in  what  manner  ?"  said  Rudolph,  still  hesi- 
tating. "  We  have  dismissed  the  Balese,  who  were  willing 
to  have  given  assistance,  so  much  did  your  dutiful  example 
weigh  with  us.  We  are  now  scarce  above  a  score  of  men  ; 
how  can  you  ask  us  to  attack  a  garrison  town,  secured  by  for- 
tifications, and  where  there  are  six  times  our  number  ?" 

"You  have  friends  within  the  fortifications,"  replied 
Arthur — "I  am  sure  you  have.  Hark  in  your  ear.  The 
black  priest  sent  to  you — to  you,  Rudolph  Donnerhugel  of 
Berne — that  he  waits  to  give  you  his  blessing  at  the  northern 
sally-port." 

"  Ay,  doubtless,"  said  Rudolph,  shaking  himself  free  of 
Arthur^s  attempt  to  engage  him  in  private  conference,  and 
speaking  so  that  all  around  might  hear  him,  "  there  is  little 
doubt  on^t :  I  will  find  a  priest  at  the  northern  sally-port  to 
confess  and  absolve  me,  and  a  block ,  ax,  and  headsman  to 
strike  my  throat  asunder  when  he  has  done.  But  I  will 
scarce  put  the  neck  of  my  father's  son  into  such  risk.  If 
they  assassinate  an  English  peddler  who  has  never  offended 


184  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

them,  what  will  they  do  with  the  Bear  of  Berne,  whose  fangs 
and  talons  Archibald  de  Hagenbach  has  felt  ere  now  ?  " 

Young  Philipson  at  these  words  clasped  his  hands  together, 
and  held  them  up  to  Heaven,  as  one  who  abandons  hope,  ex- 
cepting from  thence.  The  tears  started  to  his  eyes,  and, 
clenching  his  hands  ftnd  setting  his  teeth,  he  turned  his  back 
abruptly  upon  the  Swiss. 

^'  What  means  this  passion  ?"  said  Rudolph.  ''  Whither 
would  you  now  ?  " 

'^  To  rescue  my  father,  or  perish  with  him,^'  said  Arthur  ; 
and  was  about  to  run  wildly  back  to  La  Ferette,  when  a  strong 
but  kindly  grasp  detained  him. 

*'  Tarry  a  little  till  I  tie  my  garter, ^^  said  Sigismund 
Biederman,  ''^and  I  will  go  with  you.  King  Arthur.^' 

"You,  oaf?"  exclaimed  Rudolph — "you?  and  without 
orders  ?  " 

"  Why,  look  you,  cousin  Rudolph,"  said  the  youth,  con- 
tinuing, with  great  composure,  to  fasten  his  garter,  which, 
after  the  fashion  of  the  time,  was  somewhat  intricately 
secured,  "  you  are  always  telling  us  that  we  are  Swiss  and 
freemen  ;  and  what  is  the  advantage  of  being  a  freeman,  if 
one  is  not  at  liberty  to  do  what  he  has  a  mind  ?  You  are  my 
hauptman,  look  you,  so  long  as  it  pleases  me  and  no  longer." 

"  And  why  shouldst  thou  desert  me  now,  thou  fool  ?  Why 
at  this  minute,  of  all  other  minutes  in  the  year  ?  "  demanded 
the  Bernese. 

"  Look  you,"  replied  the  insubordinate  follower,  "  I  have 
hunted  with  Arthur  for  this  month  past,  and  Hove  him  :  he 
never  called  me  fool  or  idiot  because  my  thoughts  came 
slower,  maybe,  and  something  duller,  than  those  of  other 
folk.  And  I  love  his  father  :  the  old  man  gave  me  this  bald- 
rick  and  this  horn,  which  I  warrant  cost  many  a  kreutzer. 
He  told  me,  too,  not  to  be  discouraged,  for  that  it  was  better 
to  think  justly  than  to  think  fast,  and  that  I  had  sense  enough 
for  the  one  if  not  for  the  other.  And  the  kind  old  man  is 
now  in  Hagenbach^s  butcher  shambles  !  But  we  will  free 
him,  Arthur,  if  two  men  may.  Thou  shalt  see  me  fight 
while  steel  blade  and  ashen  shaft  will  hold  together." 

So  saying,  he  shook  in  the  air  his  enormous  partizan, 
which  quivered  in  his  grasp  like  a  slip  of  willow.  Indeed,  if 
iniquity  was  to  be  struck  down  like  an  ox,  there  was  not  one 
in  that  chosen  band  more  likely  to  perform  the  feat  than 
Sigismund ;  for,  though  somewhat  shorter  in  stature  than 
his  brethren,  and  of  a  less  animated  spirit,  yet  his  breadth  of 
shoulders  and  strength  of  muscles  were  enormous,  and  if 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  185 

thoroughly  aronsed  and  disposed  for  the  contest,  which  was 
very  rarely  the  case,  perhaps  Kudolph  himself  might,  as  far 
as  sheer  force  went,  have  had  difficulty  in  matching  him. 

Truth  of  sentiment  and  energy  of  expression  always  pro- 
duce an  effect  on  natural  and  generous  characters.  Several 
of  the  youths  around  began  to  exclaim  that  Sigismund  said 
well ;  that,  if  the  old  man  had  put  himself  in  danger,  it  was 
because  he  thought  more  of  the  success  of  their  negotiation 
than  of  his  own  safety,  and  had  taken  himself  from  under 
their  protection  rather  than  involve  them  in  quarrels  on  his 
account.  ^'  We  are  the  more  bound,'^  they  said,  *'  to  see  him 
unscathed,  and  we  will  do  so." 

^^  Peace  !  all  you  wiseacres,"  said  Eudolph,  looking  round 
with  an  air  of 'superiority  ;  '^^and  you,  Arthur  of  England, 
pass  on  to  the  Landamman,  who  is  close  behind  ;  you  know 
he  is  our  chief  commander,  he  is  no  less  your  father^s  sincere 
friend,  and,  whatever  he  may  determine  in  your  father's 
favor,  you  will  find  most  ready  executors  of  his  pleasure  in 
all  of  us." 

His  companions  appeared  to  concur  in  this  advice,  and 
young  Philipson  saw  that  his  own  compliance  with  the  re- 
commendation was  indispensable.  Indeed,  although  he  still 
suspected  that  the  Bernese,  by  his  various  intrigues,  as  well 
with  the  Swiss  youth  as  with  those  of  Bdle,  and,  as  might  be 
inferred  from  the  priest  of  St.  Paul's,  by  communication 
even  within  the  town  of  La  Ferette,  possessed  the  greater 
power  of  assisting  him  at  such  a  conjuncture,  yet  he  trusted 
far  more  in  the  simple  candor  and  perfect  faith  of  Arnold 
Biederman,  and  pressed  forward  to  tell  to  him  his  mournful 
tale,  and  crave  his  assistance. 

From  the  top  of  a  bank  which  he  reached  in  a  few  minutes 
after  he  parted  from  Kudolph  and  the  advanced  guard,  he 
saw  beneath  him  the  venerable  Landamman  and  his  associates, 
attended  by  a  few  of  the  youths,  who  no  longer  were  dis- 
persed upon  the  flanks  of  the  party,  but  attended  on  them' 
closely,  and  in  military  array,  as  men  prepared  to  repel  any 
sudden  attack. 

Behind  came  a  mule  or  two  with  baggage,  together  with 
the  animals  which,  in  the  ordinary  course  of  their  march, 
supported  Anne  of  Geierstein  and  her  attendant.  Both  were 
occupied  by  female  figures  as  usual,  and,  to  the  best  of 
Arthur's  ken,  the  foremost  had  the  well-known  dress  of  Anne, 
from  the  gray  mantle  to  a  small  heron's  plume,  which,  since 
entering  Germany,  she  had  worn  in  compliance  with  the 
custom  of  the  country,  and  in  evidence  of  her  rank  as  a 


188  WAVERLET  NOVELS 

maiden  of  birth  and  distinction.  Yet,  if  the  youth's  eyes 
brought  him  true  tidings  at  present,  what  was  the  character 
of  their  former  information,  when,  scarce  more  than  half  an 
hour  since,  they  had  beheld,  in  the  subterranean  dungeon  of 
Brisach,  the  same  form  which  they  now  rested  upon,  in  cir- 
cumstances so  very  different !  The  feeling  excited  by  this 
thought  was  powerful,  but  it  was  momentary,  like  the  light- 
ning which  blazes  through  a  midnight  sky,  which  is  but  just 
seen  ere  it  vanishes  into  darkness.  Or  rather,  the  wonder 
excited  by  this  marvelous  incident  only  maintained  its 
ground  in  his  thoughts  by  allying  itself  with  the  anxiety  for 
his  father's  safety,  which  was  their  predominant  occupation. 

''If  there  be  indeed  a  spirit,"  he  said,  ''which  wears  that 
beautiful  form,  it  must  be  beneficent  as  well  as  lovely,  and 
will  extend  to  my  far  more  deserving  father  the  protection 
which  his  son  has  twice  experienced." 

But  ere  he  had  time  to  prosecute  such  a  thought  farther, 
he  had  met  the  Landamman  and  his  party.  Here  his  ap- 
pearance and  his  condition  excited  the  same  surprise  as  they 
had  formerly  occasioned  to  Eudolph  and  the  vanguard.  To 
the  repeated  interrogatories  of  the  Landamman,  he  gave  a 
brief  account  of  his  own  imprisonment,  and  of  his  escape,  of 
which  he  suffered  the  whole  glory  to  rest  with  the  black 
priest  of  St.  Paul's,  without  mentioning  one  word  of  the 
more  interesting  female  apparition,  by  which  he  had  been 
attended  and  assisted  in  his  charitable  task.  On  another 
point  also  Arthur  was  silent.  He  saw  no  propriety  in  com- 
municating to  Arnold  Biederman  the  message  which  the 
priest  had  addressed  to  Eudolph's  ear  alone.  Whether  good 
should  come  of  it  or  no,  he  held  sacred  the  obligation  of 
silence  imposed  upon  him  by  a  man  from  whom  he  had  just 
received  the  most  important  assistance. 

The  Landamman  was  struck  dumb  for  a  moment  with 
sorrow  and  surprise  at  the  news  which  he  heard.  The  elder 
Philipson  had  gained  his  respect,  as  well  by  the  purity  and 
steadiness  of  the  principles  which  he  expressed  as  by  the 
extent  and  depth  of  his  information,  which  was  peculiarly 
valuable  and  interesting  to  the  Switzer,  who  felt  his  admir- 
able judgment  considerably  fettered  for  want  of  that  knowl- 
edge of  countries,  times,  and  manners  with  which  his  Eng- 
lish friend  often  supplied  him. 

"  Let  us  press  forward,"  he  said  to  the  banneret  of  Berne 
and  the  other  deputies  ;  "  let  us  offer  our  mediation  betwixt 
the  tyrant  De  Hagenbach  and  our  friend,  whose  life  is  in 
danger.     He  must  listen  to  us,  for  I  know  his  master  ex- 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  187 

Eects  to  see  this  Philipson  at  his  court.  The  old  man 
inted  to  me  so  much.  As  we  are  possessed  of  such  a  secret, 
Archibald  de  Hagenbach  will  not  dare  to  brave  our  vengeance, 
since  we  might  easily  send  to  Duke  Charles  information 
how  the  governor  of  La  Ferette  abuses  his  power,  in  matters 
where  not  only  the  Swiss,  but  where  the  Duke  himself  is 
concerned/' 

'^  Under  your  reverend  favor,  my  worthy  sir,'*  answered 
the  banneret  of  Berne,  *'  we  are  Swiss  deputies,  and  go  to 
represent  the  injuries  of  Switzerland  alone.  If  we  embroil 
ourselves  with  the  quarrels  of  strangers,  we  shall  find  it  more 
difiicult  to  settle  advantageously  those  of  our  own  country  ; 
and  if  the  Duke  should,  by  this  villainy  done  upon  English 
merchants,  bring  upon  him  the  resentment  of  the  English 
monarch,  such  breach  will  only  render  it  more  a  matter  of 
peremptory  necessity  for  him  to  make  a  treaty  advantageous 
to  the  Swiss  cantons." 

There  was  so  much  worldly  policy  in  this  advice,  that 
Adam  Zimmerman  of  Soleure  instantly  expressed  his  assent, 
with  the  additional  argument,  that  their  brother  Biederman 
had  told  them  scarce  two  hours  before  how  these  English 
merchants  had,  by  his  advice  and  their  own  free  desire, 
parted  company  with  them  that  morning,  on  purpose  that 
they  might  not  involve  the  deputies  in  the  quarrels  which 
might  be  raised  by  the  governors  exactions  on  his  merchan- 
dise. 

*'  Now  what  advantage, '^  he  said,  ''  shall  we  derive  from 
this  same  parting  of  company,  supposing,  as  my  brother 
seems  to  urge,  we  are  still  to  consider  this  Englishman's 
interest  as  if  he  were  our  fellow-traveler,  and  under  our 
especial  protection  ?  " 

This  personal  reasoning  pinched  the  Landamman  some- 
what closely,  for  he  had  but  a  short  while  before  descanted 
on  the  generosity  of  the  elder  Philipson,  who  had  freely  ex- 
posed himself  to  danger  rather  than  that  he  should  embar- 
rass their  negotiation  by  remaining  one  of  their  company  ;  and 
it  completely  shook  the  fealty  of  the  white-bearded  Nicholas 
Bonstetten,  whose  eyes  wandered  from  the  face  of  Zimmer- 
man, which  expressed  triumphant  confidence  in  his  argu- 
sient,  to  that  of  his  friend  the  Landamman,  which  was 
rather  more  embarrassed  than  usual. 

*'  Brethren,^'  said  Arnold  at  length  with  firmness  and  ani- 
mation, *'  I  erred  in  priding  myself  upon  the  worldly  policy 
which  I  taught  to  you  this  morning.  This  man  is  not  of  our 
country,  doubtless,  but  he  is  of  our  blood — a  copy  of  the 


188  WAVERLET  NOVELS 

common  Creator^s  image — and  the  more  worthy  of  being 
called  so,  as  he  is  a  man  of  integrity  and  worth.  We  might 
not,  without  grievous  sin,  pass  such  a  person,  being  in  dan- 
ger, without  affording  him  relief,  even  if  he  lay  accidentally 
by  the  side  of  our  path  ;  much  less  should  we  abandon  him 
if  the  danger  has  been  incurred  in  our  own  cause,  and  that 
we  might  escape  the  net  in  which  he  is  himself  caught.  Be 
not,  therefore,  downcast.  We  do  God^s  will  in  succoring  an 
oppressed  man.  If  we  succeed  by  mild  means,  as  I  trust  we 
shall,  we  do  a  good  action  at  a  cheap  rate  ;  if  not,  God  can 
assert  the  cause  of  humanity  by  the  hands  of  few  as  well  as 
of  many. " 

''If  such  is  your  opinion,^'  said  the  bannerman  of  Berne, 
^'not  a  man  here  will  shrink  from  you.  For  me,  I  pleaded 
against  my  own  inclinations  when  I  advised  you  to  avoid  a 
breach  with  the  Burgundian.  But  as  a  soldier,  I  must  needs 
say,  I  would  rather  fight  the  garrison,  were  they  double  the 
number  they  talk  of,  in  a  fair  field,  than  undertake  to  storm 
their  defenses." 

'^  Nay,"  said  the  Landamman,  ''I  sincerely  hope  we  shall 
both  enter  and  depart  from  the  town  of  Brisach  without 
deviating  from  the  pacific  character  with  which  our  mission 
from  the  Diet  invests  us," 


I 


CHAPTER  XVI 

For  Somerset,  off  with  his  guilty  head  f 
Henry  VI.  Part  III. 

The  governor  of  La  Ferette  stood  on  the  battlements  of  the 
eastern  entrance-tower  of  his  fortress,  and  looked  out  on  the 
road  to  Bale,  when  first  the  vanguard  of  the  Swiss  mission, 
then  the  center  and  rear,  appeared  in  the  distance.  At  the 
same  moment  the  van  halting,  the  main  body  closed  with  it, 
while  the  females  and  baggage,  and  mules  in  the  rear,  moved 
in  their  turn  up  to  the  main  body,  and  the  whole  were  united 
in  one  group. 

A  messenger  then  stepped  forth,  and  winded  one  of  those 
tremendous  horns,  the  spoils  of  the  wild  bulls,  so  numerous 
in  the  canton  of  IJri  that  they  are  supposed  to  have  given 
rise  to  his  name. 

''  They  demand  admittance,"  said  the  esquire. 

'^  They  shall  have  it,"  answered  Sir  Archibald  de  Hagen- 
bach.  "  Marry,  how  they  may  pass  out  again  is  another  and 
a  deeper  question." 

"  Think  yet  a  moment,  noble  sir,"  continued  the  esquire. 
''Bethink  you,  these  Switzers  are  very  fiends  in  fight,  and 
have,  besides,  no  booty  to  repay  the  conquest — some  paltry 
chains  of  good  copper,  perchance,  or  adulterated  silver.  You 
have  knocked  out  the  marrow  ;  do  not  damage  your  teeth  by 
trying  to  grind  the  bone." 

''Thou  art  a  fool,  Kilian,"  answered  De  Hagenbach, 
"  and  it  may  be  a  coward  besides.  The  approach  of  some 
score,  or  at  most  some  score  and  a  half,  of  Swiss  partizans 
makes  thee  draw  in  thy  horns  like  a  snail  at  a  child's  finger. 
Mine  are  strong  and  inflexible  as  those  of  the  urus,  of  whom 
they  talk  so  much,  and  on  which  they  blow  so  boldly.  Keep 
in  mind,  thou  timid  creature,  that  if  the  Swiss  deputies,  as 
they  presume  to  call  themselves,  are  permitted  to  pass  free, 
they  carry  to  the  Duke  stories  of  merchants  bound  to  his 
court,  and  fraught  with  precious  commodities,  specially  ad- 
dressed to  his  Grrace.  Charles  has  then  at  once  to  endure  the 
presence  of  the  ambassadors,  whom  he  contemns  and  hates, 
and  learns  by  them  that  the  governor  of  La  Ferette,  permit- 
ting such  to  pass,  has  nevertheless  presumed  to  stop  those 

189 


190  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

whom  he  would  full  gladly  see  ;  for  what  prince  would  not 
blythely  welcome  such  a  casket  at  that  which  we  have  taken 
from  yonder  strolling  English  peddler  ?  '* 

^'  I  see  not  how  the  assault  on  these  ambassadors  will  mend 
your  Excellency's  plea  for  despoiling  the  Englishmen,"  said 
Kilian. 

*^  Because  thou  art  a  blind  mole,  Kilian,^'  answered  hia 
chief.  ''  If  Burgundy  hears  of  a  ruffle  between  my  garrison 
and  the  mountain  churls,  whom  he  scorns,  and  yet  hates, 
it  will  drown  all  notice  of  the  two  peddlers  who  have  perished 
in  the  fray.  If  after-inquiry  should  come,  an  hour^s  ride 
transports  me  with  my  confidants  into  the  Imperial  dominions, 
where,  though  the  Emperor  be  a  spiritless  fool,  the  rich 
prize  I  have  found  on  these  islanders  will  ensure  me  a  good 
reception. '^ 

"  I  will  stick  by  your  Excellency  to  the  last,''  returned 
the  esquire  ;  "  and  you  shall  yourself  witness  that,  if  a  fool, 
I  am  at  least  no  coward." 

^'  I  never  thought  thee  such  when  it  came  to  hand- 
blows,"  said  De  Hagenbach  ;  ''  but  in  policy  thou  art  timid 
and  irresolute.  Hand  me  mine  armor,  Kilian,  and  beware 
thou  brace  it  well.  The  Swiss  pikes  and  swords  are  no  wasp 
stings." 

''  May  your  Excellency  wear  it  with  honor  and  profit,"  said 
Kilian  ;  and,  according  to  the  duty  of  his  office,  he  buckled 
upon  his  principal  the  complete  panoply  of  a  knight  of  the 
Empire.  ''  Your  purpose  of  assaulting  the  Swiss  then  holds 
firm,"  said  Kilian.  ''  But  what  pretext  will  your  Excellency 
assign  ?  " 

"  Let  me  alone,"  said  Archibald  de  Hagenbach,  ''  to  take 
one  or  to  make  one.  Do  you  only  have  Schonfeldt  and  the 
soldiers  oh  their  stations.  And  remember  the  words  are — 
*  Burgundy  to  the  rescue.'  When  these  words  are  first 
spoken,  let  the  soldiers  show  themselves ;  when  repeated, 
let  them  fall  on.  And  now  that  I  am  accoutered,  away  to 
the  churls  and  admit  them." 

Kilian  bowed  and  withdrew.  • 

The  bugle  of  the  Switzers  had  repeatedly  emitted  its  angry 
roar,  exasperated  by  the  delay  of  nearly  half  an  hour,  without 
an  answer  from  the  guarded  gate  of  Brisach  ;  and  every  blast 
declared,  by  the  prolonged  echoes  which  it  awakened,  the 
increased  impatience  of  those  who  summoned  the  town.  At 
length  the  portcullis  arose,  the  gate  opened,  the  drawbridge 
fell,  and  Kilian,  in  the  equipage  of  a  man-at-arms  arrayed 
for  fight,  rode  forth  on  an  ambling  palfrey. 


ANNE  OF  GEIEBSTEIN  IW 

*'  What  bold  iriRn  are  ye,  sirs,  who  are  here  in  arms  before 
the  fortress  of  Brisach,  appertaining  in  right  and  seigniory 
to  the  thrice  noble  Duke  of  Burgundy  and  Lorraine,  and 
garrisoned  for  his  cause  and  interest  by  the  excellent  Sir 
Archibald,  Lord  of  Hagenbach,  knight  of  the  Most  Holy 
Roman  Empire  V 

"  So  please  you,  sir  esquire,*^  said  the  Landamman,  ''  for 
Buch  I  conjecture  you  to  be  by  the  feather  in  your  bonnet, 
we  are  here  with  no  hostile  intentions,  though  armed,  as  you 
see,  to  defend  us  in  a  perilous  journey,  where  we  are  some- 
thing unsafe  by  day,  and  cannot  always  repose  by  night  in 
places  of  security.  But  our  arms  have  no  offensive  purpose  ; 
if  they  had  such,  our  numbers  had  not  been  so  few  as  you 
see  them/' 

'*  What,  then,  is  your  character  and  purpose  ?  "  said  Kilian, 
who  had  learned  to  use,  in  his  master's  absence,  the  lordly 
and  insolent  tone  of  the  governor  himself. 

**  We  are  delegates,''  answered  the  Landamman,  in  a  calm 
and  even  tone  of  voice,  without  appearing  to  take  offense 
at,  or  to  observe,  the  insolent  demeanor  of  the  esquire,  *'  from 
the  Free  and  Confederated  Cantons  of  the  Swiss  states  and 
provinces,  and  from  the  good  town  of  Soleure,  who  are  ac- 
credited from  our  Diet  of  Legislature  to  travel  to  the  presence 
of  his  Grace  the  Duke  of  Burgundy,  on  an  errand  of  high 
importance  to  both  countries,  and  with  the  hope  of  establish- 
ing with  your  master's  lord — I  mean  with  the  noble  Duke 
of  Burgundy — a  sure  and  steadfast  peace,  upon  such  terms 
as  shall  be  to  the  mutual  honor  and  advantage  of  both  coun- 
tries, and  to  avert  disputes  and  the  effusion  of  Christian 
blood,  which  may  otherwise  be  shed  for  want  of  timely  and 
good  understanding. '* 
,  "  Show  me  your  letters  of  credence,"  said  the  esquire. 

**  Under  your  forgiveness,  sir  esquire,"  replied  the  Land- 
amman, '^  it  will  be  time  enough  to  exhibit  these  when  we 
are  admitted  to  the  presence  of  your  master  the  governor." 

*'  That  is  as  much  as  to  say,  wilful  will  to  it.  It  is  well, 
my  master ;  and  yet  you  may  take  this  advice  from  Kilian 
of  Kersberg  ;  It  is  sometimes  better  to  reel  backwards  than 
to  run  forwards.  My  master,  and  my  master's  master,  are 
more  ticklish  persons  than  the  dealers  of  Bdle,  to  whom  you 
sell  your  cheeses.  Home,  honest  men — home  !  your  way 
lies  before  you,  and  you  are  fairly  warned." 

''  We  thank  thee  for  thy  counsel,"  said  the  Landamman, 
interrupting  the  banneret  of  Berne,  who  had  commenced  ail 
angry  reply,  '^^  supposing  it  kindly  meant ;  if  not,  an  uncivil 


192  WAVERLET  NOVELS 

jest  is  like  an  overcharged  gun,  which  recoils  on  the  can- 
noneer. Our  road  lies  onward  through  Brisach,  and  on^ward 
we  propose  to  go,  and  take  such  hap  as  that  which  wa^^may 
find  before  us." 

"  Go  onward  then,  in  the  devil's  name,*'  said  the  squire, 
who  had  entertained  some  hope  of  deterring  them  from 
pursuing  their  journey,  but  found  himself  offectually  foiled. 

The  Switzers  entered  the  town,  and,  stopped  by  the  barri* 
cade  of  cars  which  the  governor  had  formed  across  the 
street,  at  about  twenty  yards  from  the  gate,  they  drew  them- 
selves up  in  military  order,  with  their  little  body  formed  into 
three  lines,  the  two  females  and  the  fathers  of  the  deputa- 
tion being  in  the  center.  The  little  phalanx  presented  a 
double  front,  one  to  each  side  of  the  street,  while  the  center 
line  faced  so  as  to  move  forward,  and  only  waited  for  the  re- 
moval of  the  barricade  in  order  to  do  so.  But  while  they 
stood  thus  inactive,  a  knight  in  complete  armor  appeared 
from  a  side  door  of  the  great  tower,  under  the  arch  of  which 
they  had  entered  into  the  town.  His  visor  was  raised,  and 
he  walked  along  the  front  of  the  little  line  formed  by  the 
Swiss  with  a  stern  and  frowning  aspect. 

*'  Who  are  you,''  he  said,  "  who  have  thus  far  intruded 
yourselves  in  arms  into  a  Burgundian  garrison  ?  " 

^'  With  your  Excellency's  leave,"  said  the  Landamman, 
*'weare  men  who  come  on  a  peaceful  errand,  though  we 
carry  arms  for  our  own  defense.  Deputies  we  are  from  the 
towns  of  Berne  and  Soleure,  the  cantons  of  Uri,  Schwytz, 
and  Unterwalden,  come  to  adjust  matters  of  importance  with 
the  gracious  Duke  of  Burgundy  and  Lorraine." 

'^  What  towns,  what  cantons  ?  "  said  the  governor  of  La 
Ferette.  '^I  have  heard  no  such  names  among  the  Free 
Cities  of  Germany.  Berne,  truly !  when  became  Berne  a 
free  state  ?  " 

'^  Since  the  twenty-first  day  of  June,"  said  Arnold  Bieder- 
man,  "  in  the  year  of  grace  one  thousand  three  hundred  and 
thirty-nine,  on  which  day  the  battle  of  Laupen  was  fought." 

"  Away,  vain  old  man,"  said  the  knight ;  ^'thinkest  thou 
that  such  idle  boasts  can  avail  thee  here  ?  We  have  heard, 
indeed,  of  some  insurgent  villages  and  communities  among 
the  Alps,  and  how  they  rebelled  against  the  Emperor,  and, 
by  the  advantage  of  fastnesses,  ambuscades,  and  lurking- 
places,  how  they  have  murdered  some  knights  and  gentlemen 
sent  against  them  by  the  Duke  of  Austria ;  but  we  little 
thought  that  such  paltry  townships  and  insignificant  bands 
of  mutineers  had  the  insolence  to  term  themselves  free  states. 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  198 

and  propose  to  enter  into  negotiation  as  such  with  a  mighty 
prince  like  Charles  of  Burgundy/* 

**  May  it  please  your  Excellency/'  replied  the  Landamman, 
with  perfect  temper,  ^^  your  own  laws  of  chivalry  declare 
that,  if  the  stronger  wrong  the  weaker,  or  the  noble  does 
injury  to  the  less  gentle,  the  very  act  levels  distinctions  be- 
tween them,  and  the  doer  of  an  injury  becomes  bound  to  give 
condign  satisfaction,  of  such  kind  as  the  wronged  party  shall 
demand/' 

''Hence  to  thy  hills,  churl!''  exclaimed  the  haughty 
knight ;  ''  there  comb  thy  beard  and  roast  thy  chestnuts. 
What !  because  a  few  rats  and  mice  find  retreat  among  the 
walls  and  wainscoting  of  our  dwelling-houses,  shall  we  there- 
fore allow  them  to  intrude  their  disgusting  presence,  and 
their  airs  of  freedom  and  independence,  into  our  personal 
presence  ?  No,  we  will  rather  crush  them  beneath  the  heel 
of  our  ironshod  boots." 

"  We  are  not  men  to  be  trodden  on,"  said  Arnold  Bieder- 
man,  calmly  ;  ''  those  who  have  attempted  it  have  found  us 
stumbling-blocks.  Lay,  sir  knight — lay  aside  for  an  instant 
this  haughty  language,  which  can  only  lead  to  warfare,  and 
listen  to  the  words  of  peace.  Dismiss  our  comrade,  the 
English  merchant  Philipson,  on  whom  you  have  this  morn- 
ing laid  unlawful  hands  ;  let  him  pay  a  moderate  sum  for 
his  ransom,  and  we,  who  are  bound  instantly  to  the  Duke's 
presence,  will  bear  a  fair  report  to  him  of  his  governor  of  La 
Ferette." 

' '  You  will  be  so  generous,  will  you  ! "  said  Sir  Archibald, 
in  a  tone  of  ridicule.  ''  And  what  pledge  shall  I  have  that 
you  will  favor  me  so  kindly  as  you  propose  ?  " 

''  The  word  of  a  man  who  never  broke  his  promise," 
answered  the  stoical  Landamman. 

''  Insolent  hind  !  "  replied  the  knight,  ''  dost  thou  stipu- 
late ?  Tfiou  offer  thy  paltry  word  as  a  pledge  betwixt  the 
Duke  of  Burgundy  and  Archibald  de  Hagenbach  ?  Know 
that  ye  go  not  to  Burgundy  at  all,  or  you  go  thither  with 
fetters  on  your  hands  and  halters  round  your  necks.  So  ho. 
Burgundy  to  the  rescue  ! " 

Instantly,  as  he  spoke,  the  soldiers  showed  themselves  be- 
fore, behind,  and  around  the  narrow  space  where  the  Swiss 
had  drawn  themselves  up.  The  battlements  of  the  town  were 
lined  with  men ;  others  presented  themselves  at  the  doors  of 
each  house  in  the  street,  prepared  to  sally,  and,  at  the  win- 
dows, prepared  to  shoot,  as  well  with  guns  as  with  bows  and 
<^vross-bows.  The  soldiers  who  defended  the  barricade  also 
13 


I 


194  WAVERLET  NOVELS 

started  up,  and  seemed  ready  to  dispute  the  passage  in  front. 
The  little  band,  encompassed  and  overmatched,  but  neither 
startled  nor  disheartened,  stood  to  their  arms.  The  center 
rank  under  the  Landamman  prepared  to  force  their  way  over 
the  barricade.  The  two  fronts  stood  back  to  back,  ready  to 
dispute  the  street  with  those  that  should  issue  from  the 
houses.  It  could  not  fail  to  prove  a  work  of  no  small  blood 
and  toil  to  subdue  this  handful  of  determined  men,  even  with 
five  times  their  number.  Some  sense  of  this,  perhaps,  made 
Sir  Archibald  delay  giving  the  signal  for  onset,  when 
suddenly  behind  arose  a  cry  of  "  Treason — treason  !  '* 

A  soldier,  covered  with  mud,  rushed  before  the  governor, 
and  said,  in  hurried  accents,  that,  as  he  endeavored  to 
stop  a  prisoner  who  had  made  his  escape  some  short  time 
since,  he  had  been  seized  by  the  burghers  of  the  town,  and 
wellnigh  drowned  in  the  moat.  He  added,  that  the  citizens 
were  even  now  admitting  the  enemy  into  the  place. 

"Kilian,^*  said  the  knight,  -^take  two  score  of  men  ; 
hasten  to  the  northern  sally-port;  stab,  cut  down,  or  throw 
from  the  battlements  whomsoever  you  meet  in  arms,  towns- 
men or  strangers.  Leave  me  to  settle  with  these  peasants 
by  fair  means  or  foul." 

But  ere  Kilian  could  obey  his  master's  commands  a  shout 
arose  in  the  rear,  where  they  cried,  ^'  Bdle — Bdle  !  Free- 
dom— freedom  !    The  day  is  our  own  ! " 

Onward  came  the  youth  of  Bale,  who  had  not  been  at  such 
a  distance  but  that  Rudolph  had  contrived  to  recall  them  ; 
onward  came  many  Swiss  who  had  hovered  around  the  em- 
bassy, holding  themselves  in  readiness  for  such  a  piece  of 
service  ;  and  onward  came  the  armed  citizens  of  La  Ferette, 
who,  compelled  to  take  arms  and  mount  guard  by  the  tyranny 
of  De  Hagenbach,  had  availed  themselves  of  the  opportunity 
to  admit  the  Balese  at  the  sally-port  through  which  Philip- 
son  had  lately  made  his  escape. 

The  garrison,  somewhat  discouraged  before  by  the  firm 
aspect  of  the  Swiss,  who  had  held  their  numbers  at  defiance, 
were  totally  disconcerted  by  this  new  and  unexpected  insur- 
rection. Most  of  them  prepared  rather  to  fly  than  to  fight, 
and  they  threw  themselves  in  numbers  from  the  walls,  as  the 
best  chance  of  escaping.  Kilian  and  some  others,  whom 
pride  prevented  from  flying,  and  despair  from  asking  quarter, 
fought  with  fury,  and  were  killed  on  the  spot.  In  the  midst 
of  this  confusion  the  Landamman  kept  his  own  bands  un- 
moved, permitting  them  to  take  no  share  in  the  action,  save 
to  repel  such  violence  as  was  offered  to  them. 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  195 

''  Stand  fast  all  ! ''  sounded  the  deep  voice  of  Arnold 
Biederman  along  their  little  body.  '^  Where  is  Rudolph  ? 
Save  lives,  but  take  none.  Why,  how  now,  Arthur  Philip- 
Bon  !  stand  fast  I  say/' 

"  I  cannot  stand  fast,''  said  Arthur,  who  was  in  the  act  of 
leaving  the  ranks.  "  I  must  seek  my  father  in  the  dun- 
geons :  they  may  be  slaying  him  in  this  confusion  while  I 
stand  idle  here." 

*^  By  Our  Lady  of  Einsiedlen,  you  say  well,"  answered  the 
Landamman  ;  '^  that  I  should  have  forgot  my  noble  guest ! 
I  will  help  thee  to  search  for  him,  Arthur — the  affray  seems 
wellnigh  ended.  Ho,  there,  sir  banneret,  worthy  Adam 
Zimmerman,  my  good  friend  Nicholas  Bonstetten,  keep  our 
men  standing  firm.  Have  nothing  to  do  with  this  affray, 
but  leave  the  men  of  Bale  to  answer  their  own  deeds.  I 
return  in  a  few  minutes." 

So  saying  he  hurried  after  Arthur  Philipson,  whose  recol- 
lection conducted  him,  with  sufficient  accuracy,  to  the  head 
of  the  dungeon  stairs.  There  they  met  an  ill-looking  man 
clad  in  a  buff*  jerkin,  who  bore  at  his  girdle  a  bunch  of 
rusted  keys,  which  intimated  the  nature  of  his  calling. 

"Show  me  the  prison  of  the  English  merchant,"  said 
Arthur  Philipson,  "  or  thou  diest  by  my  hand." 

"  Which  of  them  desire  you  to  see,"  answered  the  official 
— ''  the  old  man  or  the  young  one  ?  " 

"  The  old,"  said  young  Philipson.  *'  His  son  has  escaped 
thee." 

'^  Enter  here,  then,  gentlemen,"  said  the  jailer,  undoing 
the  spring-bolt  of  a  heavy  door. 

At  the  upper  end  of  the  apartment  lay  the  man  they  came 
to  seek  for,  who  was  instantly  raised  from  the  ground  and 
loaded  with  their  embraces. 

''My  dear  father!"  ''My  worthy  gnest  !"  said  his 
son  and  friend  at  the  same  moment,  "how  fares  it  with 
you  ?"  .  . 

"  Well,"  answered  the  elder  Philipson,  "  if  you,  my  friend 
and  son,  come,  as  I  judge  from  your  arms  and  countenance, 
as  conquerors,  and  at  liberty ;  ill,  if  you  come  to  share  my 
prison  house." 

"  Have  no  fear  of  that,"  said  the  Landamman  ;  "  we  have 
been  in  danger,  but  are  remarkably  delivered.  Your  evil 
lair  has  benumbed  you.  Lean  on  me,  my  noble  guest,  and 
let  me  assist  you  to  better  quarters." 

Here  he  was  interrupted  by  a  heavy  clash,  as  it  seemed, 
of  iron,  and  differing  from  the  distant  roar  of  the  popular 


196  WAVEBLET  NOVELS 

tumult,  which  they  still  heard  from  the  open  street,  as  men 
hear  the  deep  voice  of  a  remote  and  tempestuous  ocean. 

"  By  St.  Peter  of  the  Fetters  !  "  said  Arthur,  who  instantly 
discovered  the  cause  of  the  sound,  ^'  the  jailer  has  cast  the 
door  to  the  staple,  or  it  has  escaped  his  grasp.  The  spring- 
lock  has  closed  upon  us,  and  we  cannot  be  liberated  saving 
from  the  outside.  Ho,  jailer  dog  !  villain  !  open  the  door,  or 
thou  diest." 

'*^  He  is  probably  out  of  hearing  of  your  threats,''  said  the 
elder  Philipson,  '^  and  your  cries  avail  you  nothing.  But 
are  you  sure  the  Swiss  are  in  possession  of  the  town  ?'' 

'*  We  are  peaceful  occupants  of  it,''  answered  the  Land- 
amman,  ''  though  without  a  blow  given  on  our  side." 

''Why,  then,"  said  the  Englishman,  ''your  followers  will 
soon  find  you  out.  Arthur  and  I  are  paltry  ciphers,  and  our 
absence  might  easily  pass  over  unobserved  ;  but  you  are  too 
important  a  figure  not  be  missed  and  looked  after,  when  the 
sum  of  your  number  is  taken." 

"  I  well  hope  it  will  prove  so,"  said  Landamman,  "  though 
methinks  I  show  but  scurvily,  shut  up  here  like  a  cat  in  a 
cupboard  when  he  has  been  stealing  cream.  Arthur,  my 
brave  boy,  dost  thou  see  no  means  of  shooting  back  the  bolt  ?  '* 

Arthur,  who  had  been  minutely  examining  the  lock, 
replied  in  the  negative ;  and  added,  that  they  must  take 
patience  perforce,  and  arm  themselves  to  wait  calmly  their 
deliverance,  which  they  could  do  nothing  to  accelerate. 

Arnold  Biederman,  however,  felt  somewhat  severely  the 
neglect  of  his  sons  and  companions. 

"All  my  youths,  uncertain  whether  I  am  alive  or  dead, 
are  taking  the  opportunity  of  my  absence,  doubtless,  for 
pillage  and  license  ;  and  the  politic  Rudolph,  I  presume, 
cares  not  if  I  should  never  reappear  on  the  stage  ;  the  ban- 
neret and  the  white-bearded  fool  Bonstetten,  who  calls  me 
his  friend — every  neighbor  has  deserted  me ;  and  yet  they 
know  that  I  am  anxious  for  the  safety  of  the  most  insignifi- 
cant of  them  all,  as  dearer  to  me  than  my  own.  By  Heav- 
ens !  it  looks  like  stratagem  ;  and  shows  as  if  the  rash 
young  men  desired  to  get  rid  of  a  rule  too  regular  and  peaceful 
to  be  pleasing  to  those  who  are  eager  for  war  and  conquest." 

The  Landamman,  fretted  out  of  his  usual  serenity  of 
temper,  and  afraid  of  the  misbehavior  of  his  countrymen 
in  his  absence,  thus  reflected  upon  his  friends  and  compan- 
ions, while  the  distant  noise  soon  died  away  into  the  most 
absolute  and  total  silence. 

"What  is  to  do  now  ?"  said  Arthur  Philipson.     "  I  trust 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  197 

they  will  take  the  opportunity  of  quiet  to  go  through  the 
roll-call,  and  inquire  then  who  are  missing/' 

It  seemed  as  if  the  young  man's  wish  had  some  efficacy, 
for  he  had  scarce  uttered  it  before  the  lock  was  turned,  and 
the  door  set  ajar  by  some  one  who  escaped  upstairs  from 
behind  it  before  those  who  were  set  at  liberty  could  obtain 
a  glance  of  their  deliverer. 

*'  It  is  the  jailer,  doubtless,'*  said  the  Landamman,  ^'  who 
may  be  apprehensive,  as  he  has  some  reason,  that  we  might 
prove  more  incensed  at  our  detention  in  the  dungeon  than 
grateful  for  our  deliverance.'* 

As  they  spoke  thus,  they  ascended  the  narrow  stairs,  and 
issued  from  the  door  of  the  gate-house  tower,  where  a  sin- 
gular spectacle  awaited  them.  The  Swiss  deputies  and 
their  escort  still  remained  standing  fast  and  firm  on  the  very 
spot  where  Hagenbach  had  proposed  to  assail  them.  A  few 
of  the  late  governor's  soldiers,  disarmed,  and  cowering  from 
the  rage  of  a  multitude  of  the  citizens,  who  now  filled  the 
streets,  stood  with  downcast  looks  behind  the  phalanx  of  the 
mountaineers,  as  their  safest  place  of  retreat.  But  this  was 
not  all. 

The  cars,  so  lately  placed  to  obstruct  the  passage  of  the 
street,  were  now  joined  together,  and  served  to  support  a 
platform,  or  scaffold,  which  had  been  hastily  constructed  of 
planks.  On  this  was  placed  a  chair,  in  which  sat  a  tall  man, 
with  his  head,  neck,  and  shoulders  bare,  the  rest  of  his  body 
clothed  in  bright  armor.  His  countenance  was  as  pale  as 
as  death,  yet  young  Philipson  recognized  the  hard-hearted 
governor.  Sir  Archibald  de  Hagenbach.  He  appeared  to  be 
bound  to  the  chair.  On  his  right,  and  close  beside  him,  stood 
the  priest  of  St.  Paul's  muttering  prayers,  with  his  breviary 
in  his  hand  ;  while  on  his  left,  and  somewhat  behind  the  cap- 
tive, appeared  a  tall  man,  attired  in  red,  and  leaning  with 
both  hands  on  the  naked  sword  which  has  been  described 
on  a  former  occasion.  The  instant  that  Arnold  Biederman 
appeared,  and  before  the  Landamman  could  open  his  lips 
to  demand  the  meaning  of  what  he  saw,  the  priest  drew  back, 
the  executioner  stepped  forward,  the  sword  was  brandished, 
fche  blow  was  struck,  and  the  victim's  head  rolled  on  the 
Loaffold.  A  general  acclamation  and  clapping  of  hands,  like 
that  by  which  a  crowded  theater  approves  of  some  well- 
graced  performer,  followed  this  feat  of  dexterity.  While 
the  headless  corpse  shot  streams  from  the  arteries,  which 
were  drunk  up  by  the  sawdust  that  strewed  the  scaffold,  the 
executioner  gracefully  presented  himself  alternately  at  the 


196  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

four  corners  of  the  stage,  modestly  bowing,  as  the  multitude 
greeted  him  with  cheers  of  approbation. 

*'  Nobles,  knights,  gentlemen  of  free-born  blood,  and  good 
citizens,^' he  said,  *'who  have  assisted  at  this  act  of  high 
justice,  I  pray  you  to  bear  me  witness  that  this  judgment 
nath  been  executed  after  the  form  of  the  sentence,  at  one 
blow,  and  without  stroke  missed  or  repeated/^ 

The  acclamations  were  reiterated  :  ■''  Long  live  our  sc/^fl^r/*- 
gericMer  Steinernherz,  and  many  a  tyrant  may  he  do  his 
duty  on  I '' 

**  Noble  friends,'*  said  the  executioner,  with  the  deepest 
obeisance,  **  I  have  yet  another  word  to  say,  and  it  must  be 
a  proud  one.  ^God  be  gracious  to  the  soul  of  this  good  and 
noble  knight.  Sir  Archibald  de  Hagenbach.  He  was  the 
patron  of  my  youth,  and  my  guide  to  the  path  of  honor. 
Eight  steps  have  I  made  towards  freedom  and  nobility  on 
the  heads  of  freeborn  knights  and  nobles  who  have  fallen  by 
his  authority  and  command  ;  and  the  ninth,  by  which  I  have 
attained  it,  is  upon  his  own,  in  grateful  memory  of  which  I 
will  expend  this  purse  of  gold,  which  but  an  hour  since  he 
bestowed  on  me,  in  masses  for  his  soul.  Gentlemen,  noble 
friends,  and  now  my  equals.  La  Ferette  has  lost  a  nobleman 
and  gained  one.  Our  Lady  be  gracious  to  the  departed 
knight.  Sir  Archibald  de  Hagenbach,  and  bless  and  prosper 
the  progress  of  Stephen  [Francis]  Steinernherz  von  Blu- 
tacker,  now  free  and  noble  of  right ! "  * 

With  that  he  took  the  feather  out  of  the  cap  of  the  de- 
ceased, which,  soiled  with  the  blood  of  the  wearer,  lay  near 
his  body  upon  the  scaffold,  and,  putting  it  into  his  own 
official  bonnet,  received  the  homage  of  the  crowd  in  loud 
huzzas,  which  were  partly  in  earnest,  partly  in  ridicule  of 
Buch  an  unusual  transformation. 

Arnold  Biederman  at  length  found  breath,  which  the  ex- 
tremity of  surprise  had  at  first  denied  him.  Indeed,  the 
whole  execution  had  passed  much  too  rapidly  for  the  possi- 
bility of  his  interference. 

"  Who  has  dared  to  act  this  tragedy  ?  "  he  said  indig- 
nantly ;  ^'  and  by  what  right  has  it  taken  place  ?  " 

A  cavalier,  richly  dressed  in  blue,  replied  to  the  question 
— ''The  free  citizens  of  Bale  have  acted  for  themselves,  as 
the  fathers  of  Swiss  liberty  set  them  an  example ;  and  tho 
tyrant,  De  Hagenbach,  has  fallen  by  the  same  right  which 
put  to  death  the  tyrant  Geysler.  We  bore  with  him  till  hia 
cup  was  brimming  over,  and  then  we  bore  no  longer/' 

♦  See  Public  Executioner.    Note  4. 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  199 

"  I  say  not  but  that  he  deserved  death/'  replied  the  Lan- 
damman  ;  ''but,  for  your  own  sake  and  for  ours,  you  should 
have  forborne  him  till  the  Duke's  pleasure  was  known/' 

''What  tell  you  us  of  the  Duke?'*  answered  Laurenz 
Neipperg,  the  same  blue  cavalier  whom  Arthur  had  seen  at 
the  secret  rendezvous  of  the  Balese  youth,  in  company  with 
Eudolph.  "  Why  talk  you  of  Burgundy  to  us,  who  are  none 
of  his  subjects  ?  The  Emperor,  our  only  rightful  lord,  had 
no  title  to  pawn  the  town  and  fortifications  of  La  Ferette, 
being  as  it  is  a  dependency  of  Bale,  to  the  prejudice  of  our 
free  city.  He  might  have  pledged  the  revenue  indeed  ;  and 
supposing  him  to  have  done  so,  the  debt  has  been  paid  twice 
over  by  the  exactions  levied  by  yonder  oppressor,  who  has 
now  received  his  due.  But  pass  on,  Landamman  of  Unter- 
walden.  If  our  actions  displeaae  you,  abjure  them  at  the 
footstool  of  the  Duke  of  Burgundy  ;  but,  in  doing  so,  abjure 
the  memory  of  William  Tell  and  Stauffacher,  of  Furst  and 
Melchthal,  the  fathers  of  Swiss  freedom.'' 

"You  speak  truth,"  said  the  Landamman  ;  "but  it  is  in 
an  ill-chosen  and  unhappy  time.  Patience  would  have  reme- 
died your  evils,  -v^hich  none  felt  more  deeply,  or  would  have 
redressed  more  willingly,  than  L  But  0,  imprudent  young 
man,  you  have  thrown  aside  the  modesty  of  your  age  and 
the  subjection  you  owe  to  your  elders.  William  Tell  and  his 
brethren  were  men  of  years  and  judgment,  husbands  and 
fathers,  having  a  right  to  be  heard  in  council  and  to  be 
foremost  in  action.  Enough — I  leave  it  with  the  fathers  and 
senators  of  your  own  city  to  acknowledge  or  to  reprove  your 
actions.  But  you,  my  friends — you,  banneret  of  Berne — 
you,  Eudolph — above  all,  you,  Nicholas  Bonstetten,  my 
comrade  and  my  friend,  why  did  you  not  take  this  miser- 
able man  under  your  protection  ?  The  action  would  have 
shown  Burgundy  that  we  were  slandered  by  those  who 
have  declared  us  desirous  of  seeking  a  quarrel  with  him,  or 
of  inciting  his  subjects  to  revolt.  Now,  all  these  prejudices 
will  be  confirmed  in  the  minds  of  men  naturally  more  tena- 
cious of  evil  impressions  than  of  those  which  are  favorable." 

"  As  I  live  by  bread,  good  gossip  and  neighbor,"  answered 
Nicholas  Bonstetten,  "  I  thought  to  obey  your  injunctions 
to  a  tittle  ;  so  much  so,  that  I  once  thought  of  breaking  in 
and  protecting  the  man,  when  Eudolph  Donnerhugel  re- 
minded me  that  your  last  orders  were  to  stand  firm,  and  let 
the  men  of  Bdle  answer  for  their  own  actions  ;  '  and  surely,' 
said  I  to  myself,  '  my  gossip  Arnold  knows  better  than  all 
of  lis  what  is  fitting  to  be  done.' " 


200  WA  YEELEY  NO VELS 

"  Ah,  Rudolph — Rudolph/'  said  the  Landamman,  look- 
ing on  him  with  a  displeased  countenance,  ^'  wert  thou  not 
ashamed  thus  to  deceive  an  old  man  ? '' 

^'  To  say  I  deceived  him  is  a  hard  charge  ;  but  from  you, 
Landamman,''  answered  the  Bernese,  with  his  usual  defer- 
ence, '^  I  can  bear  anything.  I  will  only  say  that,  being  a 
member  of  this  embassy,  I  am  obliged  to  think  and  to  give 
my  opinion  as  such,  especially  when  he  is  not  present  who 
is  wise  enough  to  lead  and  direct  us  all/' 

"  Thy  words  are  always  fair,  Rudolph,"  replied  Arnold 
Biederman,  ''  and  I  trust  so  is  thy  meaning.  Yet  there  are 
times  when  I  somewhat  doubt  it.  But  let  disputes  pass, 
and  let  me  have  your  advice,  my  friends  ;  and  for  that 
purpose  go  we  where  it  may  best  profit  us,  even  to  the 
church,  where  we  will  first  return  our  thanks  for  our  deliv- 
erance from  assassination,  and  then  hold  counsel  what  next 
is  to  be  done.'' 

The  Landamman  led  the  way,  accordingly,  to  the  church 
of  St.  Paul's,  while  his  companions  and  associates  followed 
in  their  order.  This  gave  Rudolph,  who,  as  youngest,  suf- 
fered the  others  to  precede  him,  an  opportunity  to  beckon 
to  him  the  Landamman's  eldest  son,  Rudiger,  and  whisper 
to  him  to  get  rid  of  the  two  English  merchants. 

*'  Away  with  them,  my  dear  Rudiger,  by  fair  means  if  pos- 
sible ;  but  away  with  them  directly.  Thy  father  is  besotted 
with  these  two  English  peddlers,  and  will  listen  to  no  other 
counsel  ;  and  thou  and  I  know,  dearest  Rudiger,  that  such 
men  as  these  are  unfit  to  give  laws  to  freeborn  Switzers. 
Get  the  trumpery  they  have  been  robbed  of,  or  as  much  of 
it  as  is  extant,  together  as  fast  as  thou  canst,  and  send  them 
a-traveling  in  Heaven's  name." 

Rudiger  nodded  intelligently,  and  went  to  offer  his  serv- 
ices to  expedite  the  departure  of  the  elder  Philipson.  He 
found  the  sagacious  merchant  as  desirous  to  escape  from  the 
the  scene  of  confusion  now  presented  in  the  town  as  the 
young  Swiss  could  be  to  urge  his  departure.  He  only  waited 
to  recover  the  casket  of  which  De  Hagenbach  had  possessed 
himself,  and  Rudiger  Biederman  set  on  foot  a  strict  search 
after  it,  which  was  the  more  likely  to  be  successful,  that  the 
simplicity  of  the  Swiss  prevented  them  from  setting  the  true 
value  upon  its  contents.  A  strict  and  hasty  search  was  im- 
mediately instituted,  both  on  the  person  of  the  dead  De 
Hagenbach,  on  which  the  precious  packet  was  not  to  be 
found,  and  on  all  who  had  approached  him  at  his  execution; 
or  were  supposed  to  enjoy  his  confidence. 


ANNE  OF  GEIEBSTEIN  201 

Young  Arthur  Philipson  would  gladly  have  availed  him- 
self of  a  few  moments  to  bid  farewell  to  Anne  of  Geierstein. 
But  the  gray  wimple  was  no  longer  seen  in  the  ranks  of  the 
Switzers,  and  it  was  reasonable  to  think  that,  in  the  con- 
fusion which  followed  the  execution  of  De  Hagenbach,  and 
the  retreat  of  the  leaders  of  the  little  battalion,  she  had 
made  her  escape  into  some  of  the  adjacent  houses,  while  the 
soldiers  around  her,  no  longer  restrained  by  the  presence  of 
their  chiefs,  had  dispersed,  some  to  search  for  the  goods  of 
which  the  Englishmen  had  been  despoiled,  others  doubtless 
to  mingle  with  and  join  in  the  rejoicings  of  the  victorious 
youths  of  Bale,  and  of  those  burghers  of  La  Ferette  by 
whom  the  fortifications  of  the  town  had  been  so  gently  sur- 
rendered. 

The  cry  amongst  them  was  universal,  that  Brisach,  so 
long  considered  as  the  curb  of  the  Swiss  confederates,  and 
the  barrier  against  their  commerce,  should  henceforth  be 
garrisoned  as  their  protection  against  the  encroachments 
and  exactions  of  the  Duke  of  Burgundy  and  his  officers. 
The  whole  town  was  in  a  wild  but  joyful  jubilee,  while  the 
citizens  vied  with  each  other  in  offering  to  the  Swiss  every 
species  of  refreshment,  and  the  youths  who  attended  upon 
the  mission  hurried  gaily  and  in  triumph  to  profit  by  the 
circumstances  which  had  so  unexpectedly  converted  the 
ambuscade  so  treacherously  laid  for  them  into  a  genial  and 
joyous  reception. 

Amid  this  scene  of  confusion,  it  was  impossible  for  Arthur 
to  quit  his  father,  even  to  satisfy  the  feelings  which  induced 
him  to  wish  for  a  few  moments  at  his  own  disposal.  Sad, 
thoughtful,  and  sorrowful,  amid  the  general  joy,  he  re- 
mained with  the  parent  whom  he  had  so  much  reason  to  love 
and  honor,  to  assist  him  in  securing  and  placing  on  their 
mule  the  various  packages  and  bales  which  the  honest 
Switzers  had  recovered  after  the  death  of  De  Hagenbach, 
and  which  they  emulated  each  other  in  bringing  to  their 
rightful  owner  ;  while  they  were  with  difficulty  prevailed 
on  to  accept  the  guerdon  which  the  Englishman,  from  the 
means  which  he  had  still  left  upon  his  person,  was  disposed 
not  merely  to  offer  but  to  force  upon  the  restorers  of  his 
property,  and  which,  in  their  rude  and  simple  ideas,  seemed 
greatly  to  exceed  the  value  of  what  they  had  recovered  for 
him. 

This  scene  had  scarcely  lasted  ten  or  fifteen  minutes,  when 
Eudolph  Donnerhugel  approached  the  elder  Philipson,  and 
in  a  tone  of  great  courtesy  invited  him  to  join  the  council 


202  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

of  the  chiefs  of  the  embassy  of  the  Swiss  cantons,  who,  he 
said,  were  desirous  of  having  the  advantage  of  his  experi- 
ence upon  some  important  questions  respecting  their  con- 
duct on  these  unexpected  occurrences. 

'^  See  to  our  affairs,  Arthur,  and  stir  not  from  the  spot  on 
which  I  leave  you,^'  said  Philipson  to  his  son.  "  Look  espe- 
cially after  the  sealed  packet  of  which  I  was  so  infamously 
and  illegally  robbed  :  its  recovery  is  of  the  utmost  conse- 
quence." 

So  speaking,  he  instantly  prepared  himself  to  attend  the 
Bernese,  who  in  a  confidential  manner  whispered,  as  he  went 
arm-in-arm  with  him  towards  the  church  of  St.  Paul's — 

'^  I  think  a  man  of  your  wisdom  will  scarce  advise  us  to 
trust  ourselves  to  the  mood  of  the  Duke  of  Burgundy,  when 
he  has  received  such  an  injury  as  the  loss  of  this  fortress 
and  the  execution  of  his  officer.  You,  at  least,  would  be 
too  judicious  to  afford  us  any  farther  the  advantage  of  your 
company  and  society,  since  to  do  so  would  be  wilfully  to 
engage  in  our  shipwreck." 

"  I  will  give  my  best  advice,"  answered  Philipson,  "  when 
I  shall  be  more  particularly  acquainted  with  the  circum- 
stances under  which  it  is  asked  of  me." 

Eudolph  muttered  an  oath,  or  angry  exclamation,  and 
led  Philipson  to  the  church  without  farther  argument. 

In  a  small  chapel  adjoining  to  the  church,  and  dedicated 
to  St.  Magnus  the  Martyr,  the  four  deputies  were  assembled 
in  close  conclave  around  the  shrine  in  which  the  sainted  hero 
stood,  armed  as  when  he  lived.  The  priest  of  St.  Paul's  was 
also  present,  and  seemed  to  interest  himself  deeply  in  the 
debate  which  was  taking  place.  When  Philipson  entered, 
all  were  for  a  moment  silent,  until  the  Landamman  ad- 
dressed him  thus — '^  Signior  Philipson,  we  esteem  you  a  man 
far  traveled,  well  versed  in  the  manners  of  foreign  lands,  and 
acquainted  with  the  conditions  of  this  Duke  Charles  of  Bur- 
gundy— you  are  therefore  fit  to  advise  us  in  a  matter  of  great 
weight.  You  know  with  what  anxiety  we  go  on  this  mission 
of  peace  with  the  Duke  ;  you  also  know  what  has  this  day 
happened,  which  may  probably  be  represented  to  Charles  in 
the  worst  colors  ;  would  you  advise  us,  in  such  a  case,  to 
proceed  to  the  Duke's  presence,  with  the  odium  of  this 
action  attached  to  us,  or  should  we  do  better  to  return 
home,  and  prepare  for  war  with  Burgundy  ?" 

'^  How  do  your  own  opinions  stand  on  the  subject  ?"  said 
the  cautious  Englishman. 

"  We  are  divided,"  answered  the  banneret  of  Berne.     *^\ 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  203 

have  borne  the  banner  of  Berne  against  her  foes  for  thirty 
years  ;  I  am  more  willing  to  carry  it  against  the  lances  of 
the  knights  of  Hainault  and  Lorraine  than  to  undergo  the 
rude  treatment  which  we  must  look  to  meet  at  the  footstool 
of  the  Duke." 

''  We  put  our  heads  in  the  lion's  mouth  if  we  go  forward," 
said  Zimmerman  of  Soleure  ;  ''  my  opinion  is,  that  we  draw 
back." 

*'I  would  not  advise  retreat,"  said  Rudolph  Donner- 
hugel,  "  were  my  life  alone  concerned  ;  but  the  Landamman 
of  Unterwalden  is  the  father  of  the  United  Cantons,  and  it 
would  be  parricide  if  I  consented  to  put  his  life  in  peril. 
My  advice  is,  that  we  return,  and  that  the  Confederacy 
stand  on  their  defense." 

"  My  opinion  is  different,"  said  Arnold  Biederman  ;  '^  nor 
will  I  forgive  any  man  who,  whether  in  sincere  or  feigned 
friendship,  places  my  poor  life  in  the  scale  with  the  advan- 
tage of  the  cantons.  If  we  go  forward,  we  risk  our  heads — 
be  it  so.  But  if  we  turn  back,  we  involve  our  country  in 
war  with  a  power  of  the  first  magnitude  in  Europe.  Worthy 
citizens !  you  are  brave  in  fight,  show  your  fortitude  as 
boldly  now  ;  and  let  us  not  hesitate  to  incur  such  personal 
danger  as  may  attend  ourselves,  if  by  doing  so  we  can  gain 
a  chance  of  peace  for  our  country." 

''  I  think  and  vote  with  my  neighbor  and  gossip,  Arnold 
Biederman,"  said  the  laconic  deputy  from  Schwytz. 

''You  hear  how  we  are  divided  in  opinion,"  said  the 
Landamman  to  Philipson.     "  What  is  your  opinion  ?  " 

''  I  would  first  ask  of  you,"  said  the  Englishman,  "  what 
has  been  your  part  in  this  storming  of  a  town  occupied  by 
the  Duke's  forces,  and  putting  to  death  his  governor  ?  " 

"So  help  me.  Heaven!"  said  the  Landamman,  "as  I 
knew  not  of  any  purpose  of  storming  the  town  until  it  un- 
expectedly took  place." 

"  And  for  the  execution  of  De  Hagenbach,"  said  the  black 
priest,  "  I  swear  to  you,  stranger,  by  my  holy  order,  that  it 
took  place  under  the  direction  of  a  competent  court,  whose 
sentence  Charles  of  Burgundy  himself  is  bound  to  respect, 
and  whose  proceedings  the  deputies  of  the  Swiss  mission 
could  neither  have  advanced  nor  retarded." 

"  If  such  be  the  case,  and  if  you  can  really  prove  your- 
selves free  of  these  proceedings,"  answered  Philipson, 
"  which  must  needs  be  highly  resented  by  the  Dnke  of 
Burgundy,  I  would  advise  you  by  all  means  to  proceed  upon 
K     your  journey,  with  the  certainty  that  you  will  obtain  from 

L 


204  WA  VEBLEY  NO VELS 

that  prince  a  jnst  and  impartial  hearing,  and  it  may  be  a 
favorable  answer.  I  know  Charles  of  Burgundy — I  may 
even  say  that,  our  different  ranks  and  walks  of  life  considered, 
I  know  him  well.  He  will  be  deeply  incensed  by  the  first 
tidings  of  what  has  here  chanced,  which  he  will  no  doubt 
interpret  to  your  disfavor.  But  if,  in  the  course  of  investi- 
gation, you  are  able  to  clear  yourselves  of  these  foul  imputa- 
tions, a  sense  of  his  own  injustice  may  perhaps  turn  the 
balance  in  your  favor,  and  in  that  case  he  will  rush  from  the 
excess  of  censure  into  that  of  indulgence.  But  your  cause 
must  be  firmly  stated  to  the  Duke  by  some  tongue  better 
acquainted  with  the  language  of  courts  than  yours  ;  and 
such  a  friendly  interpreter  might  I  have  proved  to  you,  had 
I  not  been  plundered  of  the  valuable  packet  which  I  bore 
with  me  in  order  to  present  to  the  Duke,  and  in  testimony 
of  my  commission  to  him.^' 

''  A  paltry  fetch,'^  whispered  Donnerhugel  to  the  banneret, 
'^  that  the  trader  may  obtain  from  us  satisfaction  for  the 
goods  of  which  he  has  been  plundered." 

The  Landamman  himself  was  perhaps  for  a  moment  of  the 
same  opinion. 

'^  Merchant,"  he  said,  "  we  hold  ourselves  bound  to  make 
good  to  you — that  is,  if  our  substance  can  effect  it — whatever 
loss  you  may  have  sustained,  trusting  to  our  protection." 

"  Ay,  that  we  will,"  said  the  old  man  of  Schwytz,  "  should 
it  cost  us  twenty  zecchins  to  make  it  good." 

''  To  your  guarantee  of  immunity  I  can  have  no  claim," 
said  Philipson,  '^seeing  I  parted  company  with  you  before 
I  sustained  any  loss.  And  I  regret  the  loss  not  so  much  for 
its  value,  although  that  is  greater  than  you  may  fancy,  but 
chiefly  because  the  contents  of  the  casket  I  bore  being  a 
token  betwixt  a  person  of  considerable  importance  and  the 
Duke  of  Burgundy,  I  shall  not,  I  fear,  now  that  I  am  de- 
prived of  them,  receive  from  his  Grace  that  credence  which 
I  desire,  both  for  my  own  sake  and  yours.  Without  them, 
and  speaking  only  in  the  person  of  a  private  traveler,  I  may 
not  take  upon  me  as  I  might  have  done,  when  using  the 
names  of  the  persons  whose  mandates  I  carried." 

'*  This  important  packet,"  said  the  Landamman,  "  shall 
be  most  rigorously  sought  for,  and  carefully  redelivered  to 
thee.  For  ourselves,  not  a  Swiss  of  us  knows  the  value  of  ^ 
its  contents  ;  so  that,  if  they  are  in  the  hands  of  any  of  our 
men,  they  will  be  returned,  of  course,  as  baubles,  upon 
which  they  set  no  value." 

As  he  spoke,  there  was  a  knocking  at  the  door  of  the 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  205 

chapel.  Eudolph,  who  stood  nearest  to  it,  having  held 
some  communication  with  those  without,  observed,  with  a 
smile,  which  he  instantly  repressed,  lest  it  had  given  offense 
to  Arnold  Biederman — '^  It  is  Sigismund,  the  good  youth. 
Shall  1  admit  him  to  our  council  ?  " 

"  To  what  purpose,  poor  simple  lad  ?  "  said  his  father, 
with  a  sorrowful  smile. 

*'  Yet  let  me  undo  the  door,''  said  Philipson ;  he  is 
anxious  to  enter,  and  perhaps  he  brings  news.  I  have  ob- 
served, Landamman,  that  the  young  man,  though  with 
slowness  of  ideas  and  expression,  is  strong  in  his  principles, 
and  sometimes  happy  in  his  conceptions.'' 

He  admitted  Sigismund  accordingly ;  while  Arnold 
Biederman  felt,  on  the  one  hand,  the  soothing  compliment 
which  Philipson  had  paid  to  a  boy  certainly  the  dullest  of 
his  family,  and,  on  the  other,  feared  some  public  display  of 
his  son's  infirmity,  or  lack  of  understanding.  Sigismund, 
however,  seemed  all  confidence  ;  and  he  certainly  had  reason 
to  be  so,  since,  as  the  shortest  mode  of  explanation,  he 
presented  to  Philipson  the  necklace  of  diamonds,  with  the 
casket  in  which  it  had  been  deposited. 

"  This  pretty  thing  is  yours,"  he  said.  ''  I  understand 
so  much  from  your  son  Arthur,  who  tells  me  you  will  be 
glad  to  have  it  again." 

*'  Most  cordially  do  I  thank  you,"  said  the  merchant. 
"  The  necklace  is  certainly  mine — that  is,  the  packet  of 
which  it  formed  the  contents  was  under  my  charge  ;  and  it 
is  at  this  moment  of  greater  additional  value  to  me  than 
even  its  actual  worth,  since  it  serves  as  my  pledge  and  token 
for  the  performance  of  an  important  mission.  And  how, 
my  young  friend,"  he  continued,  addressing  Sigismund, 
*'  have  you  been  so  fortunate  as  to  recover  what  we  have 
sought  for  hitherto  in  vain  ?  Let  me  return  my  best 
acknowledgments  ;  and  do  not  think  me  over-curious  if  I  ask 
how  it  reached  you  ?  " 

^'  For  that  matter,"  said  Sigismund,  the  story  is  soon  told. 
I  had  planted  myself  as  near  the  scaffold  as  I  could,  having 
never  beheld  an  execution  before  ;  and  I  observed  the  execu- 
tioner, who,  I  thought,  did  his  duty  very  cleverly,  just  in  the 
moment  that  he  spread  a  cloth  over  the  body  of  De  Hagen- 
bach,  snatch  something  from  the  dead  man's  bosom,  and 
huddle  it  hastily  into  his  own  ;  so,  when  the  rumor  arose  that 
an  article  of  value  was  amissing,  I  hurried  in  quest  of  the 
fellow.  I  found  he  had  bespoken  masses  to  the  extent  of  a 
hundred  crowns  at  the  high  altar  of  St.  Paul's  ;  and  I  traced 


i 


206  WA VERLEY  NOVELS 

him  to  the  tavern  of  the  village,  where  some  ill-looking  men 
were  joyously  drinking  to  him  as  a  free  citizen  and  a  noble- 
man. So  I  stepped  in  amongst  them  with  my  partizan,  and 
demanded  of  his  lordship  either  to  surrender  to  me  what  he 
had  thus  possessed  himself  of  or  to  try  the  weight  of  the 
weapon  I  carried.  His  lordship,  my  Lord  Hangman,  hesi- 
tated, and  was  about  to  make  a  brawl.  But  I  was  something 
peremptory,  and  so  he  judged  it  best  to  give  me  the  parcel, 
which  I  trust  you,  Signior  Philipson,  will  find  safe  and  entire 
as  it  was  taken  from  you.  And — and — I  left  them  to  con- 
clude their  festivities — and  that  is  the  whole  of  the  story.'' 

"Thou  art  a  brave  lad,''  said  Philipson;  *^*^and  with  a 
heart  always  right,  the  head  can  seldom  be  far  wrong.  But 
the  church  shall  not  lose  its  dues,  and  I  take  it  on  myself, 
ere  I  leave  La  Ferette,  to  pay  for  the  masses  which  the  man 
had  ordered  for  the  sake  of  De  Hagenbach's  soul,  snatched 
from  the  world  so  unexpectedly." 

Sigismund  was  about  to  reply  ;  but  Philipson,  fearing  he 
might  bring  out  some  foolery  to  diminish  the  sense  which 
his  father  had  so  joyously  entertained  of  his  late  conduct, 
immediately  added,  "  Hie  away,  my  good  youth,  and  give  to 
my  son  Arthur  this  precious  casket." 

With  simple  exultation  at  receiving  applause  to  which  he 
was  little  accustomed,  Sigismund  took  his  leave,  and  the 
council  were  once  more  left  to  their  own  privacy. 

There  was  a  moment's  silence  ;  for  the  Landamman  could 
not  overcome  the  feeling  of  exquisite  pleasure  at  the  sagacity 
which  poor  Sigismund,  whose  general  conduct  warranted  no 
such  expectations,  had  displayed  on  the  present  occasion. 
It  was  not,  however,  a  feeling  to  which  circumstances  per 
mitted  him  to  give  vent,  and  he  reserved  it  for  his  own  secret 
enjoyment,  as  a  solace  to  the  anxietjr  which  he  had  hitherto 
entertained  concerning  the  limited  intellect  of  this  simple- 
minded  young  man.  When  he  spoke,  it  was  to  Philipson, 
with  the  usual  candor  and  manliness  of  his  character. 

"  Signior  Philipson,"  he  said,  "  we  will  hold  you  bound  by 
no  offer  which  you  made  while  these  glittering  matters  were 
out  of  your  possession  ;  because  a  man  may  often  think  that, 
if  he  were  in  such  and  such  a  situation,  he  would  be  able  to 
achieve  certain  ends,  which,  that  position  being  attained,  he 
may  find  himself  unable  to  accomplish.  But  I  now  ask  you 
whether,  having  thus  fortunately  and  unexpectedly  regained 
possession  of  what  you  say  will  give  you  certain  credence  with 
the  Duke  of  Burgundy,  you  conceive  yourself  entitled  to 
mediate  with  him  on  our  behalf,  as  you  formerly  proposed  ?  " 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  207 

All  bent  forward  to  hear  the  merchant's  answer. 

"  Landamman/'  he  replied,  '^  I  never  spoke  the  word  in 
difficulty  which  I  was  not  ready  to  redeem  when  that  difficulty 
was  removed.  You  say,  and  I  believe,  that  you  had  no  con- 
cern with  this  storming  of  La  Ferette.  You  say  also,  that 
the  life  of  De  Hagenbach  was  taken  by  a  judicature  over 
which  you  had  no  control,  and  exercised  none.  Let  a  pro- 
tocol be  drawn  up,  averring  these  circumstances,  and,  as  far 
as  possible,  proving  them.  Entrust  it  to  me — under  seal  if 
you  will — and  if  such  points  be  established,  I  will  pledge  my 
word  as  a — as  a —  as  an  honest  man  and  a  true-born  English- 
man, that  the  Duke  of  Burgundy  will  neither  detain  nor 
offer  you  any  personal  injury.  I  also  hope  to  show  to  Charles 
strong  and  weighty  reasons  why  a  league  of  friendship  be- 
twixt Burgundy  and  the  United  Cantons  of  Helvetia  is,  on 
his  Grace's  part,  a  wise  and  generous  measure.  But  it 
is  possible  I  may  fail  in  this  last  point ;  and  if  I  do,  I  shall 
deeply  grieve  for  it.  In  warranting  your  safe  passage  to  the 
Duke's  court,  and  your  safe  return  from  it  to  your  own 
country,  I  think  I  cannot  fail.  If  I  do,  my  own  life,  and 
that  of  my  beloved  and  only  child,  shall  pay  the  ransom  for 
my  excess  of  confidence  in  the  Duke's  justice  and  honor." 

The  other  deputies  stood  silent  and  looked  on  the  Land- 
amman,  but  Rudolph  Donnerhugel  spoke. 

"  Are  we  then  to  trust  our  own  lives,  and,  what  is  still 
dearer  to  us,  that  of  our  honored  associate,  Arnold  Bieder- 
man,  on  the  simple  word  of  a  foreign  trader  ?  We  all  know 
the  temper  of  the  Duke,  and  how  vindictively  and  relentlessly 
he  has  ever  felt  towards  our  country  and  its  interests.  Me- 
thinks  this  English  merchant  should  express  the  nature 
of  his  interest  at  the  court  of  Burgundy  more  plainly,  if  he 
expects  us  to  place  such  implicit  reliance  in  it." 

"  That,  Siguier  Rudolph  Donnerhugel,"  replied  the  mer- 
chant, ''  I  find  myself  not  at  liberty  to  do.  I  pry  not  into 
your  secrets,  whether  they  belong  to  you  as  a  body  or  as 
individuals.  My  own  are  sacred.  If  I  consulted  my  own 
safety  merely,  I  should  act  most  wisely  to  part  company  with 
you  here.  But  the  object  of  your  mission  is  peace  ;  and  your 
sudden  return,  after  what  has  chanced  at  La  Ferette,  will 
make  war  inevitable.  I  think  I  can  assure  you  of  a  safe  and 
free  audience  from  the  Duke,  and  I  am  willing,  for  the 
chance  of  securing  the  peace  of  Christendom,  to  encounter 
any  personal  peril  which  may  attach  to  myself." 

''Say  no  more,  worthy  Philipson,"  said  the  Landamman  j 
*'  thy  good  faith  is  undoubted  on  our  part,  and  ill-luck  is 


208  WA VEBLEY  NOVELS 

his  who  cannot  read  it  written  oh  thy  manly  forehead.  We 
go  forward^  then,  prepared  to  risk  our  own  safety  at  the 
hand  of  a  despotic  prince,  rather  than  leave  undischarged 
the  mission  which  our  country  has  entrusted  us  with.  He 
is  but  half  a  brave  man  who  will  risk  his  life  only  in  the 
field  of  battle.  There  are  other  dangers  to  front  which  are 
equally  honorable  ;  and  since  the  weal  of  Switzerland  de- 
mands that  we  should  encounter  them,  not  one  of  us  will 
hesitate  to  take  the  risk.'* 

The  other  members  of  the  mission  bowed  in  assent,  and 
the  conclave  broke  up  to  prepare  for  their  farther  entrance 
into  Burgundy. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

Upon  the  mountain's  heathery  side. 

The  day's  last  luster  shone, 
And  rich  with  many  a  radiant  hue, 

Gleam'd  gaily  on  the  Ehone. 

SOUTHEY. 

The  En^lisli  merchant  was  now  mnch  consulted  by  the  Swiss 
commissioners  in  all  their  motions.  He  exhorted  them  to 
proceed  with  all  despatch  on  their  journey,  so  as  to  carry  to 
the  Duke  their  own  account  of  the  affair  of  I3risach,  and  thus 
anticipate  all  rumors  less  favorable  to  their  conduct  on  the 
occasion.  For  this  purpose  Philipson  recommended  that  the 
deputies,  dismissing  their  escort,  whose  arms  and  numbers 
might  give  umbrage  and  suspicion,  while  they  were  too  few 
for  defense,  should  themselves  proceed  by  rapid  journeys  on 
horseback  towards  Dijon,  or  wherever  the  Duke  chanced  to 
be  for  the  time. 

This  proposal  was,  however,  formally  resisted  by  the  very- 
person  who  had  hitherto  been  the  most  ductile  of  the  party, 
and  the  willing  echo  of  the  Landamman's  pleasure.  On  the 
present  occasion,  notwithstanding  that  Arnold  Biederman 
declared  the  advice  of  Philipson  excellent,  Nicholas  Bon- 
stetten  stood  in  absolute  and  insurmountable  opposition ; 
because,  having  hitherto  trusted  to  his  own  limbs  for  trans- 
porting himself  to  and  fro  on  all  occasions,  he  could  by  no 
means  be  persuaded  to  commit  himself  to  the  discretion  of  a 
horse.  As  he  was  found  obstinately  positive  on  this  subject, 
it  was  finally  determined  that  the  two  Englishmen  should 
press  forward  on  their  journey  with  such  speed  as  they 
might,  and  that  the  elder  of  them  should  make  the  Duke 
acquainted  with  so  much  as  to  the  capture  of  La  Ferette  as 
he  had  himself  witnessed  of  the  matter.  The  particulars 
which  had  attended  the  death  of  De  Hagenbach,  the  Land- 
amman  assured  him,  would  be  sent  to  the  Duke  by  a  person 
of  confidence,  whose  attestation  on  the  subject  could  not 
be  doubted. 

This  course  was  adopted,  as  Philipson  expressed  his  confi- 
dence of  getting  an  early  and  private  audience  with  his 
Grace  of  Burgundy. 

14  209 


210  WAVERLET  NOVELS 

'^  My  best  intercession/'  he  said,  '^you  have  a  good  right 
to  reckon  upon ;  and  no  one  can  bear  more  direct  testimony 
than  I  can  to  the  ungovernable  cruelty  and  rapacity  of  De 
Hagenbach,  of  which  I  had  so  nearly  been  the  victim.  But 
of  his  trial  and  execution  I  neither  know  nor  can  tell  any 
thing ;  and  as  Duke  Charles  is  sure  to  demand  why  execu^ 
tion  was  done  upon  his  officer  without  any  appeal  to  his  owt 
tribunal,  it  will  be  well  that  you  either  provide  me  with  suck 
facts  as  you  have  to  state,  or  send  forward,  at  least,  as 
speedily  as  possible,  the  evidence  which  you  have  to  lay 
before  him  on  the  most  weighty  branch  of  the  subject." 

The  proposal  of  the  merchant  created  some  visible  embar- 
rassment on  the  countenance  of  the  Swiss,  and  it  was  with 
obvious  hesitation  that  Arnold  Biederman,  having  led  him 
aside,  addressed  him  in  a  whisper — 

''  My  good  friend, ''  he  said,  ^'  mysteries  are  in  general 
like  the  hateful  mists  which  disfigure  the  noblest  features  of 
nature  ;  yet,  like  mists,  they  will  sometimes  intervene  when 
we  most  desire  their  absence,  when  we  most  desire  to  be 
plain  and  explicit.  The  manner  of  De  Hagenbach's  death 
you  saw  ;  we  will  take  care  that  the  Duke  is  informed  of  the 
authority  by  which  it  was  inflicted.  This  is  all  that  I  can 
at  present  tell  you  on  the  subject ;  and  let  me  add,  that  the 
less  you  speak  of  it  with  any  one,  you  will  be  the  more  likely 
to  escape  inconvenience." 

'^  Worthy  Landamman,"  said  the  Englishman,  '*  I  also 
am  by  nature,  and  from  the  habits  of  my  country,  a  hater 
of  mysteries.  Yet,  such  is  my  firm  confidence  in  your  truth 
and  honor,  that  you  shall  be  my  guide  in  these  dark  and  secret 
transactions,  even  as  amongst  the  mists  and  precipices  of 
your  native  land,  and  I  rest  contented  in  either  case  to  place 
unlimited  confidence  in  your  sagacity.  Let  me  only  recom- 
mend that  your  explanation  with  Charles  be  instant,  as 
well  as  clear  and  candid.  Such  being  the  case,  I  trust  my 
poor  interest  with  the  Duke  may  be  reckoned  for  something 
in  your  fav6r.  Here,  then,  we  part,  but,  as  I  trust,  soon  to 
meet  again." 

The  elder  Philipson  now  rejoined  his  son,  whom  he 
directed  to  hire  horses,  together  with  a  guide,  to  conduct 
them  with  all  speed  to  the  presence  of  the  Duke  of  Bur- 
gundy. By  various  inquiries  of  the  town,  and  especially 
among  the  soldiers  of  the  slain  De  Hagenbach,  they  at  length 
learned  that  Charles  had  been  of  late  occupied  in  taking 
possession  of  Lorraine,  and,  being  now  suspicious  of  un- 
iriendly  dispositions  on  the  part  of  the  Emperor  of  Germany, 


ANNE  OF  GEIEBSTEIN  211 

as  well  as  of  Sigismund  Duke  of  Austria,  had  drawn  a  con- 
siderable part  of  his  army  together  near  Strasburg,  in  order 
to  be  prepared  against  any  attempt  of  these  princes,  or  of 
the  Free  Imperial  Cities,  which  might  interfere  with  his 
course  of  conquest.  The  Duke  of  Burgundy  at  this  period 
well  deserved  his  peculiar  epithet  of  the  Bold,  since,  sur- 
rounded by  enemies,  like  one  of  the  nobler  animals  of  the 
chase,  he  yet  astounded,  by  his  stern  and  daring  counte- 
nance, not  only  the  princes  and  states  we  have  mentioned, 
but  even  the  King  of  France,  equally  powerful,  and  far 
more  politic  than  himself. 

To  his  camp,  therefore,  the  English  travelers  bent  their 
way,  each  full  of  such  deep  and  melancholy  reflection  as, 
perhaps,  prevented  his  bestowing  much  attention  on  the 
other^s  state  of  mind.  They  rode  as  men  deeply  immersed 
in  their  own  thoughts,  and  with  less  intercourse  than  had 
been  usual  betwixt  them  on  their  former  journeys.  The 
nobleness  of  the  elder  Philipson's  nature,  and  his  respect  for 
the  Landamman's  probity,  joined  with  gratitude  for  his  hos- 
pitality, had  prevented  him  from  separating  his  cause  from 
that  of  the  Swiss  deputies,  nor  did  he  now  repent  his  generos- 
ity in  adhering  to  them.  But  when  he  recollected  the  nature 
and  importance  of  the  personal  affairs  which  he  himself  had 
to  despatch  with  a  proud,  imperious,  and  irritable  prince,  he 
could  not  but  regret  the  circumstances  which  had  involved 
his  own  particular  mission,  of  so  much  consequence  to  him- 
self and  his  friends,  with  that  of  persons  likely  to  be  so 
highly  obnoxious  to  the  Duke  as  Arnold  Biederman  and  his 
companions  ;  and,  however  grateful  for  the  hospitality  of 
Geierstein,  he  regretted,  nevertheless,  the  circumstances 
which  had  obliged  him  to  accept  of  it. 

The  thoughts  of  Arthur  were  no  less  anxious.  He  found 
himself  anew  separated  from  the  object  to  which  his  thoughts 
were,  almost  against  his  own  will,  constantly  returning. 
And  this  second  separation  had  taken  place  after  he  had  in- 
curred an  additional  load  of  gratitude,  and  found  new,  as 
well  as  more  mysterious,  food  for  his  ardent  imagination. 
How  was  he  to  reconcile  the  character  and  attributes  of 
Anne  of  Geierstein,  whom  he  had  known  so  gentle,  candid, 
pure,  and  simple,  with  those  of  the  [grand]  daughter  of  a 
sage  and  of  an  elementary  spirit,  to  whom  night  was  as  day, 
and  an  impervious  dungeon  the  same  as  the  open  portico  of 
a  temple  ?  Could  they  be  identified  as  the  same  being  ?  or, 
while  strictly  alike  in  shape  and  lineament,  was  the  one  a 
tenant  of  the  earth,  the  other  only  a  phantom,  permitted  to 


212  WA  VERLEY  NO  VEL8 

show  itself  among  those  of  a  nature  in  which  she  did  not 
partake  ?  Above  all,  must  he  never  see  her  more,  or  re- 
ceive from  her  own  lips  an  explanation  of  the  mysteries 
which  were  so  awfully  entwined  with  his  recollections  of 
her  ?  Such  were  the  questions  which  occupied  the  mind  of 
the  younger  traveler,  and  prevented  him  from  interrupting, 
or  even  observing,  the  reverie  in  which  his  father  was 
plunged. 

Had  either  of  the  travelers  been  disposed  to  derive  amuse^ 
ment  from  the  country  through  which  their  road  lay,  the 
vicinity  of  the  Ehine  was  well  qualified  to  afford  it.  The 
ground  on  the  left  bank  of  that  noble  river  is  indeed  rather 
flat  and  tame  ;  and  the  mountains  of  Alsace,  a  ridge  of  which 
sweeps  along  its  course,  do  not  approach  so  near  as  greatly 
to  vary  the  level  surface  of  the  valley  which  divides  them 
from  its  shores.  But  the  broad  stream  itself,  hurrying  for- 
ward with  dizzy  rapidity,  and  rushing  around  the  islets  by 
which  its  course  is  interrupted,  is  one  of  the  most  majestic 
spectacles  in  nature.  The  right  bank  is  dignified  at  once 
and  adorned  by  the  numerous  eminences,  covered  with  wood 
and  interspersed  with  valleys,  which  constitute  the  district 
so  well  known  by  the  name  of  the  Black  Forest,  to  which 
superstition  attached  so  many  terrors  and  credulity  such  a 
variety  of  legends.  Terrors,  indeed,  it  had  of  a  real  and  ex- 
isting character.  The  old  castles,  seen  from  time  to  time  on 
the  banks  of  the  river  itself,  or  on  the  ravines  and  large 
brooks  which  flow  into  it,  were  then  no  picturesque  ruins, 
rendered  interesting  by  the  stories  which  were  told  about 
their  former  inhabitants,  but  constituted  the  real  and  ap- 
parently impregnable  strongholds  of  that  robber-chivalry 
whom  we  have  already  frequently  mentioned,  and  of  whom, 
since  Goethe,  an  author  born  to  arouse  the  slumbering  fame 
of  his  country,  had  dramatized  the  story  of  Goetz  of  Ber- 
lichingen,*  we  have  had  so  many  spirit-stirring  tales.  The 
danger  attending  the  vicinity  of  these  fortresses  was  only 
known  on  the  right  or  German  bank  of  the  Ehine,  for  the 
breadth  and  depth  of  that  noble  stream  effectually  prevented 
any  foray  of  their  inhabitants  from  reaching  Alsace.  The 
former  was  in  possession  of  the  cities  or  free  towns  of  the 
Empire,  and  thus  the  feudal  tyranny  of  the  German  lords 
was  chiefly  exerted  at  the  expense  of  their  own  countrymen, 
who,  irritated  and  exhausted  with  their  rapine  and  oppres- 
sion, were  compelled  to  erect  barriers  against  it,  of  a  nature 

*  This  drama  by  Goethe,  was  translated  by  Sir  Walter  Scott,  and 
was  one  pf  his  earliest  publications.    (Laing.) 


ANNE  OF  GEIEUSTEIN  213 

as  interesting  and  extraordinary  as  were  tlie  wrongs   from 
which  they  endeavored  to  protect  themselves. 

But  the  left  bank  of  the  river,  over .  great  part  of  which 
Charles  of  Burgundy  exercised  his  authority,  under  various 
characters,  was  under  the  regular  protection  of  the  ordinary 
magistrates,  who  were  supported  in  the  discharge  of  their 
duty  by  large  bands  of  mercenary  soldiers.  These  were  main- 
tained by  Charles  out  of  his  private  revenue,  he,  as  well  as 
his  rival  Louis,  and  other  princes  of  the  period,  having  dis- 
covered that  the  feudal  system  gave  an  inconvenient  degree 
of  independence  to  their  vassals,  and  thinking,  of  course, 
that  it  was  better  to  substitute  in  its  place  a  standing  army, 
consisting  of  Free  Companies,  or  soldiers  by  profession. 
Italy  furnished  most  of  these  bands,  which  composed  the 
strength  of  Charles's  army,  at  least  the  part  of  it  in  which 
he  was  most  trusted. 

Our  travelers,  therefore,  pursued  their  way  by  the  banks 
of  the  river,  in  as  great  a  degree  of  security  as  could  well  be 
enjoyed  in  that  violent  and  distracted  time,  until  at  length 
the  father,  after  having  eyed  for  some  time  the  person  whom 
Arthur  had  hired  to  be  their  guide,  suddenly  asked  of  his 
son  who  or  what  the  man  was.  Arthur  replied,  that  he  had 
been  too  eager  to  get  a  person  who  knew  the  road,  and  was 
willing  to  show  it,  to  be  very  particular  in  inquiring  into  his 
station  or  occupation  ;  but  that  he  thought,  from  the  mane's 
appearance,  he  must  be  one  of  those  itinerant  ecclesiastics 
who  travel  through  the  country  with  relics,  pardons,  and 
other  religious  trinkets,  and  were  in  general  but  slightly 
respected,  excepting  by  the  lower  orders,  on  whom  these 
venders  of  superstitious  wares  were  often  accused  of  prac- 
tising gross  deceptions. 

The  man's  appearance  was  rather  that  of  a  lay  devotee,  or 
palmer,  bound  on  his  pilgrimage  to  different  shrines,  than 
of  a  mendicant  friar  or  questionary.  He  wore  the  hat,  scrip, 
staff,  and  coarse  dalmatic,  somewhat  like  the  military  cloak 
of  the  modern  hussar,  which  were  used  by  such  persons  on 
their  religious  peregrinations.  St.  Peter's  keys,  rudely 
shaped  out  of  some  scarlet  rag  of  cloth,  appeared  on  the  back 
of  his  mantle,  placed,  as  heralds  say,  saltire  wise.  This 
devotee  seemed  a  man  of  fifty  and  upwards,  well  made,  and 
stout  for  his  age,  with  a  cast  of  countenance  which,  though 
not  positively  ugly,  was  far  from  being  well  favored.  There 
was  shrewdness  and  an  alert  expression  in  his  eye  and  actions, 
which  made  some  occasional  contrast  with  the  sanctimonious 
demeanor  of  the  character  be  now  bore.     This  difference  be 


214  WAVEBLET  NOVELS 

twixt  his  dress  and  physiognomy  was  by  no  means  nncommon 
among  persons  of  his  description,  many  of  whom  embraced 
this  mode  of  life  rather  to  indulge  roving  and  idle  habits 
than  from  any  religions  call. 

'^  Who  art  thou,  good  fellow  ?"  said  the  elder  Philipson  ; 
*'  and  by  what  name  am  I  to  call  thee  while  we  are  fellow- 
travelers  ?  " 

"Bartholomew,  sir, '^  said  the  man — *' Brother  Bartholo- 
mew— I  might  say  Bartholomaeus,  but  it  does  not  become  a 
poor  lay  brother  like  me  to  aspire  to  the  honor  of  a  learned 
termination/' 

"  And  whither  does  thy  journey  tend,  good  Brother  Bar- 
tholomew ?'* 

'^  In  whichever  direction  your  worship  chooses  to  travel, 
and  to  require  my  services  as  guide,''  answered  the  palmer  ; 
*'  always  premising  you  allow  me  leisure  for  my  devotions  at 
such  holy  stations  as  we  pass  on  our  route." 

'*  That  is,  thine  own  journey  hath  no  professed  or  press- 
ing object  or  end  ?  "  said  the  Englishman. 

"None,  as  your  worship  says,  peculiar,''  said  the  itiner- 
ant ;  "or  I  might  rather  say,  that  my  journey,  good  sir, 
embraces  so  many  objects,  that  it  is  matter  of  indifference 
to  me  which  of  them  I  accomplish  first.  My  vow  binds  me 
for  four  years  to  travel  from  one  shrine,  or  holy  place,  to 
another ;  but  I  am  not  directly  tied  to  visit  them  by  any 
precise  rule  of  rotation." 

"  That  is  to  say,  thy  vow  of  pilgrimage  does  not  prevent 
thee  from  hiring  thyself  to  wait  upon  travelers  as  their 
guide,"  replied  Philipson. 

"  If  1  can  unite  the  devotion  I  owe  to  the  blessed  saints 
whose  shrines  I  visit  with  a  service  rendered  to  a  wandering 
fellow-creature  who  desires  to  be  directed  upon  his  journey, 
I  do  maintain,"  replied  Bartholomew,  "  that  the  objects  are 
easily  to  be  reconciled  to  each  other." 

"  Especially  as  a  little  worldly  profit  may  tend  to  cement 
the  two  duties  together,  if-  otherwise  incompatible,"  said 
Philipson. 

"  It  pleases  your  honor  to  say  so,"  replied  the  pilgrim  ; 
"  but  you  yourself  may,  if  you  will,  derive  from  my  good 
company  something  more  than  the  mere  knowledge  of  the 
road  in   which  you  propose  to  travel.      I  can  make  your 

i'ourney  more  edifying  by  legends  of  the  blessed  saints  whose 
Loly  relics  I  have  visited,  and  pleasing,  by  the  story  of  the 
wonderful  things  which  I  have  seen  and  heard  in  my  travels. 
I  can  impart  to  you  an  opportunity  of  providing  yourself 


ANNE  OF  GEIEBSTEIN  215 

witli  his  Holiness's  pardon,  not  only  for  tlie  sins  which  you 
have  committed,  but  also  granting  you  indulgence  for  future 
errors/^ 

''These  things  are  highly  available,  doubtless, ^^  replied 
the  merchant :  ''  but,  good  Bartholomew,  when  I  desire  to 
speak  of  them,  I  apply  to  my  father  confessor,  to  whom  I 
have  been  uniformly  regular  in  committing  the  charge  of 
my  conscience,  and  who  must  be,  therefore,  well  acquainted 
with  my  state  of  mind,  and  best  accustomed  to  prescribe 
what  its  case  may  require." 

''Nevertheless,"  said  Bartholomew,  "I  trust  your  wor- 
ship is  too  religious  a  man,  and  too  sound  a  Catholic,  to  pass 
any  hallowed  station  without  endeavoring  to  obtain  some 
share  of  the  benefits  which  it  is  the  means  of  dispensing  to 
those  who  are  ready  and  willing  to  deserve  them ;  more 
especially  as  all  men,  of  whatever  trade  and  degree,  hold 
respect  to  the  holy  saint  who  patronizeth  his  own  mystery  ; 
so  I  hope  you,  being  a  merchant,  will  not  pass  the  chapel 
of  Our  Lady  of  the  Ferry  without  making  some  fitting 
orison." 

"  Friend  Bartholomew,"  said  Philipson,  "  I  have  not  heard 
of  the  shrine  which  you  recommend  to  me ;  and,  as  my 
business  is  pressing,  it  were  better  worth  my  while  to  make 
a  pilgrimage  hither  on  purpose  to  make  mine  homage  at  a 
fitter  season  than  to  delay  my  journey  at  present.  This, 
God  willing,  I  will  not  fail  to  do,  so  that  I  may  be  held  ex- 
cused for  delaying  my  reverence  till  I  can  pay  it  more 
respectfully,  and  at  greater  leisure." 

"  May  it  please  you  not  to  be  wroth,"  said  the  guide,  "  if 
I  say  that  your  behavior  in  this  matter  is  like  that  of  a  fool, 
who,  finding  a  treasure  by  the  roadside,  omits  to  put  it  in 
his  bosom  and  carry  it  along  with  him,  proposing  to  return 
from  a  distance  on  a  future  day,  of  express  purpose  to  fetch 
it." 

Philipson,  something  astonished  at  the  man's  pertinacity, 
was  about  to  answer  hastily  and  angrily,  but  was  prevented 
by  the  arrival  of  three  strangers,  who  rode  hastily  up  from 
behind  them. 

The  foremost  of  these  was  a  joung  female,  most  elegantly 
attired,  and  mounted  upon  a  Spanish  jennet,  which  she 
reined  with  singular  grace  and  dexterity.  She  wore  on  her 
right  hand  such  a  glove  as  that  which  was  used  to  carry 
hawks,  and  had  a  merlin  perched  upon  it.  Her  head  was 
covered  with  a  montero  cap,  and,  as  was  frequently  the  cus- 
tom at  the  period,  she  wore  on  her  face  a  kind  of  black  silk 


216  wav:erlet  novels 

vizard,  which  effectually  concealed  her  features.  Notwith- 
standing this  disguise,  Arthur  Philipson^s  heart  sprung  high 
at  the  appearance  of  these  strangers,  for  he  was  at  once  cer- 
tain he  recognized  the  matchless  form  of  the  Swiss  maiden, 
by  whom  his  mind  was  so  anxiously  occupied.  Her  attend- 
ants were  a  falconer  with  his  hunting-pole  and  a  female, 
both  apparently  her  domestics.  The  elder  Philipson,  who 
had  no  such  accuracy  of  recollection  as  his  son  manifested 
upon  the  occasion,  saw  in  the  fair  stranger  only  some  dame 
or  damsel  of  eminence  engaged  in  the  amusement  of  hawk- 
ing, and,  in  return  to  a  brief  salutation,  merely  asked  her, 
with  suitable  courtesy,  as  the  case  demanded,  whether  she 
had  spent  the  morning  in  good  sport. 

'^  Indifferent,  good  friend,"  said  the  lady.  '^  I  dare  not 
fly  my  hawk  so  near  the  broad  river,  lest  he  should  soar  to 
the  other  side,  and  so  I  might  lose  my  companion.  But  I 
reckon  on  finding  better  game  when  I  have  crossed  to  the 
other  side  of  the  ferry,  which  we  are  now  approaching." 

"  Then  your  ladyship,"  said  Bartholomew,  '^  will  hear  mass 
in  Hans's  Chapel,  and  pray  for  your  success  ?  " 

*^  I  were  a  heathen  to  pass  the  holy  place  without  doing 
so,"  replied  the  damsel. 

^'  That,  noble  damsel,  touches  the  point  we  were  but  now 
talking  of,"  said  the  guide  Bartholomew  ;  '^  for  know,  fair 
mistress,  that  I  cannot  persuade  this  worthy  gentleman  how 
deeply  the  success  of  his  enterprise  is  dependent  upon  his 
obtaining  the  blessing  of  Our  Lady  of  the  Ferry." 

*^  The  good  man,"  said  the  young  maiden,  seriously,  and 
even  severely,  "must  know  little  of  the  Rhine.  I  will  ex- 
plain to  the  gentlemen  the  propriety  of  following  your  advice." 

She  then  rode  close  to  young  Philipson,  and  spoke  in  Swiss, 
for  she  had  hitherto  used  the  German  language — "  Do  not 
start,  but  hear  me  ! "  and  the  voice  was  that  of  Anne  of 
Geier^tein.  "  Do  not,  I  say,  be  surprised  or  at  least  show  not 
your  wonder ;  you  are  beset  by  dangers.  On  this  road,  es- 
pecially, your  business  is  known — your  lives  are  laid  in  wait 
for.  Cross  over  the  river  at  the  Ferry  of  the  Chapel,  or 
Hans^s  Ferry,  as  it  is  usually  termed." 

Here  the  guide  drew  so  near  to  them  that  it  was  impossible 
for  her  to  continue  the  conversation  without  being  overheard. 
At  that  same  moment  a  woodcock  sprung  from  some  bushes, 
and  the  young  lady  threw  oft'  her  merlin  in  pursuit. 

"  Sa  ho — sa  ho — wo  ha  ! "  hallooed  the  falconer,  in  a  note 
which  made  the  thicket  ring  again  ;  and  away  he  rode  in 
pursuit.     The  elder  Philipson  and  the  guide  himself  followed 


ANNE  OF  GEIEESTEIN  217 

the  chase  eagerly  with  their  eyes,  so  attractive  was  the  love 
of  that  brave  sport  to  men  of  all  ranks.  But  the  voice  of  the 
maiden  was  a  lure  which  would  have  summoned  Arthur's 
attention  from  matters  more  deeply  interesting. 

'^  Cross  the  Rhine,"  she  again  repeated,  ^^  at  the  ferry  to 
Kirchhoff,  on  the  other  side  of  the  river.  Take  your  lodg- 
ings at  the  Golden  Fleece,  where  you  will  find  a  guide  to 
Strasburg.     I  must  stay  here  no  longer." 

So  saying,  the  damsel  raised  herself  in  her  saddle,  struck 
her  horse  lightly  with  the  loose  reins,  and  the  mettled  animal, 
already  impatient  at  her  delay  and  the  eager  burst  of  its  com- 
panions, flew  forward  at  such  a  pace  as  if  he  had  meant  to 
emulate  the  flight  of  the  hawk  and  of  the  prey  he  pursued. 
The  lady  and  her  attendants  soon  vanished  from  the  sight  of 
the  travelers. 

A  deep  silence  for  some  time  ensued,  during  which  Arthur 
studied  how  to  communicate  the  warning  he  had  received, 
without  awakening  the  suspicions  of  their  guide.  But  the 
old  man  broke  silence  himself,  saying  to  Bartholomew,  ^'  Put 
your  horse  into  more  motion,  I  pray  you,  and  ride  onward 
a  few  yards  ;  I  would  have  some  private  conference  with  my 
son." 

The  guide  obeyed,  and,  as  if  with  the  purpose  of  showing 
a  mind  too  profoundly  occupied  by  heavenly  matters  to  ad- 
mit a  thought  concerning  those  of  this  transitory  world,  he 
thundered  forth  a  hymn  in  praise  of  St.  Wendelin  the  shep- 
herd, in  a  strain  so  discordant  as  startled  every  bird  from 
every  bush  by  which  they  passed.  There  was  never  a  more 
unmelodious  melody,  whether  sacred  or  profane,  than  that 
under  protection  of  which  the  elder  Philipson  thus  conferred 
with  his  son. 

"  Arthur,"  he  said,  '^  I  am  much  convinced  that  this  howl- 
ing, hypocritical  vagrant  has  some  plot  upon  us  ;  and  I  had 
well-nigh  determined  that  the  best  mode  to  baffle  it  would 
be  to  consult  my  own  opinion,  and  not  his,  as  to  our  places 
of  repose  and  the  direction  of  our  journey." 

"  Your  judgment  is  correct,  as  usual,"  said  his  son.  ^'  I 
am  well  convinced  of  yonder  man's  treachery,  from  a  whisper 
in  which  that  maiden  informed  me  that  we  ought  to  take  the 
road  to  Strasburg  by  the  eastern  side  of  the  river,  and  for 
that  purpose  cross  over  to  a  place  called  Kirchhoff,  on  the 
opposite  bank." 

*^  Do  you  advise  this,  Arthur  ?  "  replied  his  father. 

"  I  will  pledge  my  life  for  the  faith  of  this  young  person,*' 
replied  his  son. 


218  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

'^ "What  !^' said  his  father,  "because  she  sits  her  palfrey 
fairly,  and  shows  a  faultless  shape  ?  Such  is  the  reasoning 
of  a  boy  ;  and  yet  my  old  and  cautious  heart  feels  inclined 
to  trust  her.  If  our  secret  is  known  in  this  land,  there  are 
doubtless  many  who  may  me  disposed  to  think  they  have  an 
interest  in  barring  my  access  to  the  Duke  of  Burgundy,  even 
by  the  most  violent  means  ;  and  well  you  know  that  I 
should  on  my  side  hold  my  life  equally  cheap  could  I  dis- 
charge mine  errand  at  the  price  of  lying  it  down.  I  tell 
thee,  Arthur,  that  my  mind  reproaches  me  for  taking  hither- 
to over  little  care  of  ensuring  the  discharge  of  my  commis- 
sion, owing  to  the  natural  desire  I  had  to  keep  thee  in  my 
company.  There  now  lie  before  us  two  ways,  both  perilous 
and  uncertain,  by  which  we  may  reach  the  Duke^s  court. 
"We  may  follow  this  guide  and  take  the  chance  of  his  fidelity, 
or  we  may  adopt  the  hint  of  yonder  damsel-errant  and  cross 
over  to  the  other  side  of  the  Ehine,  and  again  repass  the 
river  at  Strasburg.  Both  roads  are  perhaps  equally  perilous. 
I  feel  it  my  duty  to  diminish  the  risk  of  the  miscarriage  of  my 
commission  by  sending  thee  across  to  the  right  bank,  while 
I  pursue  my  proposed  course  upon  the  left.  Thus,  if  one 
of  us  be  intercepted,  the  other  may  escape,  and  the  import- 
ant commission  which  he  bears  may  be  duly  executed. '^ 

''Alas,  my  father!^'  said  Arthur,  ''how  is  it  possible  for 
me  to  obey  you,  when  by  doing  so  I  must  leave  you  alone  to 
incur  so  many  dangers,  to  struggle  with  so  many  difficulties, 
in  which  my  aid  might  be  at  least  willing,  though  it  could 
only  be  weak  ?  "Whatever  befall  us  in  these  delicate  and 
dangerous  circumstances,  let  us  at  least  meet  it  in  com- 
pany." 

"Arthur,  my  beloved  son,"  said  his  father,  "in  parting 
from  thee  I  am  splitting  mine  own  heart  in  twain  ;  but  the 
same  duty  which  commands  us  to  expose  our  bodies  to  death 
as  peremptorily  orders  us  not  to  spare  our  most  tender  af- 
fections.    "We  must  part." 

"Oh,  then,"  replied  his  son,  eagerly,  "let  me  at  least 
prevail  in  one  point.  Do  thou,  my  father,  cross  the  Khine, 
and  let  me  prosecute  the  journey  by  the  route  originally 
proposed." 

"And  why,  I  pray  you,"  answered  the  merchant,  "should 
I  go  one  of  these  roads  in  preference  to  the  other  ?  " 

"  Because,"  said  Arthur  eagerly,  "  I  would  warrant  yonder 
maiden's  faith  with  my  life." 

"Again,  young  man?"  said  his  father;  "and  wherefore 
so  confident  in  that  young  maiden's  faith  ?    Is  it  merel;y 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  21fl 

from  the  confidence  which  youth  reposes  in  that  which  is 
fair  and  pleasing,  or  have  you  had  farther  acquaintance  with 
her  than  the  late  brief  conversation  with  her  admitted  ?" 

'' C'dii  I  give  you  an  answer  ?''  replied  his  son.  "We 
have  been  long  absent  from  lands  of  knights  and  ladies,  and 
is  it  not  natural  that  we  should  give  to  those  who  remind  us 
of  the  honored  ties  of  chivalry  and  gentle  blood  the  instinct- 
ive credence  which  we  refuse  to  such  a  poor  wretch  as  this 
itinerant  mountebank,  who  gains  his  existence  by  cheating, 
with  false  relics  and  forged  legends,  the  poor  peasants 
amongst  whom  he  travels  ?" 

"It  is  a  vain  imagination,  Arthur,^'  said  his  father,  "not 
unbefitting,  indeed,  an  aspirant  to  the  honors  of  chivalry, 
who  draws  his  ideas  of  life  and  its  occurrences  from  the 
romances  of  ministrels,  but  too  visionary  for  a  youth  who  has 
seen,  as  thou  hast,  how  the  business  of  this  world  is  con- 
ducted. I  tell  thee,  and  thou  wilt  learn  to  know  I  say  truth, 
that  around  the  homely  board  of  our  host  the  Landamman 
were  ranged  truer  tongues  and  more  faithful  hearts  than  the 
cour  ple7iiere  of  a  monarch  has  to  boast.  Alas  !  the  manly 
spirit  of  ancient  faith  and  honor  has  fled  even  from  the  breasts 
of  kings  and  knights,  where,  as  John  of  France  said,  it  ought 
to  continue  to  reside  a  constant  inhabitant,  if  banished  from 
all  the  rest  of  the  world. ^' 

"  Be  that  as  it  may,  dearest  father,"  replied  the  younger 
Philipson,  "  I  pray  you  to  be  persuaded  by  me  ;  and  if  we 
must  part  company,  let  it  be  by  your  taking  the  right 
bank  of  the  Rhine,  since  I  am  persuaded  it  is  the  safest 
route." 

"And  if  it  be  the  safest,"  said  his  father,  with  a  voice  of 
tender  reproach,  "  is  that  a  reason  why  I  should  spare  my 
own  almost  exhausted  thread  of  life,  and  expose  thine,  my 
dear  son,  which  has  but  begun  its  course  ?" 

"Nay,  father,"  answered  the  son  with  animation,  "in 
speaking  thus  you  do  not  consider  the  difference  of  our  im- 
portance to  the  execution  of  the  purpose  which  you  have  so 
long  entertained,  and  which  seems  now  so  nigh  being  ac- 
complished. Think  now  imperfectly  I  might  be  able  to 
discharge  it,  without  knowledge  of  the  Duke^s  person,  or 
credentials  to  gain  his  confidence.  1  might  indeed  repeat 
your  words,  but  the  circumstances  would  be  wanting  to 
attract  the  necessary  faith,  and  of  consequence  your  scheme, 
for  the  success  of  which  you  have  lived,  and  now  are 
billing  to  run  the  risk  of  death,  would  miscarry  along  with 
me." 


220  WA  VERLET  NOVELS 

''You  cannot  shake  my  resolution,"  said  the  elder  Philip- 
son,  "  or  persuade  me  that  my  life  is  of  more  importance 
than  yours.  You  only  remind  me  that  it  is  you,  and  not  I, 
who  ought  to  be  the  bearer  of  this  token  to  the  Duke  of  Bur- 
gundy. Should  you  be  successful  in  reaching  his  court  or 
camp,  your  possession  of  these  gems  will  be  needful  to  at- 
tach credit  to  your  mission — a  purpose  for  which  they  would 
be  less  necessary  to  me,  who  can  refer  to  other  circumstances 
under  which  I  might  claim  credence,  if  it  should  please 
Heaven  to  leave  me  alone  to  acquit  myself  of  this  important 
commission,  which  may  Our  Lady  in  her  mercy  forefend  ! 
Understand,  therefore,  that,  should  an  opportunity  occur 
by  which  you  can  make  your  way  to  the  opposite  side  of  the 
Ehine,  you  are  to  direct  your  journey  so  as  again  to  cross  to 
this  bank  at  Strasburgh,  where  you  will  inquire  for  news  of 
me  at  the  Flying  Stag,  a  hostelry  in  that  city,  which  yon 
will  easily  discover.  If  you  hear  no  tidings  of  me  at  that 
place,  you  will  proceed  to  the  Duke,  and  deliver  to  him  this 
important  packet. 

Here  he  put  into  his  son's  hand,  with  as  much  privacy  as 
possible,  the  case  containing  the  diamond  necklace. 

''What  else  your  duty  calls  on  you  to  do,''  continued  the 
elder  Philipson,  "  you  well  know  ;  only,  I  conjure  you,  let 
no  vain  inquiries  after  my  fate  interfere  with  the  great  duty 
you  have  there  to  discharge.  In  the  meantime,  prepare  to 
bid  me  a  sudden  farewell,  with  a  heart  as  bold  and  confident 
as  when  you  went  before  me,  and  courageously  led  the  way, 
amid  the  rocks  and  storms  of  Switzerland.  Heaven  was 
above  us  then,  as  it  is  over  us  now.  Adieu,  my  beloved 
Arthur  !  Should  I  wait  till  the  moment  of  separation,  there 
may  be  but  short  time  to  speak  the  fatal  word,  and  no  eye 
save  thine  own  must  see  the  tear  which  I  now  wipe  away." 

The  painful  feeling  which  accompanied  this  anticipation 
of  their  parting  was  so  sincere  on  Arthur's  part,  as  well  as 
that  of  his  father,  that  it  did  not  at  first  occur  to  the  former, 
as  a  source  of  consolation,  that  it  seemed  likely  he  might  be 
placed  under  the  guidance  of  the  singular  female  the  mem- 
ory of  whom  haunted  him.  True  it  was,  that  the  beauty 
of  Anne  of  Geierstein,  as  well  as  the  striking  circumstances 
in  which  she  had  exhibited  herself,  had  on  that  very  morning 
been  the  principal  occupation  of  his  mind  ;  but  they  were  now 
chased  from  it  by  the  predominant  recollection  that  he  was 
about  to  be  separated  in  a  moment  of  danger  from  a  father 
so  well  deserving  of  his  highest  esteem  and  his  fondest 
affection. 


ANNE  OF  GELERSTEIN  221 

Meanwhile,  that  father  dashed  from  his  eye  the  tear 
which  his  devoted  stoicism  could  not  suppress,  and,  as  if 
afraid  of  softening  his  resolution  by  indulging  his  parental 
fondness,  he  recalled  the  pious  Bartholomew,  to  demand  of 
him  how  far  they  were  from  the  Chapel  of  the  Ferry. 

'^  Little  more  than  a  mile,''  was  the  reply  ;  and  when  the 
Englishman  required  further  information  concerning  the 
cause  of  its  erection,  he  was  informed  that  an  old  boatman 
and  fisherman  named  Hans  had  long  dwelt  at  the  place,  who 
gained  a  precarious  livelihood  by  transporting  travelers  and 
merchants  from  one  bank  of  the  river  to  the  other.  The 
misfortune,  however,  of  losing  first  one  boat  and  then  a 
second  in  the  deep  and  mighty  stream,  with  the  dread  in- 
spired in  travelers  by  the  repetition  of  such  accidents,  began 
to  render  his  profession  an  uncertain  one.  Being  a  good 
Catholic,  the  old  man's  distress  took  a  devotional  turn.  He 
began  to  look  back  on  his  former  life,  and  consider  by  what 
crimes  he  had  deserved  the  misfortunes  which  darkened  the 
evening  of  his  days.  His  remorse  was  chiefly  excited  by  the 
recollection  that  he  had,  on  one  occasion,  when  the  passage 
was  peculiarly  stormy,  refused  to  discharge  his  duty  as  a 
ferryman  in  order  to  transport  to  the  other  shore  a  priest 
who  bore  along  with  him  an  image  of  the  Virgin,  destined 
for  the  village  of  Kirchhoff  on  the  opposite  or  right  bank  of 
the  Ehine.  For  this  fault,  Hans  submitted  to  severe  pen- 
ance, as  he  was  now  disposed  to  consider  as  culpable  his 
doubt  of  the  Virgin's  power  of  protecting  herself,  her  priest, 
and  the  bark  employed  in  her  service  ;  besides  which,  the 
offering  of  a  large  share  of  his  worldly  goods  to  the  church 
of  Kirchhoff  expressed  the  truth  of  the  old  man's  repentance. 
Neither  did  he  ever  again  permit  himself  to  interpose  any 
delay  in  the  journey  of  men  of  Holy  Church  ;  but  all  ranks 
of  the  clergy,  from  the  mitered  prelate  to  the  barefooted 
friar,  might  at  any  time  of  day  or  night  have  commanded 
the  services  of  him  and  his  boat. 

While  prosecuting  so  laudable  a  course  of  life,  it  became 
at  length  the  lot  of  Hans  to  find,  on  the  banks  of  the  Ehine, 
a  small  image  of  the  Virgin  thrown  by  the  waves,  which  ap- 
peared to  him  exactly  to  resemble  that  which  he  had  for- 
merly ungraciously  refused  to  carry  across,  when  under 
charge  of  the  sacristan  of  Kirchhoff.  He  placed  it  in  the 
most  conspicuous  part  of  his  hut,  and  poured  out  his  soul 
before  it  in  devotion,  anxiously  inquiring  for  some  signal  by 
which  he  might  discover  whether  he  was  to  consider  the 
arrival  of  her  holy  image  as  a  pledge  that  his  offenses  were 


222  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

forgiven.  In  the  visions  of.  the  night  nis  prayers  "were  an- 
swered, and  Our  Lady,  assuming  the  form  of  the  image, 
stood  by  his  bedside,  for  the  purpose  of  telling  him  where- 
fore she  had  come  hither. 

^'  My  trusty  servant,"  she  said,  ''  men  of  Belial  have  burned 
my  dwelling  at  Kirchhoff,  spoiled  my  chapel,  and  thrown 
the  sacred  image  which  represents  me  into  the  swollen  Ehine, 
which  swept  me  downward  [upward].  Now,  I  have  resolved 
to  dwell  no  longer  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  profane  doers 
of  this  deed,  or  of  the  cowardly  vassals  who  dared  not  pre- 
vent it.  I  am,  therefore,  compelled  to  remove  my  habita- 
tion, and,  in  despite  of  the  opposing  current,  I  determined 
to  take  the  shore  on  this  side,  being  resolved  to  fix  my  abode 
with  thee,  my  faithful  servant,  that  the  land  in  which  thou 
dwellest  may  be  blessed,  as  well  as  thou  and  thy  household." 

As  the  vision  spoke,  she  seemed  to  wring  from  her  tresses 
the  water  in  which  they  had  been  steeped,  while  her  disor- 
dered dress  and  fatigued  appearance  was  that  of  one  who  has 
been  buffeting  with  the  waves. 

Next  morning  brought  intelligence  that,  in  one  of  the  nu- 
merous  feuds  of  that  fierce  period,  Kirchhoff  had  been 
sacked,  the  church  destroyed,  and  the  church  treasurji 
plundered. 

In  consequence  of  the  fisherman's  vision  being  thus  re- 
markably confirmed,  Hans  entirely  renounced  his  profession: 
and,  leaving  it  to  younger  men  to  supply  his  place  as  ferry, 
man,  he  converted  his  hut  into  a  rustic  chapel,  and  he  him- 
self, taking  orders,  attended  upon  the  shrine  as  a  hermit,  oi 
daily  chaplain.  The  figure  was  supposed  to  work  miracles, 
and  the  ferry  became  renowned  from  its  being  under  the  pro- 
tection of  the  holy  image  of  Our  Lady,  and  her  no  less  holy 
servant. 

When  Bartholomew  had  concluded  his  account  of  the 
ferry  and  its  chapel,  the  travelers  had  arrived  at  the  place 
itself. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

Upon  the  Rhine,  upon  the  Rhine  they  cluster, 

The  grapes  of  juice  divine, 
Which  make  the  soldier's  jovial  courage  muster  ; 

O,  blessed  be  the  Rhine  I 

Drinking  Song* 

A  COTTAGE  or  two  on  the  side  of  the  river,  beside  which 
were  moored  one  or  two  fishing-boats  showed  the  pious 
Hans  had  successors  in  his  profession  as  a  boatman.  The 
river,  which  at  a  point  a  little  lower  was  restrained  by  a  chain 
of  islets,  expanded  more  widely  and  moved  less  rapidly  than 
when  it  passed  these  cottages,  affording  to  the  ferryman  a 
smoother  surface  and  a  less  heavy  stream  to  contend  with, 
although  the  current  was  even  there  too  strong  to  be  borne 
up  against,  unless  the  river  was  in  a  tranquil  state. 

On  the  opposite  bank,  but  a  good  deal  lo^er  than  the 
hamlet  which  gave  name  to  the  ferry,  was  sealed  on  a  small 
eminence,  screened  by  trees  and  bushes,  the  little  town  of 
Kirchhoff.  A  skiff  departing  from  the  left  bank  was,  even 
on  favorable  occasions,  carried  considerably  to  leeward  ere  it 
could  attain  the  opposite  side  of  the  deep  and  full  stream  of 
the  Rhine,  so  that  its  course  was  oblique  towards  Kirchhoff. 
On  the  other  hand,  a  boat  departing  from  Kirchhoff  must 
have  great  advantage,  both  of  wind  and  oars,  in  order  to 
land  its  loading  or  crew  at  the  Chapel  of  the  Ferry,  unless  it 
were  under  the  miraculous  influence  which  carried  the  image 
of  the  Virgin  in  that  direction.  The  communication,  there- 
fore, from  the  east  to  the  west  bank  was  only  maintained  by 
towing  boats  up  the  stream  to-  such  a  height  on  the  eastern 
side  that  the  leeway  which  they  made  during  the  voyage 
across  might  correspond  with  the  point  at  which  they  desired 
to  arrive,  and  enable  them  to  attain  it  with  ease.  Hence,  it 
naturally  happened  that,  the  passage  from  Alsace  into  Swabia 
being  the  most  easy,  the  ferry  was  more  used  by  those  who 
were  desirous  of  entering  Germany  than  by  travelers  who 
came  in  an  opposite  direction. 

When  the  elder  Philipson  had  by  a  glance  around  him  as- 
aertained  the  situation  of  the  ferry,  he  said  firmly  to  his 

*  See  "  Der  Rhein,  der  Rhein."    Note  5. 
223 


224  WA  VERLEY  NO VEL8 

son,  "Begone,  my  dear  Arthur,  and  do  what  I  have  com> 
manded  thee/' 

With  a  heart  rent  with  filial  anxiety,  the  yonng  man  obeyed, 
and  took  his  solitary  course  towards  the  cottages,  near  which 
the  barks  were  moored,  which  were  occasionally  used  for 
fishing  as  well  as  for  the  purpose  of  the  ferry. 

"Your  son  leaves  us  ?''  said  Bartholomew  to  the  elder 
Philipson. 

"He  does  for  the  present, ''said  his  father,  "as  he  has 
certain  inquiries  to  make  in  yonder  hamlet." 

"  If  they  be,"  answered  the  guide,  ^'  ^ny  matters  connected 
with  your  honor's  road,  I  laud  the  saints  that  I  can  better 
answer  your  inquiries  than  those  ignorant  boors,  who  hardly 
understand  your  language." 

"  If  we  find  that  their  information  needs  thy  commentary," 
said  Philipson,  ^"^we  will  request  it ;  meanwhile,  le^d  on  to 
the  chapel,  where  my  son  will  join  us." 

They  moved  towards  the  chapel,  but  with  slow  steps,  each 
turning  his  looks  aside  to  the  fishing  hamlet ;  the  guide  as 
if  striving  to  see  whether  the  younger  traveler  was  returning 
towards  them ;  the  father,  anxious  to  descry,  on  the  broad 
bosom  of  the  Rhine,  a  sail  unloosed,  to  waft  his  son  across 
to  that  which  might  be  considered  as  the  safer  side.  But, 
though  the  looks  of  both  guide  and  traveler  were  turned  in 
the  direction  of  the  river,  their  steps  carried  them  towards 
the  chapel,  to  which  the  inhabitants,  in  memory  of  the 
founder,  had  given  the  title  of  Hans  Ohapelle. 

A  few  trees  scattered  around  gave  an  agreeable  and  silvan 
air  to  the  place  ;  and  the  chapel,  that  appeared  on  a  rising 
ground  at  some  distance  from  the  hamlet,  was  constructed 
in  a  style  of  pleasing  simplicity,  which  corresponded  with  the 
whole  scene.  Its  small  size  confirmed  the  tradition  that  it 
had  originally  been  merely  the  hut  of  a  peasant ;  and  the 
cross  of  fir-trees,  covered  with  bark,  attested  the  purpose  to 
which  it  was  now  dedicated.  *The  chapel  and  all  around  it 
breathed  peace  and  solemn  tranquillity,  and  the  deep  sound 
of  the  mighty  river  seemed  to  impose  silence  on  each  human 
voice  which  might  presume  to  mingle  with  its  awful 
murmur. 

When  Philipson  arrived  in  the  vicinity,  Bartholomew  took 
the  advantage  afforded  by  his  silence  to  thunder  forth  two 
stanzas  to  the  praise  of  the  Lady  of  the  Ferry  and  her 
faithful  worshiper  Hans,  after  which  he  broke  forth  into 
the  rapturous  exclamation — "Come  hither  ye  who  fear 
wrecks,  here  is  your  safe  haven!     Come  hither,  ye  who  die 


ANNE  OF  GEIEBSTEIN  225 

of  thirst,  here  is  a  well  of  mercy  open  to  yon  !  Come  those 
who  are  weary  and  far-traveied,  this  is  yonr  place  of  refresh- 
ment !  And  more  to  the  same  purpose  he  might  have  said, 
hut  Philipson  sternly  imposed  silence  on  him. 

^^  If  thy  devotion  were  altogether  true/'  he  said,  ''  it  would 
be  less  clamorous  ;  but  it  is  well  to  do  what  is  good  in  itself, 
even  if  it  is  a  hypocrite  who  recommends  it.  Let  us  enter 
this  holy  chapel  and  pray  for  a  fortunate  issue  to  our  pre- 
carious travels. '' 

The  pardoner  caught  up  the  last  words. 

'^  Sure  was  1/'  he  said,  ''that  your  worship  is  too  well  ad- 
vised to  pass  this  holy  place  without  imploring  the  protection 
and  influence  of  Our  Lady  of  the  Ferry.  Tarry  but  a  mo- 
ment until  I  find  the  priest  who  serves  the  altar,  that  he  may 
say  a  mass  on  your  behalf." 

Here  he  was  interrupted  by  the  door  of  the  chapel  suddenly 
opening,  when  an  ecclesiastic  appeared  on  the  threshold. 
Philipson  instantly  knew  the  priest  of  St.  PauFs,  whom  he 
had  seen  that  morning  at  La  Ferette.  Bartholomew  also 
knew  him,  as  it  would  seem ;  for  his  officious,  hypocritical 
eloquence  failed  him  in  an  instant,  and  he  stood  before  the 
priest  with  his  arms  folded  on  his  breast,  like  a  man  who 
waits  for  the  sentence  of  condemnation. 

''^Villain,"  said  the  ecclesiastic,  regarding  the  guide  with 
a  severe  countenance,  '^  dost  thou  lead  a  stranger  into  the 
houses  of  the  holy  saints,  that  thou  may  est  slay  him  and 
possess  thyself  of  his  spoils  ?  But  Heaven  will  no  longer 
bear  with  thy  perfidy.  Back,  thou  wretch,  to  meet  thy 
brother  miscreants,  who  are  hastening  hitherward.  Tell 
them  thy  arts  were  unavailing,  and  that  the  innocent  stran- 
ger is  under  my  protection — under  my  protection,  which 
those  who  presume  to  violate  will  meet  with  the  reward  of 
Archibald  de  Hagenbach  I " 

The  guide  stood  quite  motionless,  while  addressed  by  the 
priest  in  a  manner  equally  menacing  and  authoritative  ;  and 
no  sooner  did  the  latter  cease  speaking  than,  without  offering 
a  word  either  in  justification  or  reply,  Bartholomew  turned 
round  and  retreated  at  a  hasty  pace  by  the  same  road  which 
had  conducted  the  traveler  to  the  chapel. 

''^  And  do  you,  worthy  Englishman,'"*  continued  the  priest, 
*'  enter  into  this  chapel,  and  perform  in  safety  those  devo- 
tions by  means  of  which  yonder  hypocrite  designed  to  detain 
you  until  his  brethren  in  iniquity  came  up.  But  first, 
wherefore  are  you  alone  ?  I  trust  nought  evil  hath  befalleo 
your  young  companion  ?  " 
15 


226  WAVEELET  NOVELS 

''  My  son/*  said  Philipson,  ''  crosses  the  Rliine  at  yonder 
ferry,  as  we  had  important  business  to  transact  on  the  other 
Bide/' 

As  he  spoke  thus,  a  light  boat,  about  which  two  or  three 
peasants  had  been  for  some  time  busy,  was  seen  to  push  from 
the  shore,  and  shoot  into  the  stream,  to  which  it  was  partly 
compelled  to  give  way,  until  a  sail  stretched  along  the  slender 
yard,  and,  supporting  the  bark  against  the  current,  enabled 
her  to  stand  obliquely  across  the  river. 

^'  Now,  praise  be  to  God  !  "  said  Philipson,  who  was  aware 
that  the  bark  he  looked  upon  must  be  in  the  act  of  carrying 
his  son  beyond  the  reach  of  the  dangers  by  which  he  wa» 
himself  surrounded. 

"  Amen  ! "  answered  the  priest,  echoing  the  pious  ejacula- 
tion of  the  traveler.  "Great  reason  have  you  to  returo 
thanks  to  Heaven. '' 

"  Of  that  I  am  convinced, ''  replied  Philipson  ;  "  but  yet 
from  you  I  hope  to  learn  the  special  cause  of  danger  from 
which  I  have  escaped.  " 

*'  This  is  neither  time  nor  place  for  such  an  investigation," 
answered  the  priest  of  St.  Paul's.  "It  is  enough  to  say, 
that  yonder  fellow,  well  known  for  his  hypocrisy  and  his 
crimes,  was  present  when  the  young  Switzer,  Sigismund, 
reclaimed  from  the  executioner  the  treasure  of  which  you 
were  robbed  by  Hagenbach.  Thus  Bartholomew's  avarice 
was  awakened.  He  undertook  to  be  your  guide  to  Strasburg, 
with  the  criminal  intent  of  detaining  you  by  the  way  till  a 
party  came  up,  against  whose  numbers  resistance  would 
have  been  in  vain.  But  his  purpose  has  been  anticipated. 
And  now,  ere  giving  vent  to  other  worldly  thoughts, 
whether  of  hope  or  fear,  to  the  chapel,  sir,  and  join  in  ori- 
sons to  Him  who  hath  been  your  aid,  and  to  those  who 
have  interceded  with  Him  in  your  behalf." 

Philipson  entered  the  chapel  with  his  guide,  and  joined 
in  returning  thanks  to  Heaven,  and  the  tutelary  power  of 
the  spot,  for  the  escape  which  had  been  vouchsafed  to  him. 

When  this  duty  had  been  performed,  Philipson  intimated 
his  purpose  of  resuming  his  journey,  to  which  the  black 
priest  replied  that,  far  from  delaying  him  in  a  place  so  dan- 
gerous, he  would  himself  accompany  him  for  some  part  of 
the  journey,  since  he  also  was  bound  to  the  presence  of  the 
Duke  of  Burgundy." 

"You,  my  father — you  !"  said  the  merchant,  with  some 
astonishment. 

**  And  wherefore  surprised  ? "  answered  the  priest.     "Is  it 


ANNE  OF  GEIEE STEIN  227 

10  strange  th»t  one  of  my  order  should  visit  a  prince's  court  ? 
Believe  me,  there  are  but  too  many  of  them  to  be  found 
there/' 

*'  I  do  not  speak  with  reference  to  your  order/'  answered 
Philipson,  *'  but  in  regard  of  the  part  which  you  have  this 
day  acted,  in  abetting  the  execution  of  Archibald  de  Hagen- 
bach.  Know  you  so  little  of  the  fiery  Duke  of  Burgundy, 
as  to  imagine  you  can  dally  with  his  resentment  with  more 
safety  than  you  would  pull  the  mane  of  a  sleeping  lion  ?  " 

"  I  know  his  mood  well,"  said  the  priest ;  ''  and  it  is  not 
to  excuse  but  to  defend  the  death  of  De  Hagenbach  that  I 
go  to  his  presence.  The  Duke  may  execute  his  serfs  and 
bondsmen  at  his  pleasure,  but  there  is  a  spell  upon  my  life 
which  is  proof  to  all  his  power.  But  let  me  retort  the  ques- 
tion. You,  sir  Englishman,  knowing  the  conditions  of  the 
Duke  so  well — you,  so  lately  the  guest  and  traveling  com- 
panion of  the  most  unwelcome  visitors  who  could  approach 
him — you,  implicated,  in  appearance  at  least,  in  the  uproar 
at  La  Ferette — what  chance  is  there  of  your  escaping  his 
vengeance  ?  and  wherefore  will  you  throw  yourself  wantonly 
within  his  power  ?  " 

"Worthy  father,"  said  the  merchant,  "let  each  of  us, 
without  offense  to  the  other,  keep  his  own  secret.  I  have, 
indeed,  no  spell  to  secure  me  from  the  Duke's  resentment ; 
I  have  limbs  to  suffer  torture  and  imprisonment,  and  prop- 
erty which  may  be  seized  and  confiscated.  But  I  have  had 
in  former  days  many  dealings  with  the  Duke,  I  may  even 
say  I  have  laid  him  under  obligations,  and  hope  my  interest 
with  him  may  in  consequence  be  sufficient  not  only  to  save 
me  from  the  consequences  of  this  day's  procedure,  but  be 
of  some  avail  to  my  friend  the  Landamman." 

"  But  if  you  are  in  reality  bound  to  the  court  of  Burgundy 
as  a  merchant,"  said  the  priest,  "  where  are  the  wares  in 
which  you  traffic  ?  Have  you  no  merchandise  save  that 
which  you  carry  on  your  person  ?  I  heard  of  a  sumpter- 
horse  with  baggage.     Has  yonder  villain  deprived  you  of  it  ?  " 

This  was  a  trying  question  to  Philipson,  who,  anxious 
about  the  separation  from  his  son,  had  given  no  direction 
whether  the  baggage  should  remain  with  himself  or  should 
be  transported  to  the  other  side  of  the  Ehine.  He  was, 
therefore,  taken  at  advantage  by  the  priest  s  inquiry,  to 
which  he  answered  with  some  incoherence — "  I  believe  my 
baggage  is  in  the  hamlet — that  is,  unless  my  son  has  taken 
it  across  the  Rhine  with  him." 

*'  That  we  will  soon  learn/'  answered  the  priest. 


228  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

Here  a  novice  appeared  from  the  vestiary  of  the  chapel  at 
his  call,  and  received  commands  to  inquire  at  the  hamlet 
whether  Philipson's  bales,  with  the  horse  which  transported 
them,  had  been  left  there  or  ferried  over  along  with  his  son. 

The  novice,  being  absent  a  few  minutes,  presently  re- 
turned with  the  baggage-horse,  which,  with  its  burden, 
Arthur,  from  regard  to  his  father^s  accommodation,  had  left 
on  the  western  side  of  the  river.  The  priest  looked  on  at- 
tentively, while  the  elder  Philipson,  mounting  his  own  horse, 
and  taking  the  rein  of  the  other  in  his  hand,  bade  the  black 
priest  adieu  in  these  words — "  And  now,  father,  farewell ! 
I  must  pass  on  with  my  bales,  since  there  is  little  wisdom  in 
traveling  with  them  after  nightfall,  else  would  I  gladly  suit 
my  pace,  with  your  permission^  so  as  to  share  the  way  with 
you/' 

*'  If  it  is  your  obliging  purpose  to  do  so,  as,  indeed,  I  was 
about  to  propose,"  said  the  priest,  ^'know  I  will  be  no  stay 
to  your  journey.  I  have  here  a  good  horse  ;  and  Melchior, 
who  must  otherwise  have  gone  on  foot,  may  ride  upon  your 
sumpter-horse.  I  the  rather  propose  this  course,  as  it  will 
be  rash  for  you  to  travel  by  night.  I  can  conduct  you  to  an 
hostelry  about  five  miles  oii,  which  we  may  reach  with  suf- 
ficient daylight,  and  where  you  will  be  lodged  safely  for  your 
reckoning." 

The  English  merchant  hesitated  a  moment.  He  had  no 
fancy  for  any  new  companion  on  the  road,  and  although  the 
countenance  of  the  priest  was  rather  handsome,  considering 
his  years,  yet  the  expression  was  such  as  by  no  means  invited 
confidence.  On  the  contrary,  there  was  something  mys- 
terious and  gloomy  which  clouded  his  brow,  though  it  was  a 
lofty  one,  and  a  similar  expression  gleamed  in  his  cold  gray 
eye,  and  intimated  severity,  and  even  harshness,  of  disposi- 
tion. But,  notwithstanding  this  repulsive  circumstance, 
the  priest  had  lately  rendered  Philipson  a  considerable  serv- 
ice, by  detecting  the  treachery  of  his  hypocritical  guide 
and  the  merchant  was  not  a  man  to  be  startled  from  his 
course  by  any  imaginary  prepossessions  against  the  looks  oi 
manners  of  any  one,  or  apprehensions  of  machinations  againsi 
himself.  He  only  revolved  in  his  mind  the  singularity  at- 
tending his  destiny,  which,  while  it  was  necessary  for  him  to 
appear  before  the  Duke  of  Burgundy  in  the  most  conciliatory 
manner,  seemed  to  force  upon  him  the  adoption  of  com- 
panions who  must  needs  be  obnoxious  to  that  prince  ;  and 
such,  he  was  too  well  aware,  must  be  the  case  with  the  priest 
of  St.  Paul's.     Having  reflected  for  an  instant,  he  courteously 


I 


ANNE  OF  GEtERSTEIN  229 

accepted  the  offer  of  the  priest  to  guide  him  to  some  place 

of  rest  and  entertainment,  which  must  he  absolutely  neces- 
sary for  his  horse  before  he  reached  Strasburg,  even  if  he 
himself  could  have  dispensed  with  it. 

The  party  being  thus  arranged,  the  novice  brought  forth 
the  priest's  steed,  which  he  mounted  with  grace  and  agility, 
and  the  neophyte,  being  probably  the  same  whom  Arthur 
had  represented  during  his  escape  from  La  Ferette,  took 
charge,  at  his  master's  command,  of  the  baggage-horse  of 
the  Englishman  ;  and  crossing  himself,  with  a  humble  in- 
clination of  his  head,  as  the  priest  passed  him,  he  fell  into 
the  rear,  and  seemed  to  pass  the  time,  like  the  false  brother 
Bartholomew,  in  telling  his  beads,  with  an  earnestness  which 
had  perhaps  more  of  affected  than  of  real  piety.  The  black 
priest  of  St.  Paul's,  to  judge  by  the  glance  which  he  cast 
upon  his  novice,  seemed  to  disdain  the  formality  of  the  young 
man's  devotion.  He  rode  upon  a  strong  black  horse,  more 
like  a  warrior's  charger  than  the  ambling  palfrey  of  a  priest, 
and  the  manner  in  which  he  managed  him  was  entirely 
devoid  of  awkwardness  and  timidity.  His  pride,  whatever 
was  its  character,  was  not  certainly  of  a  kind  altogether  pro- 
fessional, but  had  its  origin  in  other  swelling  thoughts  which 
arose  in  his  mind,  to  mingle  with  and  enhance  the  self- 
consequence  of  a  powerful  ecclesiastic. 

As  Philipson  looked  on  his  companion  from  time  to  time, 
his  scrutinizing  glance  was  returned  by  a  haughty  smile, 
which  seemed  to  say,  "You  may  gaze  on  my  form  and 
features,  but  you  cannot  penetrate  my  mystery." 

The  looks  of  Philipson,  which  were  never  known  to  sink 
before  mortal  man,  seemed  to  retort,  with  equal  haughtiness, 
'^'^  Nor  shall  you,  proud  priest,  know  that  you  are  now  in 
company  with  one  whose  secret  is  far  more  important  than 
thine  own  can  be." 

At  length  the  priest  made  some  advance  towards  conver- 
sation, by  allusion  to  the  footing  upon  which,  by  a  mutual 
understanding,  they  seemed  to  have  placed  their  intercourse. 

"  We  travel  then,"  he  said,  "like  two  powerful  enchanters, 
each  conscious  of  his  own  high  and  secret  purpose,  each  in 
his  own  chariot  of  clouds,  and  neither  imparting  to  his 
companion  the  direction  or  purpose  of  his  journey." 

"  Excuse  me,  father,"  answered  Philij)son  ;  "  I  have 
neither  asked  your  purpose  nor  concealed  my  own,  so  far  as 
it  concerns  you.  I  repeat,  I  am  bound  to  the  presence  of 
the  Duke  of  Burgundy,  and  my  object,  like  that  of  any 
other  merchant,  is  to  dispose  of  my  wares  to  advantage.'* 


230  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

''Doubtless,  it  would  seem  so/*  said  the  black  priest, 
''  from  the  extreme  attention  to  your  merchandise  which  you 
showed  not  above  half  an  hour  since,  when  you  knew  not 
whether  your  bales  had  crossed  the  river  with  your  son  or 
were  remaining  in  your  own  charge.  Are  English  merchants 
usually  so  indifferent  to  the  sources  of  their  traffic  ?  " 

"  When  their  lives  are  in  danger,*'  said  Philipson,  "  they 
are  sometimes  negligent  of  their  fortune." 

'^It  is  well,**  replied  the  priest,  and  again  resumed  his 
solitary  musings,  until  another  half-hour's  traveling  brought 
them  to  a  dorff,  or  village,  which  the  black  priest  informed 
Philipson  was  that  where  he  proposed  to  stop  for  the  night. 

"  The  novice,**  he  said,  ''  will  show  you  the  inn,  which  is 
of  good  reputation,  and  where  you  may  lodge  with  safety. 
For  me,  I  have  to  visit  a  penitent  in  this  village,  who  de- 
sires my  ghostly  offices  ;  perhaps  I  may  see  you  again  this 
evening,  perhaps  not  till  the  next  morning";  at  any  rate, 
adieu  for  the  present.** 

So  saying,  the  priest  stopped  his  horse,  while  the  novice, 
coming  close  up  to  Philipson*s  side,  conducted  him  onward 
through  the  narrow  street  of  the  village,  whilst  the  windows 
exhibited  here  and  there  a  twinkling  gleam,  announcing 
that  the  hour  of  darkness  was  arrived.  Finally,  he  led  the 
Englishman  through  an  archway  into  a  sort  of  courtyard, 
where  there  stood  a  car  or  two  of  a  particular  shape,  used 
occasionally  by  women  when  they  travel,  and  some  other 
vehicles  of  the  same  kind.  Here  the  young  man  threw  him- 
self from  the  sumpter-horse,  and,  placing  the  rein  in  Philip- 
son's  hand,  disappeared  in  the  increasing  darkness,  after 
pointing  to  a  large  but  dilapidated  building,  along  the  front 
of  which  not  a  spark  of  light  was  to  be  discovered  from  any 
of  the  narrow  and  numerous  windows  which  were  dimly 
visible  in  the  twilight. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

ist  Carrier.  What,  ostler  ! — a  plague  on  thee,  ha*t  never  an  eye 
in  thy  head  ?  Canst  thou  not  hear  ?  An  'twere  not  as  good  a  deed 
as  drink  to  break  the  pate  of  thee,  I  am  a  very  villain.  Come,  and 
be  hanged.     Hast  thou  no  faith  in  thee  ? 

Gadshill.  I  pray  thee,  lend  me  thy  lantern,  to  see  my  gelding 
in  the  stable. 

2d  Carrier.  Nay,  soft,  I  pray  you — I  know  a  trick  worth  two 
of  that. 

Gadshill.     I  prithee  lend  me  thine. 

3d  Carrier.  Ay,  when  ?  Canst  tell  ?  Lend  thee  my  lantern, 
quotha  ?    Marry,  I'll  see  thee  hanged  first. 

Henry  IV. 

The  social  spirit  peculiar  to  the  French  nation  had  already 
introduced  into  the  inns  of  that  country  the  gay  and  cheer- 
ful character  of  welcome  upon  which  Erasmus,  at  a  later 
period,  dwells  with  strong  emphasis,  as  a  contrast  to  the 
saturnine  and  sullen  reception  which  strangers  were  apt  to 
meet  with  at  a  German  caravansera.  Philipson  was,  there- 
fore, in  expectation  of  being  received  by  the  busy,  civil,  and 
talkative  host — by  the  hostess  and  her  daughter,  all  softness, 
coquetry,  and  glee — the  smiling  and  supple  waiter — the  offi- 
cious and  dimpled  chambermaid.  The  better  inns  in  France 
boast  also  separate  rooms,  where  strangers  could  change  or 
put  in  order  their  dress,  where  they  might  sleep  without 
company  in  their  bedrooms,  and  where  they  could  deposit 
their  baggage  in  privacy  and  safety.  But  all  these  luxuries 
were  as  yet  unknown  in  Germany  ;  and  in  Alsace,  where  the 
scene  now  lies,  as  well  as  in  the  other  dependencies  of  the 
Empire,  they  regarded  as  effeminacy  everything  beyond  such 
provisions  as  were  absolutely  necessary  for  the  supply  of  the 
wants  of  travelers ;  and  even  these  were  coarse  and  in- 
different, and,  excepting  in  the  article  of  wine,  sparingly 
ministered. 

The  Englishman,  finding  that  no  one  appeared  at  the  gate, 
began  to  make  his  presence  known  by  calling  aloud,  and 
finally  by  alighting,  and  smiting  with  all  his  might  on  the 
doors  of  the  hostelry  for  a  long  time,  without  attracting  the 
least  attention.  At  length  the  head  of  a  grizzled  servitor 
was  thrust  out  at  a  small  window,  who,  in  a  Yoice  which 

231 


232  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

sounded  like  that  of  one  displeased  at  the  interruption,  rather 
than  hopeful  of  advantage  from  the  arrival  of  a  guest, 
demanded  what  he  wanted. 

"  Is  this  an  inn  ?  "  replied  Philipson. 

"  Yes/'  bluntly  replied  the  domestic,  and  was  about  to 
withdraw  from  the  window,  when  the  traveler  added — 

''  And  if  it  be,  can  I  have  lodgings  ?  " 

''  You  may  come  in,"  was  the  short  and  dry  answer. 

''  Send  some  one  to  take  the  horses,'^  replied  Philipson. 

'^  No  one  is  at  leisure,"  replied  this  most  repulsive  of 
waiters  ;  *'  you  must  litter  down  your  horses  yourself,  in  the 
way  that  likes  you  best." 

*'  Where  is  the  stable  ? "  said  the  merchant,  whose 
prudence  and  temper  were  scarce  proof  against  this  Dutch 
phlegm. 

The  fellow,  who  seemed  as  sparing  of  his  words  as  if,  like 
the  princess  in  the  fairy  tale,  he  had  dropped  ducats  with 
each  of  them,  only  pointed  to  a  door  in  an  outer  building, 
more  resembling  that  of  a  cellar  than  of  a  stable,  and,  as  if 
weary  of  the  conference,  drew  in  his  head,  and  shut  the 
window  sharply  against  the  guest,  as  he  would  against  an 
importunate  begger. 

Cursing  the  spirit  of  independence  which  left  a  traveler 
to  his  own  resources  and  exertions,  Philipson,  making  a  vir- 
tue of  necessity,  led  the  two  nags  towards  the  door  pointed  out 
as  that  of  the  stable,  and  was  rejoiced  at  heart  to  see  light  glim- 
mering through  its  chinks.  He  entered  with  his  charge  into 
a  place  very  like  the  dungeon  vault  of  an  ancient  castle, 
rudely  fitted  up  with  some  racks  and  mangers.  It  was  of 
considerable  extent  in  point  of  length,  and  at  the  lower  end 
two  or  three  persons  were  engaged  in  tying  up  their  horses, 
dressing  them,  and  dispensing  them  their  provender. 

This  last  article  was  delivered  by  the  ostler,  a  very  old 
lame  man,  who  neither  put  his  hand  to  wisp  or  curry-comb, 
but  sat  weighing  forth  hay  by  the  pound,  and  counting  out 
corn,  as  it  seemed,  by  the  grain,  so  anxiously  did  he  bend 
over  his  task,  by  the  aid  of  a  blinking  light  inclosed  within  a 
horn  lantern.  He  did  not  even  turn  his  head  at  the  noise 
which  the  Englishman  made  on  entering  the  place  with  two 
additional  horses,  far  less  did  he  seem  disposed  to  give  him- 
self the  least  trouble,  or  the  stranger  the  smallest  assistance. 

In  respect  of  cleanliness,  the  stable  of  Augeas  bore 
no  small  resemblance  to  that  of  this  Alsatian  dorff,  and 
it  would  have  been  an  exploit  worthy  of  Hercules  to  have 
restored  it  to  such  a  state  of  cleanliness  as  would  have  made 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  238 

it  barely  decent  in  the  eyes,  and  tolerable  to  the  nostrils  of  the 
punctilious  Englishman.  But  this  was  a  matter  which  disgust- 
ed Philipson  himself  much  more  than  those  of  his  party  which 
were  principally  concerned.  They,  videlicet  the  two  horses, 
seeming  perfectly  to  understand  that  the  rule  of  the  place 
was  ''  first  come,  first  served,"  hastened  to  occupy  the  empty 
stalls  which  happened  to  be  nearest  to  them.  In  this  one  of 
them  at  least  was  disappointed,  being  received  by  a  groom 
with  a  blow  across  the  face  with  a  switch. 

''  Take  that,''  said  the  fellow,  ''  for  forcing  thyself  into 
the  place  taken  up  for  the  horses  of  the  Baron  of  Eandel- 
sheim.^' 

Never  in  the  course  of  his  life  had  the  English  merchant 
more  pain  to  retain  possession  of  his  temper  than  at  that 
moment.  Reflecting,  however,  on  the  discredit  of  quarrel- 
ing with  such  a  man  in  such  a  cause,  he  contented  himself 
with  placing  the  animal,  thus  repulsed  from  the  stall  he  had 
chosen,  into  one  next  to  that  of  his  companion,  to  which  no 
one  seemed  to  lay  claim. 

The  merchant  then  proceeded,  notwithstanding  the  fatigue 
of  the  day,  to  pay  all  that  attention  to  the  mute  companions 
of  his  journey  which  they  deserve  from  every  traveler  who 
has  any  share  of  prudence,  to  say  nothing  of  humanity.  The 
unusual  degree  of  trouble  which  Philipson  took  to  arrange 
his  horses,  although  his  dress,  and  much  more  his  demeanor, 
seemed  to  place  him  above  this  species  of  servile  labor, 
appeared  to  make  an  impression  even  upon  the  iron  insensi- 
bility of  the  old  ostler  himself.  He  showed  some  alacrity  in 
furnishing  the  traveler,  who  knew  the  business  of  a  groom 
so  well,  with  corn,  straw,  and  hay,  though  in  small  quantity, 
and  at  exorbitant  rates,  which  were  instantly  to  be  paid  ;  nay, 
he  even  went  as  far  as  the  door  of  the  stable,  that  he  might 
point  across  the  court  to  the  v/ell,  from  which  Philipson  was 
obliged  to  fetch  water  with  his  own  hands.  The  duties  of 
the  stable  being  finished,  the  merchant  concluded  that  he 
had  gained  such  an  interest  with  the  grim  master  of  the 
horse  as  to  learn  of  him  whether  he  might  have  his  bales 
safely  in  the  stable. 

'*  You  may  leave  them  if  you  will,''  said  the  ostler  ;  "  but 
touching  their  safety  you  will  do  much  more  wisely  if  you 
take  them  with  you,  and  give  no  temptation  to  any  one  by 
suffering  them  to  pass  from  under  your  own  eyes." 

So  saying,  the  man  of  oats  closed  his  oracular  jaws,  noi 
could  he  be  prevailed  upon  to  unlock  them  again  by  any  in- 
quiry which  his  customer  could  devise. 


234  WAVERLET  NOVELS 

In  the  course  of  this  cold  and  comfortless  reception,  Phil- 
ipson  recollected  the  necessity  of  supporting  the  character 
of  a  prudent  and  wary  trader,  which  he  had  forgotten  once 
before  in  the  course  of  the  day  ;  and,  imitating  what  he  saw 
the  others  do,  who  had  been,  like  himself,  engaged  in  taking 
charge  of  their  horses,  he  took  up  his  baggage  and  removed 
himself  and  his  property  to  the  inn.  Here  he  was  suffered 
to  enter,  rather  than  admitted,  into  the  general  or  public 
stuhe,  or  room  of  entertainment,  which  like  the  ark  of  the 
patriarch,  received  all  ranks  without  distinction,  whether 
clean  or  unclean. 

The  stule  of  a  German  inn  derived  its  name  from  the  great 
hypocaust,  or  stove,  which  is  always  strongly  heated  to  secure 
the  warmth  of  the  apartment  in  which  it  is  placed.  There 
travelers  of  every  age  and  description  assembled  ;  there  their 
upper  garments  were  indiscriminately  hung  up  around  the 
stove  to  dry  or  to  air  ;  and  the  guests  themselves  were  seen  em- 
ployed in  various  acts  of  ablution  or  personal  arrangement, 
which  are  generally,  in  modern  times,  referred  to  the  privacy 
of  the  dressing-room. 

The  more  refined  feelings  of  the  Englishman  were  disgusted 
with  this  scene,  and  he  was  reluctant  to  mingle  in  it.  For 
this  reason  he  inquired  for  the  private  retreat  of  the  landlord 
himself,  trusting  that,  by  some  of  the  arguments  powerful 
among  his  tribe,  he  might  obtain  separate  quarters  from  the 
crowd,  and  a  morsel  of  food  to  be  eaten  in  private.  A  gray- 
haired  Ganymede,  to  whom  he  put  the  question  where  the 
landlord  was,  indicated  a  recess  behind  the  huge  stove, 
where,  veiling  his  glory  in  a  very  dark  and  extremely  hot 
corner,  it  pleased  the  great  man  to  obscure  himself  from  the 
vulgar  gaze.  There  was  something  remarkable  about  his 
person.  Short,  stout,  bandy-legged,  and  consequential,  he 
was  in  these  respects  like  many  brethren  of  the  profession  in 
all  countries.  But  the  countenance  of  the  man,  and  still 
more  his  manners,  differed  more  from  the  merry  host  of 
France  or  England  than  even  the  experienced  Philipson  was 
prepared  to  expect.  He  knew  German  customs  too  well  to 
expect  the  suppliant  and  serviceable  qualities  of  the  master 
of  a  French  inn,  or  even  the  more  blunt  and  frank  manners 
of  an  English  landlord.  But  such  German  innkeepers  as  he 
had  yet  seen, though  indeed  arbitrary  and  peremptory  in  their 
country  fashions,  yet,  being  humored  in  these,  they,  like 
tyrants  in  their  hours  of  relaxation,  dealt  kindly  with  the 
guests  over  whom  their  sway  extended,  and  mitigated,  by 
jest  and  jollity,  the  harshness  of  their  absolute  power.     But 


m 


The  general,  or  public   stub/,  or  room  of  public  enterfainment. 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  285 

this  man's  brow  was  like  a  tragic  volume,  in  which  yon  were 
as  unlikely  to  find  anything  of  jest  or  amusement  as  in  a 
hermit's  breviary.  His  answers  were  short,  sudden  [sullen], 
and  repulsive,  and  the  air  and  manner  with  which  they  were 
delivered  was  as  surly  as  their  tenor,  which  will  appear  from 
the  following  dialogue  betwixt  him  and  his  guest  : — 

*'  Good  host,''  said  Philipson,  in  the  mildest  tone  he  could 
assume,  "  I  am  fatigued,  and  far  from  well — may  I  request 
to  have  a  separate  apartment,  a  cup  of  wine,  and  a  morsel  of 
food  in  my  private  chamber  ?  "  ^-■ 

''You  may,''  answered  the  landlord,  but  with  a  look 
strangely  at  variance  with  the  apparent  acquiescence  which 
his  words  naturally  implied. 

*'  Let  me  have  such  accommodation,  then,  with  your  ear- 
liest convenience." 

"  Soft  ! "  replied  the  innkeeper.  ''  I  have  said  that  you 
may  request  these  things,  but  not  that  I  would  grant  them. 
If  you  would  insist  on  being  served  differently  from  others, 
it  must  be  at  another  inn  than  mine." 

''Well,  then,"  said  the  traveler,  "I  will  shift  without 
supper  for  a  night — nay,  more,  I  will  be  content  to  pay  for 
a  supper  which  I  do  not  eat — if  you  will  cause  me  to  be  ac- 
commodated with  a  private  apartment  ?  " 

"Signior  traveler,"  said  the  innkeeper,  "  every  one  here 
must  be  accommodated  as  well  as  you,  since  all  pay  alike. 
Whoso  comes  to  this  house  of  entertainment  must  eat  as 
others  eat,  drink  as  others  drink,  sit  at  table  with  the 
rest  of  my  guests,  and  go  to  bed  when  the  company  have 
done  drinking." 

"  All  this,"  said  Philipson,  humbling  himself  where  anger 
would  have  been  ridiculous,  "is  highly  reasonable;  and  I  do 
not  oppose  myself  to  your  laws  or  customs.  But,"  added  he, 
taking  his  purse  from  his  girdle,  "  sickness  craves  some  priv- 
ilege ;  and  then  the  patient  is  willing  to  pay  for  it,  methinks 
the  rigor  of  your  laws  may.  admit  of  some  mitigation  ?  " 

"  I  keep  an  inn,  signior,  and  not  an  hospital.  If  you  re- 
main here,  you  shall  be  served  with  the  same  attention  as 
others  ;  if  you  are  not  willing  to  do  as  others  do,  leave  my 
house  and  seek  another  inn." 

On  receiving  this  decisive  rebuff,  Philipson  gave  up  the 
contest,  and  retired  from  the  sanctum  sa7ictorum  of  his  un- 
gracious host,  to  await  the  arrival  of  supper,  penned  up  like 
a  bullock  in  a  pound,  amongst  the  crowded  inhabitants  of 
the  stuhe.  Some  of  these,  exhausted  by  fatigue,  snored 
away  the  interval  between  their  own  arrival  and  that  of  the 


236  WA  VEBLEY  NOVELS 

expected  repast ;  others  conversed  together  on  the  news  of 
the  country  ;  and  others  again  played  at  dice,  or  such  games 
as  might  serve  to  consume  the  time.  The  company  were  of 
various  ranks,  from  those  who  were  apparently  wealthy  and 
well-appointed  to  some  whose  garments  and  manners  indicated 
that  they  were  but  just  beyond  the  grasp  of  poverty. 

A  begging  friar,  a  man  apparently  of  a  gay  and  pleasant 
temper,  approached  Philipson,  and  engaged  him  in  conversa- 
tion. The  Englishman  was  well  enough  acquainted  with 
the  world  to  be  aware  that  whatever  of  his  character  and 
purpose  it  was  desirable  to  conceal  would  be  best  hidden 
under  a  sociable  and  open  demeanor.  He,  therefore,  received 
the  friar's  approaches  graciously,  and  conversed  with  him 
upon  the  state  of  Lorraine,  and  the  interest  which  the  Duke 
of  Burgundy's  attempt  to  seize  that  fief  into  his  own  hands 
was  likely  to  create  both  in  France  and  Germany.  On  these 
subjects,  satisfied  with  hearing  his  fellow-traveler's  senti- 
ments, Philipson  expressed  no  opinion  of  his  own,  but,  after 
receiving  such  intelligence  as  the  friar  chose  to  communi- 
cate,  preferred  rather  to  talk  upon  the  geography  of  the 
country,  the  facilities  afforded  to  commerce,  and  the  rules 
which  obstructed  or  favored  trade. 

While  he  was  thus  engaged  in  the  conversation  which 
seemed  most  to  belong  to  his  profession,  the  landlord 
suddenly  entered  the  room,  and,  mounting  on  the  head  of 
an  old  barrel,  glanced  his  eye  slowly  and  steadily  round  the 
crowded  apartment,  and  when  he  had  completed  his  survey, 
pronounced  in  a  decisive  tone  the  double  command — "  Shut 
the  gates.     Spread  the  table." 

"  The  Baron  St.  Antonio  be  praised,"  said  the  friar,  ^^  our 
lordlord  has  given  up  hope  of  any  more  guests  to-night,  until 
which  blessed  time  we  might  have  starved  for  want  of  food 
before  he  had  relieved  us.  Ay,  here  comes  the  cloth  ;  the 
old  gates  of  the  courtyard  are  now  bolted  fast  enough  and 
when  Jan  Mengs  has  once  said,  '  Shut  the  gates,'  the 
stranger  may  knock  on  the  outside  as  he  will,  but  we  may 
rest  assured  that  it  shall  not  be  opened  to  him." 

*'  Meinherr  Mengs  maintains  strict  discipline  in  his  house," 
said  the  Englishman. 

'*  As  absolute  as  the  Duke  of  Burgundy,"  answered  the 
friar.  ''After  ten  o'clock,  no  admittance:  the  'seek 
another  inn,'  which  is  before  that  a  conditional  hint,  be- 
comes, after  the  clock  has  struck  and  the  watchmen  have 
begun  their  rounds,  an  absolute  order  of  exclusion.  He 
that  is  without  remains  without,  and  he  that  is  within  must. 


ANNE  OF  GEIEBSTEIN  287 

in  like  manner,  continue  there  until  the  gates  open  at  break 
of  day.  Till  then  the  house  is  almost  like  a  beleaguered 
citadel,  John  Mengs  its  seneschal " 

"  And  we  its  captives,  good  father,''  said  Philipson. 
'^  Well,  content  am  I ;  a  wise  traveler  must  submit  to  the 
control  of  the  leaders  of  the  people  when  he  travels,  and  I 
hope  a  goodly  fat  potentate  like  John  Mengs  will  be  as 
clement  as  his  station  and  dignity  admit  of."   ^ 

While  they  were  talking  in  this  manner,  the  aged  waiter, 
with  many  a  weary  sigh  and  many  a  groan,  had  drawn  out 
certain  boards  by  which  a  table  that  stood  in  the  midst  of 
the  stude  had  the  capacity  of  being  extended,  so  as  to  contain 
the  company  present,  and  covered  it  with  a  cloth,  which  was 
neither  distinguished  by  extreme  cleanlipess  nor  fineness  of 
texture.  On  this  table,  when  it  had  been,  accommodated  to 
receive  the  necessary  number  of  guests,  t  wooden  trencher 
and  spoon,  together  with  a  glass  drinking-cup,  were  placed 
before  each,  he  being  expected  to  serve  himself  with  his  own 
knife  for  the  other  purposes  of  the  table.  As  for  forks,  they 
were  unknown  until  a  much  later  period,  all  the  Europeans 
of  that  day  making  the  same  use  of  the  fingers  to  select  their 
morsels  and  transport  them  to  the  mouth  which  the  Asiatics 
now  practise. 

The  board  was  no  sooner  arranged  than  the  hungry  guests 
hastened  to  occupy  their  seats  around  it  ;  for  which  purpose 
the  sleepers  were  awakened,  the  dicers  resigned  their  game, 
and  the  idlers  and  politicians  broke  off  their  sage  debates,  in 
order  to  secure  their  station  at  the  supper-table,  and  be  ready 
to  perform  their  part  in  the  interesting  solemnity  which 
seemed  about  to  take  place.  But  there  is  much  between 
the  cup  and  the  lip,  and  not  less  sometimes  between  the 
covering  of  a  table  and  the  placing  food  upon  it.  The  guests 
sat  in  order,  each  with  his  knife  drawn,  already  menacing 
the  victuals  which  were  still  subject  to  the  operations  of  the 
cook.  They  had  waited  with  various  degrees  of  patience  for 
full  half  an  hour,  when  at  length  the  old  attendant  before 
mentioned  entered  with  a  pitcher  of  thin  Moselle  wine,  so 
light  and  so  sharp  tasted,  that  Philipson  put  down  his  cup 
with  every  tooth  in  his  head  set  on  edge  by  the  slender  por- 
tion which  he  had  swallowed.  The  landlord,  John  Mengs, 
who  had  assumed  a  seat  somewhat  elevated  at  the  head  of 
the  table,  did  not  omit  to  observe  this  mark  of  insubordi- 
nation, and  to  animadvert  upon  it. 

"The  wine  likes  you  not,  I  think,  my  master  ? "  said  he 
to  the  English  merchant. 


238  WA  VERLEY  NOVELS 

'^  For  wine,  no/'  answered  Philipson  ;  ^'  but  could  I  see 
anything  requiring  such  sauce,  I  have  seldom  seen  better 
vinegar." 

This  jest,  though  uttered  in  the  most  calm  and  composed 
manner,  seemed  to  drive  the  innkeeper  to  fury. 

^^  Who  are  you,"  he  exclaimed,  ^^  for  a  foreign  peddler, 
that  ventures  oo  quarrel  with  my  wine,  which  has  been  ap- 
proved of  by  9;>  many  princes,  dukes,  reigning  dukes,  graves, 
rhinegraves,  counts,  barons,  and  knights  of  thf  Empire, 
whose  shoes  you  are  altogether  unworthy  even  to  clean  ? 
Was  it  not  of  this  w-ine  that  the  Count  Palatine  of  Nimmer- 
satt  drank  six  quarts  before  he  ever  rose  from  the  blessed 
chair  in  which  I  now  "-dt  ?  " 

'^  I  doubt  it  not^mine  host,"  said  Philipson  ;  "nor should 
I  think  of  scandarizing  the  sobriety  of  your  honorable  guest, 
even  if  he  had  drlmken  twice  the  quantity." 

"Silence,  thou  malicious  railer!"  said  the  host;  "and 
let  instant  apology  be  made  to  me  and  the  wine  which  you 
have  calumniated,  or  I  will  instantly  command  the  supper 
to  be  postponed  till  midnight." 

Here  there  was  a  general  alarm  among  the  guests,  all  ab- 
juring any  part  in  the  censures  of  Philipson,  and  most  of 
them  proposing  that  John  Mengs  should  avenge  himself  on 
the  actual  culprit  by  turning  him  instantly  out  of  doors, 
rather  than  involve  so  many  innocent  and  famished  persons 
in  the  consequences  of  his  guilt.  The  wine  they  pronounced 
excellent ;  some  two  or  three  even  drank  their  glass  out  to 
make  their  words  good ;  and  they  all  offered,  if  not  with 
lives  and  fortunes,  at  least  with  hands  and  feet,  to  support 
the  ban  of  the  house  against  the  contumacious  Englishman. 
While  petition  and  remonstrance  were  assailing  John  Mengs 
on  every  side,  the  friar,  like  a  wise  counselor  and  a  trusty 
friend,  endeavored  to  end  the  feud  by  advising  Philipson  to 
submit  to  the  host's  sovereignty. 

"  Humble  thyself,  my  son,"  he  said  ;  "  bend  the  stubborn- 
ness of  thy  heart  before  the  great  lord  of  the  spigot  and 
butt.  I  speak  for  the  sake  of  others  as  well  as  my  own  ;  for 
Heaven  alone  knows  how  much  longer  they  or  I  can  endure 
this  extenuating  fast ! " 

"  Worthy  guests,"  said  Philipson,  "  I  am  grieved  to  have 
offended  our  respected  host,  and  am  so  far  from  objecting 
to  the  wine,  that  I  will  pay  for  a  double  flagon  of  it,  to  be 
served  all  round  to  this  honorable  company — so,  only,  they 
do  not  ask  me  to  share  of  it." 

These  last  words  were  spoken  aside  ;  but  the  Englishman  • 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  239 

could  not  fail  to  perceive,  from  the  wry  mouths  of  some  of 
the  party  who  were  possessed  of  a  nicer  palate,  that  they 
were  as  much  afraid  as  himself  of  a  repetition  of  the  acid 
potation. 

The  friar  next  addressed  the  company  with  a  proposal  that 
the  foreign  merchant,  instead  of  being  amerced  in  a  measure 
of  the  liquor  which  he  had  scandalized,  should  be  mulcted 
in  an  equal  quantity  of  the  more  generous  wines  which  were 
usually  produced  after  the  repast  had  been  concluded.  In 
this  mine  host,  as  well  as  the  guests,  found  their  advantage  ; 
and,  as  Philipson  made  no  objection,  the  proposal  was 
unanimously  adopted,  and  John  Mengs  gave,  from  his  seat 
of  dignity,  the  signal  for  supper  to  be  served. 

The  long-expected  meal  appeared,  and  there  was  twice  as 
much  time  employed  in  consuming  as  there  had  been  in  ex- 
pecting it.  The  articles  of  which  the  Shipper  consisted,  as 
well  as  the  mode  of  serving  them  up,  were  as  much  calcu- 
lated to  try  the  patience  of  the  company  as  the  delay  which 
had  preceded  its  appearance.  Messes  of  broth  and  vege- 
tables followed  in  succession,  with  platters  of  meat  sodden 
and  roasted,  of  which  each  in  its  turn  took  a  formal  course 
around  the  ample  table,  and  was  specially  subjected  to  every 
one  in  rotation.  Black  puddings,  hung  beef,  dried  fish, 
also  made  the  circuit,  with  various  condiments,  called 
botargo,  caviare,  and  similar  names,  composed  of  the  roes  of 
fish  mixed  with  spices,  and  the  like  preparations,  calculated 
to  awaken  thirst  and  encourage  deep  drinking.  Flagons  of 
wine  accompanied  these  stimulating  dainties.  The  liquor 
was  so  superior  in  flavor  and  strength  to  the  ordinary  wine 
which  had  awakened  so  much  controversy,  that  it  might  be 
objected  to  on  the  opposite  account,  being  so  heady,  fiery, 
and  strong  that,  in  spite  of  the  rebuffs  which  his  criticism 
had  already  procured,  Philipson  ventured  to  ask  for  some 
cold  water  to  allay  it. 

''  You  are  too  difficult  to  please,  sir  guest,^'  replied  the 
landlord,  again  bending  upon  the  Englishman  a  stern  and 
offended  brow  ;  ''  if  you  find  the  wine  too  strong  in  m}^ 
house,  the  secret  to  allay  its  strength  is  to  drink  the  less. 
It  is  indifferent  to  us  whether  you  drink  or  not,  so  you  pay 
the  reckoning  of  those  good  fellows  who  do."  And  he 
laughed  a  gruff  laugh. 

Philipson  was  about  to  reply,  but  the  friar,  retaining  his 
character  of  mediator,  plucked  him  by  the  cloak,  and 
entreated  him  to  forbear.  ''  You  do  not  understand  the 
ways  of  the  place,'' said  he  :  *'  it  is  not  here  as  in  the  hos- 


240  WA  VERLET  NO  VELS 

telries  of  England  and  France,  where  each  guest  calls  for 
what  he  desires  for  his  own  use,  and  where  he  pays  for  what 
he  has  required,  and  for  no  more.  Here  we  proceed  on  a 
broad  principle  of  equality  and  fraternity.  No  one  asks  for 
anything  in  particular :  but  such  provisions  as  the  host 
thinks  sufficient  are  set  down  before  all  indiscriminately ; 
and  as  with  the  feast,  so  is  it  with  the  reckoning.  All  pay 
their  proportions  alike,  without  reference  to  the  quantity  of 
wine  which  one  may  have  swallowed  more  than  another  ;  and 
thus  the  sick  and  infirm,  nay,  the  female  and  the  child,  pay 
the  same  as  the  hungry  peasant  and  strolling  lanzknecht.''' 

''It  seems  an  unequal  custom,^'  said  Philipson ;  ''^but 
travelers  are  not  to  jndge.  So  that,  wJien  a  reckoning  is 
called,  every  one,  I  am  to  understand,  pays  alike  ? '' 

''Such  is  the  rule,"  said  the  friar — "excepting,  perhaps, 
some  poor  brother  of  our  own  order,  whom  Our  Lady  and 
St.  Francis  send  into  such  a  scene  as  this  that  good  Chris- 
tians may  bestow  their  alms  upon  him,  and  so  make  a  step 
on  their  road  to  Heaven." 

This  first  words  of  this  speech  were  spoken  in  the  open 
and  independent  tone  in  which  the  friar  had  begun  the  con- 
versation ;  the  last  sentence  died  away  into  the  professional 
whine  of  mendicity  proper  to  the  convent,  and  at  once  ap- 
prised Philipson  at  what  price  he  was  to  pay  for  the  friary's 
counsel  and  mediation.  Having  thus  explained  the  custom 
of  the  country,  good  Father  Gratian  turned  to  illustrate  it 
by  his  example,  and,  having  no  objection  to  the  new  serv- 
ice of  wine  on  account  of  its  strength,  he  seemed  well  dis- 
posed to  signalize  himself  amongst  some  stout  topers,  who, 
by  drinking  deeply,  appeared  determined  to  have  full  penny- 
worths for  their  share  of  the  reckoning.  The  good  wine 
gradually  did  its  office,  and  even  the  host  relaxed  his  sullen 
and  grim  features,  and  smiled  to  see  the  kindling  flame  of 
hilarity  catch  from  one  to  another,  and  at  length  embrace 
almost  all  the  numerous  guests  at  the  fable  d'hote,  except  a 
few  who  were  too  temperate  to  partake  deeply  of  the  wine, 
or  too  fastidious  to  enter  into  the  discussions  to  which  it 
gave  rise.  On  these  the  host  cast,  from  time  to  time,  a  sul- 
len and  displeased  eye. 

Philipson,  who  was  reserved  and  silent,  both  in  consequence 
of  his  abstinence  from  the  wine-pot  and  his  unwillingness 
to  mix  in  conversation  with  strangers,  was  looked  upon  by 
the  landlord  as  a  defaulter  in  both  particulars  ;  ^  and  as  he 
aroused  his  own  sluggish  nature  with  the  fiery  wine  Mengs 
began  to  throw  out  obscure  hints  about  kill- joy,  mar-com- 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  241 

pany,  spoil-sport,  and  such-like  epithets,  which  were  plainly 
directed  against  the  Englishman.  Philipson  replied,  with 
the  utmost  equanimity,  that  he  was  perfectly  sensible  that 
his  spirits  did  not  at  this  moment  render  him  an  agreeable 
member  of  a  merry  company,  and  that,  with  the  leave  of 
those  present,  he  would  withdraw  to  his  sleeping-apartment, 
and  wish  them  all  a  good  evening,  and  continuance  to  their 
mirth. 

But  this  very  reasonable  proposal,  as  it  might  have  else- 
where seemed,  contained  in  it  treason  against  the  laws  of 
German  compotation. 

"  Who  are  you,''  said  John  Mengs,  "  who  presume  to  leave 
the  table  before  the  reckoning  is  called  and  settled  ?  Sap- 
pennent  der  Teufel !  we  are  not  men  upon  whom  such  an 
offense  is  to  be  put  with  impunity.  You  may  exhibit  your 
polite  pranks  in  Ram's  Alley  if  you  will,  or  in  Eastcheap,  or 
in  Smithfield  ;  but  it  shall  not  be  in  John  Mengs's  Golden 
Fleece,  nor  will  I  suffer  one  guest  to  go  to  bed  to  blink  out 
of  the  reckoning,  and  so  cheat  me  and  all  the  rest  of  my 
company." 

Philipson  looked  round  to  gather  the  sentiments  of  the 
company,  but  saw  no  encouragement  to  appeal  to  their  judg- 
ment. Indeed,  many  of  them  had  little  judgment  left  to 
appeal  to,  and  those  who  paid  any  attention  to  the  matter 
at  all  were  some  quiet  old  soakers,  who  were  already  begin- 
ning to  think  of  the  reckoning,  and  were  disposed  to  agree 
with  the  host  in  considering  the  English  merchant  as  a 
flincher,  who  was  determined  to  evade  payment  of  what 
might  be  drunk  after  he  left  the  room  ;  so  that  John  Mengs 
received  the  applause  of  the  whole  company  when  he  con- 
cluded his  triumphant  denunciation  against  Philipson. 

'^  Yes,  sir,  you  may  withdraw  if  you  please ;  but,  Potz- 
Element !  it  shall  not  be  for  this  time  to  seek  for  another 
inn,  but  to  the  courtyard  shall  you  go,  and  no  further,  there 
to  make  your  bed  upon  the  stable  litter  ;  and  good  enough 
for  the  man  that  will  needs  be  the  first  to  break  up  good 
company." 

"  It  is  well  said,  my  jovial  host,"  said  a  rich  trader  from 
Ratisbon  ;  *'  and  here  are  some  six  of  us,  more  or  less,  who 
will  stand  by  you  to  maintain  the  good  old  customs  of  Ger- 
many, and  the — umph — laudable  and — and  praiseworthy 
rules  of  the  Golden  Fleece." 

"  Nay,  be  not  angry,  sir,"  said  Philipson  ;  "  yourself  and 
your  three  companions,  whom  the  good  wine  has  multiplied 
into  six,  shall  have  your  own  way  of  ordering  the  matter  ; 
i6 


242  WAVERLET  NOVELS 

and  since  you  will  not  peimit  me  to  go  to  bed,  I  trnst  that 
you  will  take  no  offense  if  I  fall  asleep  in  my  chair/^ 

"  How  say  you  ?  what  think  you,  mine  host  ?  "  said  the 
citizen  from  Ratisbon  ;  ''may  the  gentleman,  being  drunk, 
as  you  see  he  is,  since  he  cannot  tell  that  three  and  one 
make  six — I  say,  may  he,  being  drunk,  sleep  in  the  elbow* 
chair  ?^' 

This  question  introduced  a  contradiction  on  the  part  of 
the  host,  who  contended  that  three  and  one  made  four,  not 
six ;  and  this  again  produced  a  retort  from  the  Ratisbon 
trader.  Other  clamors  rose  at  the  same  time,  and  were  at 
length  with  difl&culty  silenced  by  the  stanzas  of  a  chorus 
song  of  mirth  and  good  fellowship,  which  the  friar,  now 
become  somewhat  oblivious  of  the  rule  of  St.  Francis, 
thundered  forth  with  better  good-will  than  he  ever  sung  a 
canticle  of  King  Dav^id.  Under  cover  of  this  tumult,  Phil- 
ipson  drew  himself  a  little  aside,  and  though  he  felt  it  im- 
possible to  sleep,  as  he  had  proposed,  was  yet  enabled  to 
escape  the  reproachful  glances  with  which  John  Mengs  dis- 
tir«guished  all  those  who  did  not  call  for  wine  loudly,  and 
drink  it  lustily.  His  thoughts  roamed  far  from  the  stube 
of  the  Golden  Fleece,  and  upon  matter  very  different  from 
that  which  was  discussed  around  him,  when  his  attention  was 
suddenly  recalled  by  a  loud  and  continued  knocking  on  the 
door  of  the  hostelry. 

''  What  have  we  here  ?  "  said  John  Mengs,  his  nose  red- 
dening with  very  indignation — ''who  the  foul  fiend  presses 
on  the  Golden  Fleece  at  such  an  honr,  as  if  he  thundered 
at  the  door  of  a  bordel  ?  To  the  turret  window  some  one — 
Geoffrey,  knave  ostler,  or  thou,  old  Timothy,  tell  the  rash 
man  there  is  no  admittance  into  the  Golden  Fleece  save  at 
timeous  hours.'^ 

The  men  went  as  they  were  directed,  and  might  be  heard 
in  the  stube  vying  with  each  other  in  the  positive  denial 
which  they  gave  to  the  ill-fated  guest,  who  was  pressing  for 
admission.  They  returned,  however,  to  inform  their  master 
that  they  were  unable  to  overcome  the  obstinacy  of  the 
stranger,  who  refused  positively  to  depart  until  he  had  an 
interview  with  Mengs  himself. 

Wroth  was  the  master  of  the  Golden  Fleece  at  this  ill- 
omened  pertinacity,  and  his  indignation  extended,  like  a 
fiery  exhalation,  from  his  nose,  all  over  the  adjacent  regions 
of  his  cheeks  and  brow.  He  started  from  his  chair,  grasped 
in  his  hand  a  stout  stick,  which  seemed  his  ordinary  scepter 
er  leading  staff  of  command,  and  muttering  something  con- 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  243 

cerning  cudgels  for  the  shoulders  of  fools,  and  pitchers  of  fair 
or  foul  water  for  the  drenching  of  their  ears,  he  marched  off 
to  the  window  which  looked  into  the  court,  and  left  his 
guests  nodding,  winking,  and  whispering  to  each  other,  in 
full  expectation  of  hearing  the  active  demonstrations  of  his 
wrath.  It  happened  otherwise,  however  ;  for,  after  the  ex- 
change of  a  few  indistinct  words,  they  were  astonished  when 
they  heard  the  noise  of  the  unbolting  and  unbarring  of 
the  gates  of  the  inn  and  presently  after  the  footsteps  of 
men  upon  the  stairs ;  and  the  landlord  entering,  with  an 
appearance  of  clumsy  courtesy,  prayed  those  assembled 
to  make  room  for  an  honored  guest,  who  came,  though 
late,  to  add  to  their  numbers.  A  tall,  dark  form  followed, 
muffled  in  a  traveling-cloak  ;  on  laying  aside  which,  Phil- 
ipson  at  once  recognized  his  late  fellow-traveler,  the  black 
priest  of  St.  PauFs. 

There  was  in  the  circumstance  itself  nothing  at  all  sur- 
prising, since  it  was  natural  that  a  landlord,  however  coarse 
and  insolent  to  ordinary  guests,  might  yet  show  deference  to 
an  ecclesiastic,  whether  from  his  rank  in  the  church  or  from 
his  reputation  for  sanctity. '  But  what  did  appear  surprising 
to  Philipson  was  the  effect  produced  by  the  entrance  of  this 
unexpected  guest.  He  seated  himself,  without  hesitation, 
at  the  highest  place  of  the  board,  from  which  John  Mengs 
had  dethroned  the  aforesaid  trader  from  Eatisbon,  notwith- 
standing his  zeal  for  ancient  German  customs,  his  steady 
adherence  and  loyalty  to  the  Golden  Fleece,  and  his  pro- 
pensity to  brimming  goblets.  The  priest  took  instant  and 
unscrupulous  possession  of  his  seat  of  honor,  after  some 
negligent  reply  to  the  host's  unwonted  courtesy,  when  it 
seemed  that  the  effect  of  his  long  black  vestments,  in  place 
of  the  slashed  and  flounced  coat  of  his  predecessor,  as  well 
as  of  the  cold  gray  eye  with  which  he  slowly  reviewed  the 
company,  in  some  degi-ee  resembled  that  of  the  fabulous 
Gorgon,  and  if  it  did  not  literally  convert  those  who  looked 
upon  it  into  stone,  there  was  yet  something  petrifying  in  the 
steady,  unmoved  glance  with  which  he  seemed  to  survey 
them,  looking  as  if  desirous  of  reading  their  very  inmost 
Bouls,  and  passing  from  one  to  another,  as  if  each  upon 
whom  he  looked  in  succession  was  unworthy  of  longer  con- 
Bideration. 

Philipson  felt,  in  his  turn,  that  momentary  examination, 
in  which,  however,  there  mingled  nothing  that  seemed  to 
^5onvey  recognition.  All  the  courage  and  composure  of  the 
Englishman  could  not  prevent  an  unpleasant  feeling  while 


244  WA  VERLEY  NO  VELS 

nnder  this  mysterious  man^s  eye,  so  that  he  felt  a  relief  when 
it  passed  from  him  and  rested  upon  another  of  the  company, 
who  seemed  in  turn  to  acknowledge  the  chilling  effects  of 
that  freezing  glance.  The  noise  of  intoxicated  mirth  and 
drunken  disputation,  the  clamorous  argument,  and  the  still 
more  boisterous  laugh,  which  had  been  suspended  on  the 
priest's  entering  the  eating-apartment,  now,  after  one  or  two 
vain  attempts  to  resume  them,  died  away,  as  if  the  feast  had 
been  changed  to  a  funeral,  and  the  jovial  guests  had  been  at 
once  converted  into  the  lugubrious  mutes  who  attend  on 
such  solemnities.  One  little  rosy-faced  man,  who  after- 
wards proved  to  be  a  tailor  from  Augsburg,  ambitious,  per- 
haps, of  showing  a  degree  of  courage  not  usually  supposed 
consistent  with  his  effeminate  trade,  made  a  bold  effort ; 
and  yet  it  was  with  a  timid  and  restrained  voice  that  he 
called  on  the  jovial  friar  to  renew  his  song.  But  whether  it 
was  that  he  did  not  dare  to  venture  on  an  uncanonical  pas- 
time in  presence  of  a  brother  in  orders,  or  whether  he  had 
some  other  reason  for  declining  the  invitation,  the  merry 
churchman  hung  hi«  head,  and  shook  it  with  such  an  ex- 
pressive air  of  melancholy,  that  the  tailor  drew  back  as  if  he 
had  been  detected  in  cabbaging  from  a  cardinal's  robes,  or 
cribbing  the  lace  of  some  cope  or  altar  gown.  In  short,  the 
revel  was  hushed  into  deep  silence,  and  so  attentive  were  the 
company  to  what  should  arrive  next,  that  the  bells  of  the 
village  church,  striking  the  first  hour  after  midnight,  made 
the  guests  start  as  if  they  heard  them  rung  backwards  to 
announce  an  assault  or  conflagration.  The  black  priest,  who 
had  taken  some  slight  and  hasty  repast,  which  the  host  had 
made  no  kind  of  objection  to  supplying  him  with,  seemed  to 
think  the  bells,  which  announced  the  service  of  lauds,  being 
the  first  after  midnight,  a  proper  signal  for  breaking  up  the 
party. 

^^  We  have  eaten,'' he  said,  '^that  we  may  support  life  ;  let 
us  pray,  that  we  may  be  fit  to  meet  death,  which  waits  upon 
life  as  surely  as  night  upon  day,  or  the  shadow  upon^  the 
sunbeam,  though  we  know  not  when  or  from  whence  it  is  to 
come  upon  us." 

The  company,  as  if  mechanically,  bent  their  uncovered 
heads,  while  the  priest  said,  with  his  deep  and  solemn  voice, 
a  Latin  prayer,  expressing  thanks  to  God  for  protection 
throughout  the  day,  and  entreating  for  its  continuance  dur- 
ing the  witching  hours  which  were  to  pass  ere  the  day  again 
commenced.  The  hearers  bowed  their  heads  in  token  of  ac- 
quiescence in  the  holy  petition  ;  and,  when  they  raised  them, 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  245 

the  black  priest  of  St.  Pau?s  had  followed  the  host  ont  of 
the  apartment,  probably  to  that  which  was  destined  for  his 
repose.  His  absence  was  no  sooner  perceived  than  signs  and 
nods,  and  even  whispers,  were  exchanged  between  the  guests ; 
but  no  one  spoke  above  his  breath,  or  in  such  connected  man- 
ner as  that  Philipson  could  understand  anything  distinctly 
from  them.  He  himself  ventured  to  ask  the  friar,  who  sat 
near  him,  observing  at  the  same  time  the  undertone  which 
seemed  to  be  fashionable  for  the  moment,  whether  the 
worthy  ecclesiastic  who  had  left  them  was  not  the  priest  of 
St.  PauFs,  in  the  frontier  town  of  La  Ferette. 

''  And  if  you  know  it  is  he,^^  said  the  friar,  with  a  coun- 
tenance and  a  tone  from  which  all  signs  of  intoxication  were 
suddenly  banished,  '^  why  do  you  ask  for  me  ?  " 

''Because,'^  said  the  merchant,  '^  I  would  willingly  learn 
the  spell  which  so  suddenly  converted  so  many  merry  tip- 
plers into  men  of  sober  manners,  and  a  jovial  company  into 
a.  convent  of  Carthusian  friars  ?  " 

''  Friend,^^  said  the  friar, ''  thy  discourse  savoreth  mightily 
of  asking  after  what  thou  knowest  right  well.  But  I  am  no 
such  silly  duck  as  to  be  taken  by  a  decoy.  If  thou  knowest 
the  black  priest,  thou  canst  not  be  ignorant  of  the  terrors 
which  attend  his  presence,  and  that  it  were  safer  to  pass  a 
broad  jest  in  the  holy  house  of  Loretto  than  where  he  shows 
himself.^; 

So  saying,  and  as  if  desirous  of  avoiding  further  discourse, 
he  withdrew  a  distance  from  Philipson. 

At  the  same  moment  the  landlord  again  appeared,  and, 
with  more  of  the  usual  manners  of  a  publican  than  he  had 
hitherto  exhibited,  commanded  his  waiter,  Geoffrey,  to  hand 
round  to  the  company  a  sleeping-drink,  or  pillow-cup,  of 
distilled  water,  mingled  with  spices,  which  was  indeed  as 
good  as  Philipson  himself  had  ever  tasted.  John  Mengs,  in 
the  meanwhile,  with  somewhat  of  more  deference,  expressed 
to  his  guests  a  hope  that  his  entertainment  had  given  satis- 
faction ;  but  this  was  in  so  careless  a  manner,  and  he  seemed 
so  conscious  of  deserving  the  affirmative  which  was  ex- 
pressed on  all  hands,  that  it  became  obvious  there  was  very 
little  humility  in  proposing  the  question.  The  old  man, 
Timothy,  was  in  the  meantime  mustering  the  guests,  and 
marking  with  chalk  on  the  bottom  of  a  trencher  the  reckon- 
ing, the  particulars  of  which  were  indicated  by  certain  con- 
ventional hieroglyphics,  while  he  showed  on  another  the 
division  of  the  sum  total  among  the  company,  and  proceeded 
te  collect  an  equal  share  of  it  from  each.     When  the  fatal 


246  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

trencher,  in  which  each  man  paid  down  his  money,  ap- 
proached the  jolly  friar,  his  countenance  seemed  to  be  some- 
what changed.  He  cast  a  piteous  look  towards  Philipson,  as 
the  person  from  whom  he  had  the  most  hope  of  relief ;  and 
our  merchant,  though  displeased  with  the  manner  in  which  he 
had  held  back  from  his  confidence,  yet  not  willing  in  a  strange 
country  to  incur  a  little  expense  in  the  hope  of  making  a 
useful  acquaintance,  discharged  the  mendicant's  score  as  well 
as  his  own.  The  poor  friar  paid  his  thanks  in  many  a  bless- 
ing in  good  German  and  bad  Latin  ;  but  the  host  cut  them 
short,  for,  approaching  Philipson  with  a  candle  in  his  hand, 
he  offered  his  own  services  to  show  him  where  he  might 
sleep,  and  even  had  the  condescension  to  carry  his  mail,  or 
portmanteau,  with  his  own  landlordly  hands. 

"  You  take  too  much  trouble,  mine  host,"  said  the  mer- 
chant, somewhat  surprised  at  the  change  in  the  manner  of 
John  Mengs,  who  had  hitherto  contradicted  him  at  every 
word. 

*'  I  cannot  take  too  much  pains  for  a  guest,"  was  the  reply, 
"  whom  my  venerable  friend  the  priest  of  St.  Paul's  hatb 
especially  recommended  to  my  charge.'' 

He  then  opened  the  door  of  a  small  bedroom,  prepared 
for  the  occupation  of  a  guest,  and  said  to  Philipson-  -''  Here 
you  may  rest  till  to-morrow  at  what  hour  you  will,  and  for 
as  many  days  more  as  you  incline.  The  key  will  secure  your 
wares  against  theft  or  pillage  of  any  kind.  I  do  not  this 
for  every  one ;  for,  if  my  guests  were  every  one  to  have  a 
bed  to  himself,  the  next  thing  they  would  demand  might  be 
a  separate  table ;  and  then  there  would  be  an  end  of  the 
good  old  German  customs  and  we  should  be  as  foppish  and 
frivolous  as  our  neighbors." 

He  placed  the  portmanteau  on  the  floor,  and  seemed  about 
to  leave  the  apartment,  when,  turning  about,  he  began  a 
sort  of  apology  for  the  rudeness  of  his  former  behavior." 

'^I  trust  there  is  no  misunderstanding  between  us,  my 
worthy  guest.  You  might  as  well  expect  to  see  one  of  our 
bears  come  aloft  and  do  tricks  like  a  jackanapes,  as  one  of 
us  stubborn  old  Germans  play  the  feats  of  a  French  or  an 
Italian  host.  Yet  I  pray  you  to  note  that,  if  our  behavior 
is  rude,  our  charges  are  honest,  and  our  articles  what 
they  profess  to  be.  We  do  not  expect  to  make  Moselle  pass 
for  Rhenish  by  dint  of  a  bow  and  a  grin,  nor  will  we  sauce 
your  mess  with  poison,  like  the  wily  Italian,  and  call  you  all 
the  time  lUustrtssimo  and  Magnifico." 

He  seemed  in  these  words  to  have  exhausted  his  rhetoric, 


ANNE  OF  GEIEBSTEIN  247 

tov,  when  they  were  spoken,  he  turned  abruptly  and  left  the 
apartment. 

Philipson  was  thus  deprived  of  another  opportunity  to  in- 
quire who  or  what  this  ecclesiastic  could  be  that  had  ex- 
ercised such  influence  on  all  who  approached  him.  He  felt, 
indeed,  no  desire  to  prolong  a  conference  with  John  Mengs, 
though  he  had  laid  aside  in  such  a  considerable  degree  his 
fude  and  repulsive  manners  ;  yet  he  longed  to  know  who  this 
man  could  be  who  had  power  with  a  word  to  turn  aside  the 
daggers  of  Alsatian  banditti,  habituated  as  they  were,  like 
most  borderers,  to  robbery  and  pillage,  and  to  change  into 
civility  the  proverbial  rudeness  of  a  German  innkeeper.  Such 
were  the  reflections  of  Philipson,  as  he  doffed  his  clothes  to 
take  his  much-needed  repose,  after  a  day  of  fatigue,  danger, 
and  difficulty,  on  the  pallet  afforded  by  the  hospitality  of 
the  Golden  Fleece,  in  the  Bheinthal. 


CHAPTER  XX 

Macbeth.     How  now,  ye  secret,  black,  and  midnight  hags  I 
What  is't  ye  do  ? 

Witches.    A  deed  without  a  name. 

Macbeth, 

We  have  said  in  the  conclnsion  of  the  last  chapter  that,  after 
a  day  of  unwonted  fatigue  and  extraordinary  excitation,  the 
merchant  Philipson  naturally  expected  to  forget  so  many 
agitating  passages  in  that  deep  and  profound  repose  which 
is  at  once  the  consequence  and  the  cure  of  extreme  exhaus- 
tion. But  he  was  no  sooner  laid  on  his  lowly  pallet  than  he 
felt  that  the  bodily  machine,  over-labored  by  so  much  exer- 
cise, was  little  disposed  to  the  charms  of  sleep.  The  mind 
had  been  too  much  excited,  the  body  was  far  too  feverish,  to 
suffer  him  to  partake  of  needful  rest.  His  anxiety  about  the 
safety  of  his  son,  his  conjectures  concerning  the  issue  of  his 
mission  to  the  Duke  of  Burgundy,  and  a  thousand  other 
thoughts  which  recalled  past  events,  or  speculated  on  those 
which  were  to  come,  rushed  upon  his  mind  like  the  waves 
of  a  perturbed  sea,  and  prevented  all  tendency  to  repose. 
He  had  been  in  bed  about  an  hour,  and  sleep  had  not  yet 
approached  his  couch,  when  he  felt  that  the  pallet  on  which 
he  lay  was  sinking  below  him,  and  that  he  was  in  the  act  of 
descending  along  with  it  he  knew  not  whither.  The  sound 
of  ropes  and  pullies  was  also  indistinctly  heard,  though  every 
•caution  had  been  taken  to  make  them  run  smooth  ;  and  the 
traveler,  by  feeling  around  him,  became  sensible  that  he  and 
the  bed  on  which  he  lay  had  been  spread  upon  a  large  trap- 
door, which  was  capable  of  being  let  down  into  the  vaults  or 
apartments  beneath. 

Philipson  felt  fear  in  circumstances  so  well  qualified  to 
produce  it ;  for  how  could  he  hope  a  safe  termination  to  an 
adventure  which  had  begun  so  strangely  ?  But  his  appre- 
hensions were  those  of  a  brave,  ready-witted  man,  who,  even 
in  the  extremity  of  danger  which  appeared  to  surround  him, 
preserved  his  presence  of  mind.  His  descent  seemed  to  be 
cautiously  managed,  and  he  held  himself  in  readiness  to  start 
to  his  feet  and  defend  himself  as  soon  as  he  should  be  once 
more  upon  firm  ground.     Although  somewhat  advanced  in 

248 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  249 

years,  he  was  a  man  of  great  personal  vigor  and  activity,  and 
unless  taken  at  advantage,  which  no  doubt  was  at  present 
much  to  be  apprehended,  he  was  likely  to  make  a  formidable 
defense.  His  plan  of  resistance,  however^  had  been  antici- 
pated. He  no  sooner  reached  the  bottom  of  the  vault,  down 
to  which  he  was  lowered,  than  two  men,  who  had  been  wait- 
ing there  till  the  operation  was  completed,  laid  hands  on  him 
from  either  side,  and,  forcibly  preventing  him  from  startling 
up  as  he  intended,  cast  a  rope  over  his  arms,  and  made  him 
a  prisoner  as  effectually  as  when  he  was  in  the  dungeons  of 
La  Ferette.  He  was  obliged,  therefore,  to  remain  passive 
and  unresisting,  and  await  the  termination  of  this  formidable 
adventure.  Secured  as  he  was,  he  could  only  turn  his  head 
from  one  side  to  the  other ;  and  it  was  with  joy  that  he  at 
length  saw  lights  twinkle,  but  they  appeared  at  a  great  dis- 
tance from  him. 

From  the  irregular  manner  in  which  these  scattered  lights 
advanced,  sometimes  keeping  a  straight  line,  sometimes 
mixing  and  crossing  each  other,  it  might  be  inferred  that  the 
subterranean  vault  in  which  they  appeared  was  of  very  con- 
siderable extent.  Their  number  also  increased  ;  and  as  they 
collected  more  together,  Philipson  could  perceive  that  the 
lights  proceeded  from  many  torches,  borne  by  men  muffled 
in  black  cloaks,  like  mourners  at  a  funeral,  or  the  black  friars 
of  St.  Francises  [Dominions]  order,  wearing  their  cowls  drawn 
over  their  heads,  so  as  to  conceal  their  features.  They  ap- 
peared anxiously  engaged  in  measuring  off  a  portion  of  the 
apartment ;  and,  while  occupied  in  that  employment,  they 
sung,  in  the  ancient  German  language,  rhymes  more  rude 
than  Philipson  could  well  understand,  but  which  may  be 
imitated  thus  : — 

Measures  of  good  and  evil, 

Bring  the  square,  the  line,  the  level . 

Rear  the  altar,  dig  the  trench  ; 

Blood  both  stone  and  ditch  shall  drench. 

Cubits  six,  from  end  to  end, 

Must  the  fatal  bench  extend  ; 

Cubits  six,  from  side  to  side, 

Judge  and  culprit  must  divide. 

On  the  east  the  court  assembles, 

On  the  west  the  accused  trembles ; 

Answer,  brethren,  all  and  one, 

Is  the  ritual  rightly  done  ? 

A  deep  chorus  seemed  to  reply  to  the  question.  Many 
voices  joined  in  it,  as  well  of  persons  already  in  the  subter- 
ranean vault  as  of  others  who  as  yet  remained  without  in 


250  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

Tarions  galleries  and  passages  which  commtinicated  with  it, 
and  whom  Philipson  now  presumed  to  be  yery  numerous. 
The  answer  chanted  run  as  follows  : — 

On  life  and  soul,  on  blood  and  bone, 
One  for  all,  and  all  for  one, 
We  warrant  this  is  rightly  done. 

The  original  strain  was  then  renewed  in  the  same  mannei 
as  before — 

How  wears  the  night  ?    Doth  morning  shine 
In  early  radiance  on  the  Rhine  ? 
What  music  floats  upon  his  tide  ? 
Do  birds  the  tardy  morning  chide  ? 
Brethren,  look  out  from  hill  and  height, 
And  answer  true,  how  wears  the  night  ? 

The  answer  was  returned,  though  less  loud  than  at  first, 
and  it  seemed  that  those  by  whom  the  reply  was  given  were 
at  a  much  greater  distance  than  before  ;  yet  the  words  were 
distinctly  heard. 

The  night  is  old ;  on  Ehine's  broad  breast 
Glance  drowsy  stars  which  long  to  rest. 

No  beams  are  twinkling  in  the  east. 
There  is  a  voice  upon  the  flood, 
The  stern  still  call  of  blood  for  blood ; 

'Tis  time  we  listen  the  behest. 

The  chorus  replied,  with  many  additional  voices — 

Up,  then,  up  I    When  day's  at  rest, 
'Tis  time  that  such  as  we  are  watchers  ; 
Rise  to  judgment,  brethren,  rise  I 
Vengeance  knows  not  sleepy  eyes, 
He  and  night  are  matchers. 

The  nature  of  the  verses  soon  led  Philipson  to  compre- 
hend that  he  was  in  presence  of  the  Initiated,  or  the  Wise 
Men — names  which  were  applied  to  the  celebrated  judges  of 
the  Secret  Tribunal,  which  continued  at  that  period  to  sub 
sist  in  Swabia,  Franconia,  and  other  districts  of  the  east 
[west]  of  Germany,  which  was  called,  perhaps  from  the 
frightful  and  frequent  occurrence  of  executions  by  command 
of  those  invisible  judges,  the  Red  Land.  Philipson  had  often 
heard  that  the  seat  of  a  free  count,  or  chief  of  the  Secret 
Tribunal,  was  secretly  instituted  even  on  the  left  bank  of 
the  Ehine,  and  that  it  maintained  itself  in  Alsace,  with  the 


ANNE  OF  GEIER STEIN  251 

usual  tenacity  of  those  secret  societies,  though  Duke  Charles 
of  Burgundy  had  expressed  a  desire  to  discover  and  discour- 
age its  influence  so  far  as  was  possible,  without  exposing 
himself  to  danger  from  the  thousands  of  poniards  which  that 
mysterious  tribunal  could  put  in  activity  against  his  own  life 
— an  awful  means  of  defense,  which  for  a  long  time  rendered 
it  extremely  hazardous  for  the  sovereigns  of  Germany,  and 
even  the  emperors  themselves,  to  put  down  by  authority 
ihose  singular  associations. 

So  soon  as  this  explanation  flashed  on  the  mind  of  Philip* 
jon,  it  gave  some  clue  to  the  character  and  condition  of  the 
black  priest  of  St.  PauFs.  Supposing  him  to  be  a  president, 
or  chief  official,  of  the  secret  association,  there  was  little 
wonder  that  he  should  confide  so  much  in  the  inviolability 
of  his  terrible  office  as  to  propose  vindicating  the  execution 
of  De  Hagenbach  ;  that  his  presence  should  surprise  Bar- 
tholomew, whom  he  had  power  to  have  judged  and  executed 
upon  the  spot ;  and  that  his  mere  appearance  at  supper  on 
the  preceding  evening  should  have  appalled  the  guests  ;  for 
though  everything  about  the  institution,  its  proceedings  and 
its  officers,  was  preserved  in  as  much  obscurity  as  is  now 
practised  in  freemasonry,  yet  the  secret  was  not  so  absolute- 
ly well  kept  as  to  prevent  certain  individuals  from  being 
guessed  or  hinted  at  as  men  initiated  and  intrusted  with 
high  authority  by  the  VehmegericM,  or  tribunal  of  the 
bounds.  When  such  suspicion  attached  to  an  individual, 
his  secret  power,  and  supposed  acquaintance  with  all  guilt, 
however  secret,  which  was  committed  within  the  society  in 
which  he  was  conversant,  made  him  at  once  the  dread  and 
hatred  of  every  one  who  looked  on  him  ;  and  he  enjoyed  a 
high  degree  of  personal  respect,  on  the  same  terms  on  which 
it  would  have  been  yielded  to  a  powerful  enchanter  or  a 
dreaded  genie.  In  conversing  with  such  a  person,  it  was 
especially  necessary  to  abstain  from  all  questions  alluding, 
however  remotely,  to  the  office  which  he  bore  in  the  secret 
Tribunal  ;  and,  indeed,  to  testify  the  least  curiosity  upon  a 
subject  so  solemn  and  mysterious  was  sure  to  occasion  some 
misfortune  to  the  inquisitive  person. 

All  these  things  rushed  at  once  upon  the  mind  of  the 
Englishman,  who  felt  that  he  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  an 
unsparing  tribunal,  whose  proceedings  were  so  much  dreaded 
by  those  who  resided  within  the  circle  of  their  power  that 
the  friendless  stranger  must  stand  a  poor  chance  of  receiv- 
ing justice  at  their  hands,  whatever  might  be  his  conscious- 
ness of  innocence.     While  Philipson  made  this  melancholy 


252  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS. 

reflection,  he  resolved,  at  the  same  time,  not  to  forsake  his 
own  cause,  but  defend  himself  as  he  best  might  ;  conscious 
as  he  was  that  these  terrible  and  irresponsible  judges  were 
nevertheless  governed  by  certain  rules  of  right  and  wrong  ; 
which  formed  a  check  on  the  rigors  of  their  extraordinary 
code. 

He  lay,  therefore,  di vising  the  best  means  of  obviating  the 
present  danger,  while  the  persons  whom  he  beheld  glim- 
mered before  him,  less  like  distinct  and  individual  forms 
than  like  the  phantoms  of  a  fever,  or  the  phantasmagoria 
with  which  a  disease  of  the  optic  nerves  has  been  known  to 
people  a  sick  man's  chamber.  At  length  they  assembled  in 
the  center  of  the  apartment  where  they  had  first  appeared, 
and  seemed  to  arrange  themselves  into  form  and  order.  A 
great  number  of  black  torches  were  successively  lighted,  and 
the  scene  became  distinctly  visible.  In  the  center  of  the 
hall,  Philipson  could  now  perceive  one  of  the  altars  which 
are  sometimes  to  be  found  in  ancient  subterranean  chapels. 
But  we  must  pause,  in  order  briefly  to  describe,  not  the 
appearance  only,  but  the  nature  and  constitution,  of  this 
terrible  court. 

Behind  the  altar,  which  seemed  to  be  the  central  point, 
on  which  all  eyes  were  bent,  there  were  placed  in  parallel 
lines  two  benches  covered  with  black  cloth.  Each  was  oc- 
cupied by  a  number  of  persons,  who  seemed  assembled  as 
judges  ;  but  those  who  held  the  foremost  bench  were  fewer, 
and  appeared  of  a  rank  superior  to  those  who  crowded  the 
seat  most  remote  from  the  altar.  The  first  seemed  to  be  all 
men  of  some  consequence — priests  high  in  their  order,knights, 
or  noblemen  ;  and,  notwithstanding  an  appearance  of  equal- 
ity which  seemed  to  pervade  this  singular  institution,  much 
more  weight  was  laid  upon  their  opinion,  or  testimonies. 
They  were  called  free  knights,  counts,  or  whatever  title  they 
might  bear,  while  the  inferior  class  of  the  judges  were  only 
termed  free  and  worthy  burghers.  For  it  must  be  observed 
that  the  Vehmique  Institution,*  which  was  the  name  that  it 
commonly  bore,  although  its  power  consisted  in  a  wide  sys- 
tem of  espionage,  and  tyrannical  application  of  force  which 
acted  upon  it,  was  yet  (so  rude  were  the  ideas  of  enforcing 
public  law)  accounted  to  confer  a  privilege  on  the  country 
in  which  it  was  received,  and  only  freemen  were  allowed  to 
experience  its  influence.  Serfs  and  peasants  could  neither 
have  a  place  among  the  free  judges,  their  assessors,  or  assist* 

*  See  Vehme.    Note  6. 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  253 

ants  ;  for  there  was  in  this  assembly  even  some  idea  of  try- 
ing the  culprit  by  his  peers. 

Besides  the  dignitaries  who  occupied  the  benches,  there 
were  others  who  stood  around,  and  seemed  to  guard  the 
various  entrances  to  the  hall  of  judgment,  or,  standing 
behind  the  seats  on  which  their  superiors  were  ranged, 
looked  prepared  to  execute  their  commands.  These  were 
members  of  the  order,  though  not  of  the  highest  ranks. 
Schoppen  [schoffe7i]  is  the  name  generally  assigned  to  them, 
signifying  officials,  or  sergeants,  of  the  Vehmique  Court, 
whose  doom  they  stood  sworn  to  enforce,  through  good 
report  and  bad  report,  against  their  own  nearest  and  most 
beloved,  as  well  as  in  cases  of  ordinary  malefactors. 

The  schoppen,  or  scahini,  as  they  were  termed  in  Latin, 
had  another  horrible  duty  to  perform,  that,  namely,  of  de- 
nouncing to  the  tribunal  whatever  came  under  their  obser- 
vation that  might  be  construed  as  an  offense  falling  under  its 
cognizance,  or,  in  their  language,  a  crime  against  the  Vehme. 
This  duty  extended  to  the  judges  as  well  as  the  assistants, 
and  was  to  be  discharged  without  respect  of  persons  ;  so 
that  to  know,  and  wilfully  conceal,  the  guilt  of  a  mother  or 
brother  inferred,  on  the  part  of  the  unfaithful  official,  the 
same  penalty  as  if  he  himself  had  committed  the  crime  which 
his  silence  screened  from  punishment.  Such  an  institution 
could  only  prevail  at  a  time  when  ordinary  means  of  justice 
were  excluded  by  the  hand  of  power,  and  when,  in  order  to 
bring  the  guilty  to  punishment,  it  required  all  the  influence 
and  authority  of  such  a  confederacy.  In  no  other  country 
than  one  exposed  to  every  species  of  feudal  tyranny,  and 
deprived  of  every  ordinary  mode  of  obtaining  justice  or 
redress,  could  such  a  system  have  taken  root  and  flourished. 

We  must  now  return  to  the  brave  Englishman,  who, 
though  feeling  all  the  danger  he  encountered  from  so  tre- 
mendous a  tribunal,  maintained  nevertheless  a  dignified  and 
unaltered  composure. 

The  meeting  being  assembled,  a  coil  of  ropes  and  a  naked 
sword,  the  well-known  signals  and  emblems  of  Vehmique 
authority,  were  deposited  on  the  altar  ;  where  the  sword, 
from  its  being  usually  straight,  with  a  cross  handle,  was 
considered  as  representing  the  blessed  emblem  of  Christian 
redemption,  and  the  cord  as  indicating  the  right  of  criminal 
jurisdiction  and  capital  punishment.  Then  the  president  of 
the  meeting,  who  occupied  the  center  seat  on  the  foremost 
bench,  arose,  and,  laying  his  hand  on  the  symbols,  pro- 
nounced aloud  the  formula  expressive  of  the  duty  of  the 


264  WAVEBLET  NOVELS 

tribunal,  whicli  all  the  inferior  judges  and  assistanti^  re* 
peated  after  him,  in  deep  and  hollow  murmurs. 

*'  I  swear,  by  the  Holy  Trinity,  to  aid  and  co-operate  with- 
out relaxation  in  the  things  belonging  to  the  Holy  Vehme, 
to  defend  its  doctrines  and  institutions  against  father  and 
mother,  brother  and  sister,  wife  and  children  ;  against  fire, 
water,  earth,  and  air  ;  against  all  that  the  sun  enlightens  •, 
against  all  that  the  dew  moistens  ;  against  all  created  things 
of  heaven  and  earth,  or  the  waters  under  the  earth  ;  and  I 
swear  to  give  information  to  this  holy  judicature  of  all  that 
I  know  to  be  true,  or  hear  repeated  by  credible  testimony, 
which,  by  the  rules  of  the  Holy  Vehme,  is  deserving  of  ani- 
madversion or  punishment ;  and  that  I  will  not  cloak,  cover, 
or  conceal  such  my  knowledge,  neither  for  love,  friendship, 
or  family  affection,  nor  for  gold,  silver,  or  precious  stones ; 
neither  will  I  associate  with  such  as  are  under  the  sentence 
of  this  Sacred  Tribunal,  by  hinting  to  a  culprit  his  danger, 
or  advising  him  to  escape,  or  aiding  and  supplying  him  with 
counsel,  or  means  to  that  effect ;  neither  will  I  relieve  such 
culprit  with  fire,  clothes,  food,  or  shelter,  though  my  father 
should  require  from  me  a  cup  of  water  in  the  heat  of  sum- 
mer noon,  or  my  brother  should  request  to  sit  by  my  fire  in 
the  bitterest  cold  night  of  winter  :  And  further,  I  vow  and 
promise  to  honor  this  holy  association,  and  to  do  its  behests 
speedily,  faithfully,  and  firmly,  in  preference  to  those  of  any 
other  tribunal  whatsoever — so  help  me  God  and  His  h^ly 
Evangelists." 

When  this  oath  of  office  had  been  taken,  the  president  ad- 
dressing the  assembly,  as  men  who  judge  in  secret  and  punish 
in  secret,  like  the  Deity,  desired  them  to  say  why  this  ''  child 
of  the  cord  "  *  lay  before  them,  bound  and  helpless.  An  in- 
dividual rose  from  the  more  remote  bench,  and  in  a  voice 
which,  though  altered  and  agitated,  Philipson  conceived  thai 
he  recognized,  declared  himself  the  accuser  as  bound  by  his 
oath,  of  the  child  of  the  cord,  or  prisoner,  who  lay  before 
them. 

"  Bring  forward  the  prisoner,"  said  the  president,  ''duly 
secured,  as  is  the  order  of  our  secret  law  ;  but  not  with  such 
severity  as  may  interrupt  his  attention  to  the  proceedings  of 
ths  tribunal,  or  limit  his  power  of  hearing  and  replying." 

Six  of  the  assistants  immediately  dragged  forward  the  pallet 
and  platform  of  boards  on  which  Philipson  lay,  and  advanced 

*  The  term  Strickkind,  or  child  of  the  cord,  was  applied  to  the 
iperson  accused  before  these  awful  assemblies. 


ANNE  OF  GEIEB8TEIN  256 

it  towards  the  foot  of  the  altar.  This  done,  each  unsheathed 
his  dagger,  while  two  of  them  unloosed  the  cords  by  which 
the  merchant's  hands  were  secured,  and  admonished  him  in 
a  whisper  that  the  slightest  attempt  to  resist  or  escape  would 
be  the  signal  to  stab  him  dead. 

'*  Arise  I"  said  the  president ;  ^'listen  to  the  charge  to  be 
preferred  against  you,  and  believe  you  shall  in  us  find  judges 
equally  just  and  inflexible." 

Philipson,  carefully  avoiding  any  gesture  which  might 
indicate  a  desire  to  escape,  raised  his  body  on  the  lower  part 
of  the  couch,  and  remained  seated,  clothed  as  he  was  in  his 
undervest  and  calepons,  or  drawers,  so  as  exactly  to  face  the 
muffled  president  of  the  terrible  court.  Even  in  these  agita- 
ting circumstances,  the  mind  of  the  undaunted  Englishman 
remained  unshaken,  and  his  eyelid  did  not  quiver,  nor  his 
heart  beat  quicker,  though  he  seemed,  according  to  the  ex- 
pression of  Scripture,  to  be  a  pilgrim  in  the  Valley  of  the 
Shadow  of  Death,  beset  by  numerous  snares,  and  encom- 
passed by  total  darkness,  where  light  was  most  necessary  for 
safety. 

The  president  demanded  his  name,  country,  and  occupa- 
tion. 

'*  John  Philipson, ''  was  the  reply  ;  '^  by  birth  an  English 
man,  by  profession  a  merchant." 

**  Have  you  ever  borne  any  other  name  and  profession  ?  '* 
demanded  the  judge. 

"  I  have  been  a  soldier,  and,  like  most  others,  had  then  a 
name  by  which  I  was  known  in  war." 

"  What  was  that  name  ?  " 

"  I  laid  it  aside  when  I  resigned  my  sword,  and  I  do  not 
desire  again  to  be  known  by  it.  Moreover,  I  never  bore  it 
where  your  institutions  have  weight  and  authority,"  answered 
the  Englishman. 

' '  Know  you  before  whom  you  stand  ? "  continued  the 
judge. 

*'  I  may  at  least  guess,"  replied  the  merchant. 

''Tell  your  guess,  then,"  continued  the  interrogator. 
''Say  who  we  are,  and  wherefore  are  you  before  us  ?" 

"  I  believe  that  I  am  before  the  Unknown,  or  Secret  Tri- 
bunal, which  is  called  Vehmegericht." 

"  Then  are  you  aware,"  answered  the  judge,  "  that  you 
would  be  safer  if  you  were  suspended  by  the  hair  over  the 
abyss  of  Schaffhausen,  or  if  you  lay  below  an  ax,  which  a 
thread  of  silk  alone  kept  back  from  the  fall.  What  have  you 
done  to  deserve  such  a  fate  ?  " 


256  WAVERLET  NOVELS 

''Let  those  reply  by  whom  I  am  subjected  to  it/'  an-^ 
Bwered  Philipson,  with  the  same  composure  as  before. 

''  Speak,  accuser  !  "  said  the  president,  "  to  the  four  quar^-- 
ters  of  Heaven,  to  the  ears  of  the  free  judges  of  this  tribunal, 
and  the  faithful  executors  of  their  doonl  ;  and  to  the  face  of 
the  child  of  the  cord,  who  denies  or  conceals  his  guilt,  make 
good  the  substance  of  thine  accusation." 

''Most  dreaded,"  answered  the  accuser,  addressing  the 
president,  "this  man  hath  entered  the  Sacred  Territory 
which  is  called  this  Red  Land,  a  stranger  under  a  disguised 
name  and  profession.  When  he  was  yet  on  the  eastern  side 
of  the  Alps,  at  Turin,  in  Lombardy,  and  elsewhere,  he  at 
various  times  spoke  of  the  Holy  Tribunal  in  terms  of  hatred 
and  contempt,  and  declared  that,  were  he  Duke  of  Burgundy, 
he  would  not  permit  it  to  extend  itself  from  Westphalia,  or 
Swabia,  into  his  dominions.  Also  I  charge  him  that,  nour- 
ishing this  malevolent  intention  against  the  Holy  Tribunal, 
he  who  now  appears  before  the  bench  as  child  of  the  cord 
has  intimated  his  intention  to  wait  upon  the  court  of  the 
Duke  of  Burgundy,  and  use  his  influence  with  him,  which 
he  boasts  will  prove  effectual  to  stir  him  up  to  prohibit  the 
meetings  of  the  Holy  Vehme  in  his  dominions,  and  to  inflict 
on  their  officers  and  the  executors  of  their  mandates  the 
punishment  due  to  robbers  and  assassins." 

"  This  is  a  heavy  charge,  brother,"  said  the  president  of 
the  assembly,  when  the  accuser  ceased  speaking.  "How  do 
you  purpose  to  make  it  good  ?  " 

"  According  to  the  tenor  of  those  secret  statutes  the  pe- 
rusal of  which  is  prohibited  to  all  but  the  initiated,"  answered 
the  accuser. 

"It  is  well,"  said  the  president;  "but  I  ask  thee  once 
more,  what  are  those  means  of  proof  ?  You  speak  to  holy 
and  to  initiated  ears." 

" I  will  prove  my  charge,"  said  the  accuser,  "by  the  con- 
fession of  the  party  himself,  and  by  my  own  oath  upon  the 
holy  emblems  of  the  Secret  Judgment — that  is,  the  steel  and 
the  cord." 

"  It  is  a  legitimate  offer  of  proof,"  said  a  member  of  the 
aristocratic  bench  of  the  assembly  ;  "  and  it  much  concerns 
the  safety  of  the  system  to  which  we  are  bound  by  such  deep 
oaths,  a  system  handed  down  to  us  from  the  most  Christian 
and  Holy  Roman  Emperor,  Charlemagne,  for  the  conversion 
of  the  heathen  Saracens,  and  punishing  such  of  them  as  re- 
volted again  to  their  pagan  practises,  that  such  criminals 
should  be  looked  to.     This  Duke  Charles  of  Burgundy  hath 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  Vf^ 

already  crowded  his  army  with  foreigners,  whom  he  can 
easily  employ  against  the  Secret  Court,  more  especially  with 
English,  a  fierce,  insular  people,  wedded  to  their  own  usages, 
and  hating  those  of  every  other  nation.  It  is  not  unknown 
to  us,  that  the  Duke  hath  already  encouraged  opposition  to 
the  officials  of  the  Tribunal  in  more  than  one  part  of  his 
German  dominions  ;  and  that  in  consequence,  instead  of 
submitting  to  their  doom  with  reverent  resignation,  children 
of  the  cord  have  been  found  bold  enough  to  resist  the  execu- 
tioners of  the  Vehme,  striking,  wounding,  and  even  slaying 
those  who  have  received  commission  to  put  them  to  death. 
This  contumacy  must  be  put  an  end  to  ;  and  if  the  accused 
shall  be  proved  to  be  one  of  those  by  whom  such  doctrines 
are  harbored  and  inculcated,  I  say,  let  the  steel  and  cord  do 
their  work  on  him/' 

A  general  murmur  seemed  to  approve  what  the  speaker 
had  said  ;  for  all  were  conscious  that  the  power  of  the  Tri- 
bunal depended  much  more  on  the  opinion  of  its  being  deeply 
and  firmly  rooted  in  the  general  system  than  upon  any  regard 
or  esteem  for  an  institution  of  which  all  felt  the  severity. 
It  followed,  that  those  of  the  members  who  enjoyed  conse- 
quence by  means  of  their  station  in  the  ranks  of  the  Vehme 
saw  the  necessity  of  supporting  its  terrors  by  occasional  ex- 
amples of  severe  punishment ;  and  none  could  be  more  read- 
ily sacrificed  than  an  unknown  and  wandering  foreigner. 
All  this  rushed  upon  Philipson's  mind,  but  did  not  prevent 
his  making  a  steady  reply  to  the  accusation. 

^^  Gentlemen,"  he  said,  "  good  citizens,  burgesses,  or  by 
whatever  other  name  you  please  to  be  addressed,  know,  that 
in  my  former  days  I  have  stood  in  as  great  peril  as  now,  and 
have  never  turned  my  heel  to  save  my  life.  Cords  and  dag- 
gers are  not  calculated  to  strike  terror  into  those  who  have 
seen  swords  and  lances.  My  answer  to  the  accusation  is,  that 
I  am  an  Englishman,  one  of  a  nation  accustomed  to  yield 
and  to  receive  open-handed  and  equal  justice  jdealt  forth  in 
the  broad  light  of  day.  I  am,  however,  a  traveler,  who 
knows  that  he  has  no  right  to  oppose  the  rules  and  laws  of 
other  nations  because  they  do  not  resemble  those  of  his  own. 
But  this  caution  can  only  be  called  for  in  lands  where  the 
system  about  which  we  converse  is  in  full  force  and  opera- 
tion. If  we  speak  of  the  institutions  of  Germany,  being  at 
the  time  in  France  or  Spain,  we  may,  without  offense  to  the 
country  in  which  they  are  current,  dispute  concerning  them 
as  students  debate  upon  a  logical  thesis  in  a  university. 
The  accuser  objects  to  me,  that  at  Turin,  or  elsewhere  in  the 
17 


m^.. 


2m^  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

north  of  Italy,  I  spoke  with  censure  of  the  institution  under 
which  I  am  now  judged.  I  will  not  deny  that  I  remember 
something  of  the  kind ;  but  it  was  in  consequence  of  the 
question  being  in  a  manner  foroed  upon  me  by  two  guests 
with  whom  I  chanced  to  find  myself  at  table.  I  was  much 
and  earnestly  solicited  for  an  opinion  ere  I  gave  one. " 

"And  was  that  opinion/'  said  the  presiding  judge, 
*'  favorable  or  otherwise  to  the  Holy  and  secret  Vehmege- 
richt  ?  Let  the  truth  rule  your  tongue ;  remember,  life  is 
short,  judgment  is  eternal. '^ 

"  I  would  not  save  my  life  at  the  expense  of  a  falsehood. 
My  opinion  was  unfavorable,  and  I  expressed  myself  thus  : 
No  law  or  judicial  proceedings  can  be  just  or  commendable 
which  exist  and  operate  by  means  of  a  secret  combination. 
I  said,  that  justice  could  only  live  and  exist  in  the  open  air, 
and  that,  when  she  ceased  to  be  public,  she  degenerated  into 
revenge  and  hatred.  I  said,  that  a  system,  of  which  your 
own  jurists  have  said,  non  f rater  a  f rater,  non  hospes  a  hos- 
pite,  tutus  was  too  much  adverse  to  the  laws  of  nature  to  be 
connected  with  or  regulated  by  those  of  religion. '^ 

These  words  were  scarcely  uttered,  when  there  burst  a 
murmur  from  the  judges  highly  unfavorable  to  the  prisoner. 
"  He  blasphemes  the  Holy  Vehme.  Let  his  mouth  be  closed 
forever  ! " 

"  Hear  me,"  said  the  Englishman,  "  as  you  will  one  day 
wish  to  be  yourselves  heard  !  I  say,  such  were  my  senti- 
ments, and  so  I  expressed  them.  I  say  also,  I  had  a  right  to 
express  these  opinions,  whether  sound  or  erroneous,  in  a 
neutral  country,  where  this  tribunal  neither  did  nor  could 
claim  any  jurisdiction.  My  sentiments  are  still  the  same. 
I  would  avow  them  if  that  sword  were  at  my  bosom,  or  that 
cord  around  my  throat.  But  I  deny  that  I  have  ever  spoken 
against  the  institutions  of  your  Vehme  in  a  country  where 
it  had  its  course  as  a  national  mode  of  justice.  Far  more 
strongly,  if  possible,  do  I  denounce  the  absurdity  of  the  false- 
hood, which  represents  me,  a  wandering  foreigner,  as  com- 
missioned to  traffic  with  the  Duke  of  Burgundy  about  such 
high  matters,  or  to  form  a  conspiracy  for  the  destruction  of 
a  system  to  which  so  many  seem  warmlj  attached.  I  never 
said  such  a  thing,  and  I  never  thought  it.'' 

"  Accuser,''  said  the  presiding  judge,  "  thou  hast  heard 
the  accused.     What  is  thy  reply  ?  " 

"  The  first  part  of  the  charge,"  said  the  accuser,  ''  he  hath 
confessed  in  this  high  presence,  namely,  that  his  foul  tongue 
hath  basely  slandered  our  holy  mysteries  ;  for  which  he  de- 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  259 

serves  that  it  should  be  torn  out  of  his  throat.  I  myself,  on 
my  oath  of  office,  will  aver,  as  use  and  law  is,  that  the  rest 
of  the  accusation,  namely,  that  which  taxes  him  as  having 
entered  into  machinations  for  the  destruction  of  the  Veh- 
mique  institutions,  is  as  true  as  that  which  he  has  found 
himself  unable  to  deny," 

"  In  justice,"  said  the  Englishman,  "  the  accusation,  if 
not  made  good  by  satisfactory  proof,  ought  to  be  left  to  the 
oath  of  the  party  accused,  instead  of  permitting  the  accuser 
to  establish  by  his  own  deposition  the  defects  in  his  own 
charge." 

"  Stranger,"  replied  the  presiding  judge,  ''  we  permit  to 
thy  ignorance  a  longer  and  more  full  defense  than  consists 
with  our  usual  forms.  Know,  that  the  right  of  sitting  among 
these  venerable  judges  confers  on  the  person  of  him  who  en- 
joys it  a  sacredness  of  character  which  ordinary  men  cannot 
attain  to.  The  oath  of  one  of  the  initiated  must  counter- 
balance the  most  solemn  asseveration  of  every  one  that  is  not 
acquainted  with  our  holy  secrets.  In  the  Vehmique  Court 
all  must  be  Vehmique.  The  averment  of  the  Emperor,  he 
being  uninitiated,  would  not  have  so  much  weight  in  our 
counsels  as  that  of  one  of  the  meanest  of  these  officials.  The 
affirmation  of  the  accuser  can  only  be  rebutted  by  the 
oath  of  a  member  of  the  same  tribunal,  being  of  superior 
rank." 

''Then  God  be  gracious  to  me,  for  I  have  no  trust  save  in 
Heaven  !"  said  the  Englishman,  in  solemn  accents.  ''  Yet 
I  will  not  fall  without  an  effort.  I  call  upon  thee  thyself, 
dark  spirit,  who  presidest  in  this  most  deadly  assembly — I 
call  upon  thyself,  to  declare  on  thy  faith  and  honor  whether 
thou  boldest  me  guilty  of  what  is  thus  boldly  averred  by  this 
false  calumniator — I  call  upon  thee  by  thy  sacred  character 
— by  the  name  of " 

"Hold!"  replied  the  presiding  judge.  "The  name  by 
which  we  are  known  in  open  air  must  not  be  pronounced  in 
this  subterranean  judgment-seat." 

He  then  proceeded  to  address  the  prisoner  and  the  assem- 
bly. "  I,  being  called  on  in  evidence,  declare  that  the  charge 
against  thee  is  so  far  true  as  it  is  acknowledged  by  thyself, 
namely,  that  thou  hast  in  other  lands  than  the  Eed  Soil  * 
spoken  lightly  of  this  holy  institution  of  justice.  But  I  be- 
lieve in  my  soul,  and  will  bear  witness  on  my  honor,  that  the 
rest  of  the  accusation  is  incredible  and  false.  And  this  I 
swear,  holding  my  hand  on  the  dagger  and  the  cord.  Whafc 
*  See  Note  7. 


260  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

is  your  judgment,  my  brethren,  upon  thxe  case  which  you 
have  investigated  ?  " 

A  member  of  the  first-seated  and  highest  class  among  the 
judges,  muffled  like  the  rest,  but  the  tone  of  whose  voice  and 
the  stoop  of  whose  person  announced  him  to  be  more  ad- 
vanced in  years  than  the  other  two  who  had  before  spoken, 
arose  with  difficulty,  and  said  with  a  trembling  voice — 

"  The  child  of  the  cord  who  is  before  us  has  been  convicted 
of  folly  and  rashness  in  slandering  our  holy  institution.  But 
he  spoke  his  folly  to  ears  which  had  never  heard  our  sacred 
laws.  He  has,  therefore,  been  acquitted  by  irrefragable 
testimony  of  combining  for  the  impotent  purpose  of  under- 
mining onr  power,  or  stirring  up  princes  against  our  holy 
association,  for  which  death  were  too  light  a  punishment. 
He  hath  been  foolish,  then,  but  not  criminal ;  and  as  the  holy 
laws  of  the  Vehme  bear  no  penalty  save  that  of  death,  I  pro- 
pose for  judgment  that  the  child  of  the  cord  be  restored 
without  injury  to  society,  and  to  the  upper  world,  having 
been  first  duly  admonished  of  his  errors.'' 

'^  Child  of  the  cord,''  said  the  presiding  judge,  '^  thou  hast 
heard  thy  sentence  of  acquittal.  But,  as  thou  desirest  to 
sleep  in  an  unbloody  grave,  let  me  warn  thee  that  the  secrets 
of  this  night  shall  remain  with  thee,  as  a  secret  not  to  be 
communicated  to  father  nor  mother,  to  spouse,  son,  or 
daughter,  neither  to  be  spoken  aloud  nor  whispered,  to  be 
told  in  words  or  written  in  characters,  to  be  carved  or  to  be 
painted,  or  to  be  otherwise  communicated,  either  directly  or 
by  parable  and  emblem.  Obey  this  behest  and  thy  life  is  in 
surety.  Let  thy  heart  then  rejoice  within  thee,  but  let  it 
rejoice  with  trembling.  Nevermore  let  thy  vanity  persuade 
thee  that  thou  art  secure  from  the  servants  and  judges  of  the 
Holy  Vehme.  Though  a  thousand  leagues  lie  between  thee 
and  the  Eed  Land,  and  thou  speakest  in  that  where  our 
power  is  not  known  ;  though  thou  shouldst  be  sheltered  by 
thy  native  island,  and  defended  by  thy  kindred  ocean,  yet, 
even  there,  I  warn  thee  to  cross  thyself  when  thou  dost  so 
much  as  think  of  the  Holy  and  Invisible  Tribunal,  and  to 
retain  thy  thoughts  within  thine  own  bosom  ;  for  the  avenger 
may  be  beside  thee,  and  thou  mayst  die  in  thy  folly.  Go 
hence,  be  wise,  and  let  the  fear  of  the  Holy  Vehme  never 
pass  from  before  thine  eyes." 

At  the  concluding  words,  all  the  lights  were  at  once  ex- 
tinguished with  a  hissing  noise.  Philipson  felt  once  more 
the  grasp  of  the  hands  of  the  officials,  to  which  he  resigned 
himself  as  the  safest  course.     He  was  gently  prostrated  on 


ANNE  OF  GEIER8TEIN  261 

Ms  pallet-bed,  and  transported  back  to  the  place  from  which 
he  had  been  advanced  to  the  foot  of  the  altar.  The  cordage 
was  again  applied  to  the  platform,  and  Philipson  was  sen- 
sible that  his  couch  rose  with  him  for  a  few  moments,  until 
a  slight  shock  apprised  him  that  he  was  again  brought  to  a 
level  with  the  floor  of  the  chamber  in  which  he  had  been 
lodged  on  the  preceding  night,  or  rather  morning.  He  pon- 
dered over  the  events  that  had  passed,  in  which  he  was  sensible 
that  he  owed  Heaven  thanks  for  a  great  deliverance.  Fatigu  e 
at  length  prevailed  over  anxiety,  and  he  fell  into  a  deep  and 
profound  sleep,  from  which  he  was  only  awakened  by  return- 
ing light.  He  resolved  on  an  instant  departure  from  §o 
dangerous  a  spot,  and,  without  seeing  any  one  of  the  house- 
hold but  the  old  ostler,  pursued  his  journey  to  Strasburg. 
and  reached  that  city  without  farther  accident. 


CHAPTEE  XXI 

Away  with  these !    True  wisdom's  world  will  be 
Within  its  own  creation,  or  in  thine, 
Maternal  Nature,  for  who  teems  like  thee 
Thus  on  the  banks  of  thy  majestic  Rhine  ? 
There  Harold  gazes  on  a  work  divine, 
A  blending  of  all  beauties,  streams,  and  dells — 
Fruit,  foliage,  crag,  wood,  cornfield,  mountain,  vine, 
And  chiefless  castles  breathing  stern  farewells, 
From  gray  but  leafy  walls,  where  ruin  greenly  dwells. 
Childe  Harold's  Pilgrimage,  Canto  HI. 

Whei?^  Arthur  Philipson  left  his  father,  to  go  on  board  the 
bark  which  was  to  waft  him  across  the  Ehine,  he  took  but 
few  precautions  for  his  own  subsistence  during  a  separation 
of  which  he  calculated  the  duration  to  be  very  brief.  Some 
necessary  change  of  raiment  and  a  very  few  pieces  of  gold 
were  all  which  he  thought  it  needful  to  withdraw  from  the 
general  stock ;  the  rest  of  the  baggage  and  money  he  left 
with  the  sumpter-horse,  which  he  concluded  his  father 
might  need,  in  order  to  sustain  his  character  as  an  English 
trader.  Having  embarked  with  his  horse  and  his  slender 
appointments  on  board  a  fishing-skiff,  she  instantly  raised 
her  temporary  mast,  spread  a  sail  across  the  yard,  and,  sup- 
ported by  the  force  of  the  wind  against  the  downward  power 
of  the  current,  moved  across  the  river  obliquely  in  the  di- 
rection of  Kirchoff,  which,  as  we  have  said,  lies  somewhat 
lower  on  the  river  than  Hans  Chapelle.  Their  passage  was 
so  favorable,  that  they  reached  the  opposite  side  in  a  few 
minutes,  but  not  until  Arthur,  whose  eye  and  thoughts  were 
on  the  left  bank,  had  seen  his  father  depart  from  the  Chapel 
of  the  Ferry,  accompanied  by  two  horsemen,  whom  he  read- 
ily concluded  to  be  the  guide  Bartholomew  and  some  chance 
traveler  who  had  joined  him  ;  but  the  second  of  whom  was 
in  truth  the  black  priest  of  St.  Paul's,  as  has  been  already 
mentioned. 

This  augmentation  of  his  father's  company  was,  he  could 
not  but  think,  likely  to  be  attended  with  an  increase  of  his 
safety,  since  it  was  not  probable  he  would  suffer  a  compan- 
ion to  be  forced  upon  him,  and  one  of  his  own  choosing 
might  be  a  protection,  in  case  his  guide  should  prove  treach- 

262 


ANNE  OF  OEIERSTEIN  263 

erous.  At  any  rate,  he  had  to  rejoice  that  he  had  seen  his 
father  depart  in  safety  from  the  spot  where  they  had  reason 
to  apprehend  some  danger  awaited  him.  He  resolved,  there- 
fore, to  make  no  stay  at  Kirchoff,  but  to  pursue  his  way  as 
fast  as  possible  towards  Strasburg,  and  rest,  when  darkness 
compelled  him  to  stop,  in  one  of  the  dorffs,  or  villages, 
which  were  situated  on  the  German  side  of  the  Rhine.  At 
Strasburg,  he  trusted,  with  the  sanguine  spirit  of  youth,  he 
might  again  be  able  to  rejoin  his  father  ;  and  if  he  could 
not  altogether  subdue  his  anxiety  on  their  separation,  he 
fondly  nourished  the  hope  that  he  might  meet  him  in  safety. 
After  some  short  refreshment  and  repose  afforded  to  his 
horse,  he  lost  no  time  in  proceeding  on  his  journey  down  the 
eastern  bank  of  the  broad  river. 

He  was  now  upon  the  most  interesting  side  of  the  Rhine, 
walled  in  and  repelled  as  the  river  is  on  that  shore  by  the 
most  romantic  cliffs,  now  mantled  with  vegetation  of  the 
richest  hue,  tinged  with  all  the  variegated  colors  of  autumn  ; 
now  surmounted  by  fortresses,  over  whose  gates  were  dis- 
played the  pennons  of  their  proud  owners  ;  or  studded  with 
hamlets,  where  the  richness  of  the  soil  supplied  to  the  poor 
laborer  the  food  of  which  the  oppressive  hand  of  his  superior 
threatened  altogether  to  deprive  him.  Every  stream  which 
here  contributes  its  waters  to  the  Rhine  winds  through  its 
own  tributary  dell,  and  each  valley  possesses  a  varying  and 
separate  character — some  rich  with  pastures,  cornfields,  and 
vineyards,  some  frowning  with  crags  and  precipices  and 
other  romantic  beauties. 

The  principles  of  taste  were  not  then  explained  or  ana- 
lyzed as  they  have  been  since,  in  countries  wnere  leisure  has 
been  found  for  this  investigation.  But  the  feelings  arising 
from  so  rich  a  landscape  as  is  displayed  by  the  valley  of  the 
Rhine  must  have  been  the  same  in  every  bosom,  from  the 
period  when  our  Englishman  took  his  solitary  journey 
through  it,  in  doubt  and  danger,  till  that  in  which  it  heard 
the  indignant  Childe  Harold  bid  a  proud  farewell  to  his  na- 
tive country,  in  the  vain  search  of  a  land  in  which  his  heart 
might  throb  less  fiercely. 

Arthur  enjoyed  this  scene,  although  the  fading  daylight 
began  to  remind  him  that,  alone  as  he  was,  and  traveling 
with  a  very  valuable  charge,  it  would  be  matter  of  prudence 
to  look  out  for  some  place  of  rest  during  the  night.  Just 
as  he  had  formed  the  resolution  of  inquiring  at  the  next 
habitation  he  should  pass  which  way  he  should  follow  for 
this  purpose,  the  road  he  pursued  descended  into  a  beauti- 


264  WA  VERLET  NO  VELS 

ful  amphitheater  filled  with  large  trees^  which  protected 
from  the  heats  of  summer  the  delicate  and  tender  herbage 
of  the  pasture.  A  large  brook  flowed  through  it  and  joined 
the  Rhine.  At  a  short  mile  up  the  brook,  its  waters  made 
a  crescent  round  a  steep,  craggy  eminence,  crowned  with 
flanking  walls,  and  Gothic  towers  and  turrets,  inclosing  a 
feudal  castle  of  the  first  order.  A  part  of  the  savannah  that 
has  been  mentioned  had  been  irregularly  cultivated  for 
wheat,  which  had  grown  a  plentiful  crop.  It  was  gathered 
in,  but  the  patches  of  deep  yellow  stubble  contrasted  with 
the  green  of  the  undisturbed  pasture-land,  and  with  the 
seared  and  dark-red  foliage  of  the  broad  oaks  which  stretched 
their  arms  athwart  the  level  space.  There  a  lad  in  a  rustic 
dress  was  employed  in  the  task  of  netting  a  brood  of  part- 
ridges, with  the  assistance  of  a  trained  spaniel  ;  while  a 
young  woman,  who  had  the  air  rather  of  a  domestic  in  some 
family  of  rank  than  that  of  an  ordinary  villager,  sat  on  the 
stump  of  a  decayed  tree,  to  watch  the  progress  of  the  amuse- 
ment. The  spaniel,  whose  duty  it  was  to  drive  the  par- 
tridges under  the  net,  was  perceptibly  disturbed  at  the  ap- 
proach of  the  traveler  ;  his  attention  was  divided,  and  he 
was  obviously  in  danger  of  marring  the  spot,  by  barking  and 
putting  up  the  covey,  when  the  maiden  quitted  her  seat, 
and,  advancing  towards  Philipson,  requested  him,  for  cour- 
tesy, to  pass  at  a  greater  distance,  and  not  interfere  with 
their  amusement. 

The  traveler  willingly  complied  with  her  request. 

''  1  will  ride,  fair  damsel, ^^  he  said,  ^'  at  whatever  distance 
you  please.  And  allow  me,  in  guerdon,  to  ask  whether 
there  is  convent,  castle,  or  good  man's  house  where  a  stran- 
ger, who  is  belated  and  weary,  might  receive  a  night's 
hospitality  ?'* 

The  girl,  whose  face  he  had  not  yet  distinctly  seen,  seemed 
to  suppress  some  desire  to  laugh,  as  she  replied,  ^'  Hath  not 
yon  castle,  think  you,''  pointing  to  the  distant  towers, 
''  some  corner  which  might  accommodate  a  stranger  in  such 
extremity  ?  " 

"  Space  enough,  certainly,"  said  Arthur ;  *'  but  perhaps 
little  inclination  to  grant  it." 

"I  myself,"  said  the  girl,  '^ being  one,  and  a  formidable 
part,  of  the  garrison,  will  be  answerable  for  your  reception. 
But  as  you  parley  with  me  in  such  hostile  fashion,  it  is  ac- 
cording to  martial  order  that  I  should  put  down  my  visor." 

So  saying,  she  concealed  her  face  under  one  of  those 
riding-masks  which  at  that  period  women  often  wore  when 


AJSfNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  265 

tliey  went  abroad,  whether  for  protecting  their  complexion 
or  screening  themselves  from  intrusive  observation.  But, 
ere  she  could  accomplish  this  operation,  Arthur  had  detected 
the  merry  countenance  of  Annette  Veilchen,  a  girl  who, 
though  her  attendance  of  Anne  of  Geierstein  was  in  a  menial 
capacity,  was  held  in  high  estimation  at  Geierstein.  She 
was  a  bold  wench,  unaccustomed  to  the  distinctions  of  rank, 
which  were  little  regarded  in  the  simplicity  of  the  Helvetian 
hills,  and  she  was  ready  to  laugh,  jest,  and  flirt  with  the 
young  men  of  the  Landamman^s  family.  This  attracted  no 
attention,  the  mountain  manners  making  little  distinction 
between  the  degrees  of  attendant  and  mistress,  further  than 
that  the  mistress  was  a  young  woman  who  required  help  and 
the  maiden  one  who  was  in  a  situation  to  offer  and  afford  it. 
This  kind  of  familiarity  would  perhaps  have  been  dangerous 
in  other  lands,  but  the  simplicity  of  Swiss  manners,  and  the 
turn  of  Annette's  disposition,  which  was  resolute  and  sen- 
sible, though  rather  bold  and  free,  when  compared  to  the 
manners  of  more  civilized  countries,  kept  all  intercourse 
betwixt  her  and  the  young  men  of  the  family  in  the  strict 
path  of  honor  and  innocence. 

Arthur  himself  had  paid  considerable  attention  to  Annette, 
being  naturally,  from  his  feelings  towards  Anne  of  Geier- 
stein, heartily  desirous  to  possess  the  good  graces  of  her  at- 
tendant— a  point  which  was  easily  gained  by  the  attentions 
of  a  handsome  young  man,  and  the  generosity  with  which 
he  heaped  upon  her  small  presents  of  articles  of  dress  or 
ornament,  which  the  damsel,  however  faithful,  could  find 
no  heart  to  refuse. 

The  assurance  that  he  was  in  Anne's  neighborhood,  and 
that  he  was  likely  to  pass  the  night  under  the  same  roof, 
both  of  which  circumstances  were  intimated  by  the  girFs 
presence  and  language,  sent  the  blood  in  a  hastier  current 
through  Arthur's  veins  ;  for  though,  since  he  had  crossed 
the  river,  he  had  sometimes  nourished  hopes  of  again  seeing 
her  who  had  made  so  strong  an  impression  on  his  imagina- 
tion, yet  his  understanding  had  as  often  told  him  how  slight 
was  the  chance  of  their  meeting,  and  it  was  even  now  chilled 
by  the  reflection  that  it  could  be  followed  only  by  the  pain 
of  a  sudden  and  final  separation.  He  yielded  himself,  how- 
ever, to  the  prospect  of  promised  pleasure  without  attempt- 
ing to  ascertain  what  was  to  be  its  duration  or  its  conse- 
quence. Desirous,  in  the  meantime,  to  hear  as  much  of 
Anne's  circumstances  as  Annette  chose  to  tell,  he  resolved 
not  to  let  that  merry  maiden  perceive  that  she  was  known 


206  WA VERLET  NOVELS 

by  him,  until  she  chose  of  her  own  accord  to  lay  aside  hei 
mystery. 

While  these  thoughts  passed  rapidly  through  his  imagina- 
tion, Annette  bade  the  lad  drop  his  nets,  and  directed  him 
that,  having  taken  two  of  the  best-fed  partridges  from  the 
covey  and  carried  them  into  the  kitchen,  he  was  to  set  the 
rest  at  liberty. 

**I  must  provide  supper,''  said  she  to  the  traveler,  ''since 
I  am  bringing  home  unexpected  company/' 

Arthur  earnestly  expressed  his  hope  that  his  experiencing 
the  hospitality  of  the  castle  would  occasion  no  trouble  to  the 
inmates,  and  received  satisfactory  assurances  upon  the  sub- 
ject of  his  scruples. 

''  I  would  not  willingly  be  the  cause  of  inconvenience  to 
your  mistress,"  pursued  the  traveler. 

''  Look  you  there,"  said  Annette  Veilchen,  ''  I  have  said 
nothing  of  master  or  mistress,  and  this  poor  forlorn  traveler 
has  already  concluded  in  his  own  mind  that  he  is  to  be  har- 
bored in  a  lady's  bower  ! " 

*'  Why,  did  you  not  tell  me,"  said  Arthur,  somewhat  con- 
fused at  his  blunder,  ''  that  you  were  the  person  of  second 
importance  in  the  place  ?  A  damsel,  I  judged,  could  only 
be  an  officer  under  a  female  governor." 

*'I  do  not  see  the  justice  of  the  conclusion,"  replied  the 
maiden.  ''  I  have  known  ladies  bear  offices  of  trust  in  lords' 
families — nay,  and  over  the  lords  themselves." 

'*  Am  I  to  understand,  fair  damsel,  that  you  hold  so  pre- 
dominant a  situation  in  the  castle  which  we  are  now  approach- 
ing, and  of  which  I  pray  you  to  tell  me  the  name  ?  " 

''  The  name  of  the  castle  is  Arnheim,"  said  Annette. 

"  Your  garrison  must  be  a  large  one,"  said  Arthur,  look- 
ing at  the  extensive  building,  ''  if  you  are  able  to  man  such 
a  labyrinth  of  walls  and  towers." 

"  In  that  point,"  said  Annette,  ''  I  must  needs  own  we  are 
very  deficient.  At  present,  we  rather  hide  in  the  castle  than 
inhabit  it ;  and  yet  it  is  well  enough  defended  by  the  reports 
which  frighten  every  other  person  who  might  disturb  its 
seclusion." 

"  And  yet  you  yourselves  dare  to  reside  in  it  ?  "  said  the 
Englishman,  recollecting  the  tale  which  had  been  told  by 
Kudolph  Donnerhugel  concerning  the  character  of  the  Barons 
of  Arnheim,  and  the  final  catastrophe  of  the  family. 

''Perhaps,"  replied  his  guide,  "  we  are  too  intimate  with 
the  cause  of  such  fears  to  feel  ourselves  strongly  oppressed 
with  them  ;  perhaps  we  have  means  of  encountering  the  sup- 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  267 

posed  terrors  proper  to  ourselves  ;  perhaps,  and  it  is  not  the 
least  likely  conjecture,  we  have  no  choice  of  a  better  place 
of  refuge.  Such  seems  to  be  your  own  fate  at  present,  sir, 
for  the  tops  of  the  distant  hills  are  gradually  losing  the  lights 
of  the  evening,  and  if  you  rest  not  in  Arnheim,  well  con- 
tented or  not,  you  are  likely  to  find  no  safe  lodging  for  many 
a  mile." 

As  sh©  thus  spoke,  she  separated  from  Arthur,  taking, 
with  the  fowler  who  attended  her,  a  very  steep  but  short  foot- 
path, which  ascended  straight  up  to  the  site  of  the  castle  ; 
at  the  same  time  motioning  the  young  Englishman  to  follow 
a  horse-track,  which,  more  circuitous,  led  to  the  same  point, 
and,  though  less  direct,  was  considerably  more  easy. 

He  soon  stood  before  the  south  front  of  Arnheim  Castle, 
which  was  a  much  larger  building  than  he  had  conceived, 
either  from  Rudolph^s  description  or  from  the  distant  view. 
It  had  been  erected  at  many  different  periods,  and  a  consid- 
erable part  of  the  edifice  was  less  in  the  strict  Gothic  than 
in  what  has  been  termed  the  Saracenic  style,  in  which  the 
imagination  of  the  architect  is  more  florid  than  that  which 
is  usually  indulged  in  the  North — rich  in  minarets,  cupolas, 
and  similar  approximations  to  Oriental  structures.  This 
singular  building  bore  a  general  appearance  of  desolation  and 
desertion,  but  Rudolph  had  been  misinformed  when  he  de- 
clared that  it  had  become  ruinous.  On  the  contrary,  it  had 
been  maintained  with  considerable  care  ;  and  when  it  fell 
into  the  hands  of  the  Emperor,  although  no  garrison  was 
maintained  within  its  precincts,  care  was  taken  to  keep  the 
building  in  repair  ;  and  although  the  prejudices  of  the  country 
people  prevented  any  one  from  passing  the  night  within  the 
fearful  walls,  yet  it  was  regularly  visited  from  time  to  time 
by  a  person  having  commission  from  the  Imperial  Chancery 
to  that  effect.  The  occupation  of  the  domain  around  the 
castle  was  a  valuable  compensation  for  this  official  person's 
labor,  and  he  took  care  not  to  endanger  the  loss  of  it  by 
neglecting  his  duty.  Of  late  this  officer  had  been  withdrawn, 
and  now  it  appeared  that  the  young  baroness  of  Arnheim 
had  found  refuge  in  the  deserted  towers  of  her  ancestors. 

The  Swiss  damsel  did  not  leave  the  youthful  traveler  time 
to  study  particularly  the  exterior  of  the  castle,  or  to  construe 
the  meaning  of  emblems  and  mottoes,  seemingly  of  an  Oriental 
character,  with  which  the  outside  was  inscribed,  and  which 
expressed  in  various  modes,  more  or  less  directly,  the  attach- 
ment of  the  builders  of  this  extensive  pile  to  the  learning  of 
the  Eastern  sages.     Ere  he  had  time  to  take  more  than  a 


268  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

general  survey  of  tlie  place,  the  voice  of  the  Swiss  maiden 
called  him  to  an  angle  of  the  wall  in  which  there  was  a  pro- 
jection, from  whence  a  long  plank  extended  over  a  dry  moat, 
and  was  connected  with  a  window  in  which  Annette  was 
standing. 

"  You  have  forgotten  your  Swiss  lessons  already,'^  said  she, 
observing  that  Arthur  went  rather  timidly  about  crossing  the 
temporary  and  precarious  drawbridge. 

The  reflection  that  Anne,  her  mistress,  might  make  the 
same  observation  recalled  the  young  traveler  to  the  necessary 
degree  of  composure.  He  passed  over  the  plank  with  the 
same  sang  f void  with  which  he  had  learned  to  brave  the  far 
more  terrific  bridge  beneath  the  ruinous  Castle  of  Geierstein. 
He  had  no  sooner  entered  the  window  than  Annette,  taking 
off  her  mask,  bade  him  welcome  to  Germany,  and  to  old 
friends  with  new  names. 

"  Anne  of  Geierstein,^'  she  said,  ''  is  no  more  ;  but  you 
will  presently  see  the  Lady  Baroness  of  Arnheim,  who  is  ex- 
tremely like  her ;  and  I,  who  was  Annette  Veilchen  in 
Switzerland,  the  servant  to  a  damsel  who  was  not  esteemed 
much  greater  than  myself,  am  now  the  young  baroness's  wait- 
ing-woman, and  make  everybody  of  less  quality  stand  back.'' 

"  If,  in  such  circumstances,"  said  young  Philipson,  "  you 
have  the  influence  due  to  your  consequence,  let  me  beseech 
of  you  to  tell  the  baroness,  since  we  must  now  call  her  so, 
that  my  present  intrusion  on  her  is  occasioned  by  my  igno- 
rance." 

''Away — away,"  said  the  girl,  laughing,  ''I  know  better 
what  to  say  in  your  behalf.  You  are  not  the  first  poor  man 
and  peddler  that  has  got  the  graces  of  a  great  lady ;  but  I 
warrant  you  it  was  not  by  making  humble  apologies,  and 
talking  of  unintentional  intrusion.  I  will  tell  her  of  love, 
which  all  the  Rhine  cannot  quench,  and  which  has  driven 
you  hither,  leaving  you  no  otHer  choice  than  to  come  or  t(f 
perish  ! " 

''Nay,  but,  Annette — Annette " 

"  Fie  on  you  for  a  fool — make  a  shorter  name  of  it :  cry 
"Anne — Anne  !"  and  there  will  be  more  prospect  of  your 
being  answered." 

So  saying,  the  wild  girl  ran  out  of  the  room,  delighted,  as 
a  mountaineer  of  her  description  was  likely  to  be,  with  the 
thought  of  having  done  as  she  would  desire  to  be  done  by, 
in  her  benevolent  exertions  to  bring  two  lovers  together, 
when  on  the  eve  of  inevitable  separation. 

In  this  self -approving  disposition,  Annette  sped   up  a 


ANNE  OF  GEIER8TEIN  269 

narrow  turnpike-stair  to  a  closet,  or  dressing-room,  where 
her  young  mistress  was  seated,  and  exclaimed,  with  open 

mouth — '*  Anne  of  Gei 1  mean,  my  lady  baroness,  they 

are  come — they  are  come  ! " 

"  The  Philipsons  ?  '^  said  Anne,  almost  breathless  as  she 
asked  the  question. 

''  Yes — no,''  answered  the  girl ;  "  that  is,  yes,  for  the  best 
of  them  is  come,  and  that  is  Arthur." 

^  What  meanest  thou,  girl  ?  Is  not  Signior  Philipson, 
the  father,  along  with  his  son  ?  " 

'^  Not  he,  indeed,"  answered  Veilchen,  ''  nor  did  I  ever 
think  of  asking  about  him.  He  was  no  friend  of  mine,  nor 
of  any  one  else,  save  the  old  Landamman  ;  and  well  met  they 
were  for  a  couple  of  wiseacres,  with  eternal  proverbs  in  their 
mouths  and  care  upon  their  brows." 

"  Unkind,  inconsiderate  girl,  what  hast  thou  done  ? " 
said  Anne  of  Geierstein.  ^'  Did  I  not  warn  and  charge  thee 
to  bring  them  both  hither,  and  you  have  brought  the  young 
man  alone  to  a  place  where  we  are  nearly  in  solitude  ?  What 
will  he — what  can  he  think  of  me  ?  " 

"  Why,  what  should  I  have  done  ?  "  said  Annette,  remain- 
ing firm  in  her  argument.  "  He  was  alone,  and  should  I 
have  sent  him  down  to  the  dorff  to  be  murdered  by  the 
Rhinegrave's  lanzknechts  ?  All  is  fish,  I  trow,  that  comes 
to  their  net ;  and  how  is  he  to  get  through  this  country,  so 
beset  with  wandering  soldiers,  robber  barons — ^I  beg  your 
ladyship's  pardon — and  roguish  Italians,  flocking  to  the  Duke 
of  Burgundy's  standard — not  to  mention  the  greatest  terror 
of  all,  that  is  never  in  one  shape  or  other  absent  from  one's 
eye  or  thought  ?  " 

"  Hush — hush,  girl !  add  not  utter  madness  to  the  excess 
of  folly  ;  but  let  us  think  what  is  to  be  done.  For  our  sake, 
for  his  own,  this  unfortunate  young  man  must  leave  this 
castle  instantly." 

"  You  must  take  the  message  yourself  then,  Anne — I  beg 
pardon,  most  noble  baroness  ;  it  may  be  very  fit  for  a  lady 
of  high  birth  to  send  such  a  message,  which,  indeed,  I  have 
heard  the  minnesingers  tell  in  their  romances  ;  but  I  am  sure 
it  is  not  a  meet  one  for  me,  or  any  frank-hearted  Swiss  girl, 
to  carry.  No  more  foolery ;  but  remember,  if  you  were 
born  Baroness  of  Arnheim,  you  have  been  bred  and  brought 
up  in  the  bosom  of  the  Swiss  hills,  and  should  conduct  your- 
self like  an  honest  and  well-meaning  damsel." 

**  And  in  what  does  your  wisdom  reprehend  my  folly,  good 
Mademoiselle  Annette  ?  "  replied  the  baroness. 


270  WAVEELEY  NOVELS 

'^  Ay,  marry  !  now  our  noble  blood  stirs  in  our  veins.  But 
remember,  gentle  my  lady,  that  it  was  a  bargain  between  us, 
when  I  left  yonder  noble  mountains,  and  the  free  air  that 
blows  over  them,  to  coop  myself  up  in  this  land  of  prisons 
and  slaves,  that  I  should  speak  my  mind  to  you  as  freely  as 
I  did  when  our  heads  lay  on  the  same  pillow/' 

'^  Speak,  then,''  said  Anne,  studiously  averting  her  face 
as  she  prepared  to  listen  ;  but  beware  that  you  say  nothing 
which  it  is  unfit  for  me  to  hear." 

'^  I  will  speak  nature  and  common  sense  ;  and  if  your 
noble  ears  are  not  made  fit  to  hear  and  understand  these,  the 
fault  lies  in  them,  and  not  in  my  tongue.  Look  you,  you 
have  saved  this  youth  from  two  great  dangers — one  at  the 
earth-shoot  at  Geierstein,  the  other  this  very  day,  when  his 
life  was  beset.  A  handsome  young  man  he  is,  well  spoken 
and  well  qualified  to  gain  deservedly  a  lady's  favor.  Before 
you  saw  him,  the  Swiss  youth  were  at  least  not  odious  to 
you.  You  dfinced  with  them,  you  jested  with  them,  you 
were  the  general  object  of  their  admiration ;  and,  as  you 
well  know,  you  might  have  had  your  choice  through  the 
canton.  Why,  I  think  it  possible  a  little  urgency  might 
have  brought  you  to  think  of  Eudolph  Donnerhugel  as  your 
mate." 

"  Never,  wench — never  ! "  exclaimed  Anne. 

'^  Be  not  so  very  positive,  my  lady.  Had  he  recommended 
himself  to  the  uncle  in  the  first  place,  I  think,  in  my  poor 
sentiment,  he  might  at  some  lucky  moment  have  carried  the 
niece.  But  since  we  have  known  this  young  Englishman,  it 
has  been  little  less  than  contemning,  despising,  and  some- 
thing like  hating,  all  the  men  whom  you  could  endure  well 
enough  before." 

'*  Well — well,"  said  Anne,  ''  I  will  detest  and  hate  thee 
more  than  any  of  them,  unless  you  bring  your  matters  to  an 
end." 

"  Softly,  noble  lady,  fair  and  easy  go  far.  All  this  argues 
you  love  the  young  man,  and  let  those  say  that  you  are 
wrong  who  think  there  is  anything  wonderful  in  the  matter. 
There  is  much  to  justify  you,  and  nothing  that  I  know 
against  it." 

"  What,  foolish  girl !  Eemember  my  birth  forbids  me  to 
love  a  mean  man,  my  condition  to  love  a  poor  man,  my 
father's  commands  to  love  one  whose  addresses  are  without 
his  consent  ;  above  all,  my  maidenly  pride  forbids  me  fixing 
my  affections  on  one  who  cares  not  for  me — nay,  perhaps, 
is  prejudiced  against  me  by  appearances." 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  271 

"  Here  is  a  fine  homily  ! "  said  Annette  ;  "  but  I  can  clear 
every  point  of  it  as  easily  as  Father  Francis  does  his  text  in 
a  holiday  sermon.  Your  birth  is  a  silly  dream,  which  you 
have  only  learned  to  value  within  these  two  or  three  days, 
when,  having  come  to  German  soil,  some  of  the  old  German 
weed,  usually  called  family  pride,  has  begun  to  germinate  in 
your  heart.  Think  of  such  folly  as  you  thought  when  you 
lived  at  Geierstein— that  is,  during  all  the  rational  part  of  your 
life — and  this  great  terrible  prejudice  will  sink  into  nothing. 
By  condition,  I  conceive  you  mean  estate.  But  Philipson^s 
father,  who  is  the  most  free-hearted  of  men,  will  surely  give 
his  son  as  many  zecchins  as  will  stock  a  mountain  farm. 
You  have  firewood  for  the  cutting,  and  land  for  the  occu- 
pying, since  you  are  surely  entitled  to  part  of  Geierstein,  and 
gladly  will  your  uncle  put  you  in  possession  of  it.  You  can 
manage  the  dairy,  Arthur  can  shoot,  hunt,  fish,  plow,  harrow, 
and  reap.*' 

Anne  of  Geierstein  shook  her  head,  as  if  she  greatly 
doubted  her  lover's  skill  in  the  last  of  the  accomplishments 
enumerated. 

"Well — well,  he  can  learn,  then,"  said  Anne  Veilchen  ; 
'^  and  you  will  only  live  the  harder  the  first  year  or  so.  Be- 
sides, Sigismund  Biederman  will  aid  him  willingly,  and  he 
is  a  very  horse  at  labor  ;  and  I  know  another  besides  who  is 
a  friend " 

"  Of  thine  own,  I  warrant,'^  quoth  the  young  baroness. 

'^  Marry,  it  is  my  poor  friend,  Louis  [Martin]  Sprenger ; 
and  ril  never  be  so  false-hearted  as  to  deny  my  bachelor.'' 

"  Well — well,  but  what  is  to  be  the  end  of  all  this  ?  "  said 
the  baroness,  impatiently. 

"  The  end  of  it,  in  my  opinion,"  said  Annette,  "  is  very 
simple.  Here  are  priests  and  prayer-books  within  a  mile ; 
go  down  to  the  parlor,  speak  your  mind  to  your  lover,  or 
hear  him  speak  his  mind  to  you  ;  join  hands,  go  quietly  back 
to  Geierstein  in  the  character  of  man  and  wife,  and  get 
everything  ready  to  receive  your  uncle  on  his  return.  This 
is  the  way  that  a  plain  Swiss  wench  would  cut  off  the 
romance  of  a  German  baroness " 

''  And  break  the  heart  of  her  father,"  said  the  young  lady, 
with  a  sigh. 

"  It  is  more  tough  than  you  are  aware  of,"  replied  Annette  ; 
"  he  hath  not  lived  without  you  so  long,  but  that  he  will  be 
able  to  spare  you  for  the  rest  of  his  life,  a  great  deal  more 
easily  than  yo\i,  with  all  your  newfangled  ideas  of  quality, 
will  be  able  to  endure  his  schemes  of  wealth  and  ambition, 


272  WAVERLET  NOVELS 

which  will  aim  at  making  you  the  wife  of  some  illustrious 
count,  like  De  Hagenbach,  whom  we  saw  not  long  since 
make  such  an  edifying  end,  to  the  great  example  of  all 
robber-chivalry  upon  the  Khine/' 

"Thy  plan  is  naught,  wench — a  childish  vision  of  a  girl 
who  never  knew  more  of  life  than  she  has  heard  told  over 
her  milking-pail.  Eemember  that  my  uncle  entertains  the 
highest  ideas  of  family  discipline,  and  that  to  act  contrary 
to  my  father's  will  would  destroy  us  in  his  good  opinion. 
Why  else  am  I'  here  ?  Wherefore  has  he  resigned  his  guard- 
ianship ?  and  why  am  I  obliged  to  change  the  habits  that 
are  dear  to  me,  and  assume  the  manners  of  a  people  that  are 
strange,  and  therefore  unpleasing  to  me  ?  " 

'^  Your  uncle,''  said  Annette,  firmly,  "is  Landamman  of 
the  Canton  of  Underwalden,  respects  its  freedom,  and  is  the 
sworn  protector  of  its  laws,  of  which,  when  you,  a  denizen 
of  the  Confederacy,  claim  the  protection,  he  cannot  refuse 
it  to  you/' 

"  Even  then,"  said  the  young  baroness,  ''  I  should  forfeit 
his  good  opinion,  his  more  than  paternal  affection  ;  but  it  is 
needless  to  dwell  upon  this.  Know  that,  although  I  could 
have  loved  the  young  man,  whom  I  will  not  deny  to  be  as 
amiable  as  your  partiality  paints  him — know" — she  hesitated 
for  a  moment — "  that  he  has  never  spoken  a  word  to  me  on 
such  a  subject  as  you,  without  knowing  either  his  sentiments 
or  mine,  would  intrude  on  my  consideration." 

"Is  it  possible  ?"  answered  Annette.  "I  thought — I 
believed,  though  I  have  never  pressed  on  your  confidence — 
that  you  must — attached  as  you  were  to  each  other — have 
spoken  together,  like  true  maid  and  true  bachelor,  before 
now.  I  have  done  wrong,  when  I  thought  to  do  for  the  best. 
Is  it  possible — such  things  have  been  heard  of  even  in  our 
canton — is  it  possible  he  can  have  harbored  so  unutterably 
base  purposes  as  that  Martin  of  Brisach,  who  made  love  to 
Adela  of  the  Sungau,  enticed  her  to  folly — the  thing,  though 
almost  incredible,  is  true — fled — fled  from  the  country  and 
boasted  of  his  villainy,  till  her  cousin  Eaymund  silenced  for- 
ever his  infamous  triumph,  by  beating  his  brains  out  with 
his  club,  even  in  the  very  street  of  the  villain's  native  town  ?  By 
the  Holy  Mother  of  Einsiedlen  I  could  I  suspect  this  English- 
man of  meditating  such  treason,  I  would  saw  the  plank 
across  the  moat  till  a  fly's  weight  would  break  it,  and  it 
should  be  at  six  fathom  deep  that  he  should  abye  the  perfidy 
which  dared  to  meditate  dishonor  against  an  adopted 
daughter  of  Switzerland  ! " 


ANNE  OF  GEIEBSTEIN  273 

As  Annette  Veilchen  spoke,  all  the  fire  of  her  mountain 
courage  flashed  from  her  eyes,  and  she  listened  reluctantly 
while  Anne  of  Geierstein  endeavored  to  obliterate  the  dan- 
gerous impression  which  her  former  words  had  impressed  on 
her  simple  but  faithful  attendant. 

''  On  my  word,^'  she  said — ''  on  my  soul,  you  do  Arthur 
Philipson  injustice — foul  injustice,  in  intimating  such  a  sus- 
picion. His  conduct  towards  me  has  ever  been  upright  and 
honorable  :  a  friend  to  a  friend — a  brother  to  a  sister — could 
not,  in  all  he  has  done  and  said,  have  been  more  respectful, 
more  anxiously  affectionate,  more  undeviatingly  candid.  In 
our  frequent  interviews  and  intercourse  he  has  indeed  seemed 
very  kind — very  attached.  But  had  I  been  disposed — at 
times  1  may  have  been  too  much  so^ — to  listen  to  him  with 
endurance,^' — the  young  lady  here  put  her  hand  on  her  fore- 
head, but  the  tears  streamed  through  her  slender  fingers — 
^'  he  has  never  spoken  of  any  love — any  preference  ;  if  he 
indeed  entertains  any,  some  obstacle,  insurmountable  on  his 
part,  has  interfered  to  prevent  him.^' 

'^  Obstacle  ! "  replied  the  Swiss  damsel.  *'Ay,  doubtless — 
some  childish  bashfulness — some  foolish  idea  about  your 
birth  being  so  high  above  his  own — some  dream  of  modesty 
pushed  to  extremity,  which  considers  as  impenetrable  the 
ice  of  a  spring  frost.  This  delusion  may  be  broken  by  a 
mementos  encouragement,  and  I  will  take  the  task  on  myself, 
to  spare  your  blushes,  my  dearest  Anne.^' 

*'  No — no — for  Heaven's  sake,  no,  Veilchen  ! "  answered 
the  baroness,  to  whom  Annette  had  so  long  been  a  com- 
panion and  confidante,  rather  than  a  domestic.  ''You  can- 
not anticipate  the  nature  of  the  obstacles  which  may  pre- 
vent his  thinking  on  what  you  are  so  desirous  to  promote. 
Hear  me.  My  early  education,  and  the  instructions  of  my 
kind  uncle,  have  taught  me  to  know  something  more  of 
foreigners  and  their  fashions  than  I  ever  could  have  learned 
in  our  happy  retirement  of  Geierstein  ;  I  am  wellnigh  con- 
vinced that  these  Philipsons  are  of  rank,  as  they  are  of  man- 
ners and  bearing,  far  superior  to  the  occupation  which 
they  appear  to  hold.  The  father  is  a  man  of  deep  obser- 
vation, of  high  thought  and  pretension,  and  lavish  of  gifts, 
far  beyond  what  consists  with  the  utmost  liberality  of  a 
trader. '^ 

''That  is  true,'' said  Annette;    "I  will  say  for  myself, 

that  the  silver  chain  he  gave  me  weighs  against  _  ten  silver 

crowns,  and  the  cross  which  Arthur  added  to  it,  the  day 

after  the  long  ride  we  had  together  up  towards  Mont  Pilatre, 

i8 


274  WAVBELET  NOVELS 

is  worth,  they  tell  me,  as  much  more.  There  is  not  the  like 
of  it  in  the  cantons.  Well,  what  then  ?  They  are  rich,  so 
are  yon.     So  mnch  the  better.'' 

"  Alas  !  Annette,  they  are  not  only  rich,  but  noble.  I  am 
persuaded  of  this ;  for  I  have  observed  often  that  even  the 
father  retreated,  with  an  air  of  quiet  and  dignified  contempt, 
from  discussions  with  Donnerhugel  and  others,  who,  in  our 
plain  way,  wished  to  fasten  a  dispute  upon  him.  And  when 
a  rude  observation  or  blunt  pleasantry  was  pointed  at  the 
son,  his  eye  flashed,  his  cheek  colored,  and  it  was  only  a 
glance  from  his  father  which  induced  him  to  repress  the 
retort  of  no  friendly  character  which  rose  to  his  lips.'' 

'^  You  have  been  a  close  observer,"  said  Annette.  "  All 
this  may  be  true,  but  I  noted  it  not.  But  what  then,  I  say 
once  more  ?  If  Arthur  has  some  fine  noble  name  in  his  own 
country,  are  not  you  yourself  Baroness  of  Arnheim  ?  And 
I  will  frankly  allow  it  as  something  of  worth,  if  it  smooths 
the  way  to  a  match  where  I  think  you  must  look  for  happi- 
ness. I  hope  so,  else  I  am  sure  it  should  have  no  encourage- 
ment from  me." 

*'  I  do  believe  so,  my  faithful  Veilchen  ;  but  alas  !  how 
can  you,  in  the  state  of  natural  freedom  in  which  you  have 
been  bred,  know,  or  even  dream,  of  the  various  restraints 
which  this  gilded  or  golden  chain  of  rank  and  nobility  hangs 
upon  those  whom  it  fetters  and  encumbers,  I  fear,  as  much 
as  it  decorates  ?  In  every  country  the  distinction  of  rank 
binds  me  to  certain  duties.  It  may  carry  with  it  restrictions, 
which  may  prevent  alliances  in  foreign  countries  ;  it  often  may 
prevent  them  from  consulting  their  inclinations  when  they 
wed  in  their  own.  It  leads  to  alliances  in  which  the  heart  is 
never  consulted,  to  treaties  of  marriage  which  are  often 
formed  when  the  parties  are  in  the  cradle,  or  in  leading- 
strings,  but  which  are  not  the  less  binding  on  them  in  honor 
and  faith.  Such  may  exist  in  the  present  case.  These 
alliances  are  often  blended  and  mixed  up  with  state  policy  ; 
and  if  the  interests  of  England,  or  what  he  deems  such, 
should  have  occasioned  the  elder  Philipson  to  form  such 
an  engagement,  Arthur  would  break  his  own  heart — the 
heart  of  any  one  else — rather  than  make  false  his  father's 
word." 

'*  The  more  shame  to  them  that  formed  such  an  engage- 
ment ! "  said  Annette.  '^  Well,  they  talk  of  England  being 
a  free  country  ;  but  if  they  can  bar  young  men  and  women 
of  the  natural  privilege  to  call  their  hands  and  hearts  their 
own,  I  would  as  soon  be  a  German  serf.     Well,  lady,  you  are 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  275 

wise,  and  I  am  ignorant.  But  what  is  to  be  done  ?  I  have 
brought  this  young  man  here,  expecting,  God  knows,  a 
happier  issue  to  your  meeting.  But  it  is  clear  you  cannot 
marry  him  without  his  asking  you.  Now,  although  I  con- 
fess that,  if  I  could  think  him  willing  to  forfeit  the  hand  of 
the  fairest  maid  of  the  cantons,  either  from  want  of  manly 
courage  to  ask  it  or  from  regard  to  some  ridiculous  engage- 
ment formed  betwixt  his  father  and  some  other  nobleman  of 
their  island  of  noblemen,  I  would  not  in  either  case  grudge 
him  a  ducking  in  the  moat ;  yet  it  is  another  question  whether 
we  should  send  him  down  to  be  murdered  among  those  cut- 
throats of  the  Khinegrave  ;  and  unless  we  do  so  I  know  not 
how  to  get  rid  of  him. 

''  Then  let  the  boy  William  give  attendance  on  him  here, 
and  do  you  see  to  his  accommodation.  It  is  best  we  do  not 
meet.'' 

'^  I  will,''  said  Annette  ;  "  yet  what  am  I  to  say  for  you  ? 
Unhappilj^,  I  let  him  know  that  you  were  here." 

*'  Alas,  imprudent  girl !  Yet  why  should  I  blame  thee,"  said 
Anne  of  Geierstein,  "  when  the  imprudence  has  been  so  great 
on  my  own  side  ?  It  is  myself  who,  suffering  my  imagina- 
tion to  rest  too  long  upon  this  young  man  and  his  merits, 
have  led  me  into  this  entanglement.  But  I  will  show  thee 
that  I  can  overcome  this  folly,  and  I  will  not  seek  in  my  own 
error  a  cause  for  evading  the  duties  of  hospitality.  Go, 
Veilchen,  get  some  refreshment  ready.  Thou  shalt  sup  with 
us,  and  thou  must  not  leave  us.  Thou  shalt  see  me  behave 
as  becomes  both  a  German  lady  and  a  Swiss  maiden.  Get  me 
first  a  candle,  however,  my  girl,  for  I  must  wash  these  tell- 
tales, my  eyes,  and  arrange  my  dress." 

To  Annette  this  whole  explanation  had  been  one  scene  of 
astonishment,  for,  in  the  simple  ideas  of  love  and  courtship 
in  which  she  had  been  brought  up  amid  the  Swiss  mountains, 
she  had  expected  that  the  two  lovers  would  have  taken  the 
first  opportunity  of  the  absence  of  their  natural  guardians, 
and  have  united  themselves  forever  ;  and  she  had  even  ar- 
ranged a  little  secondary  plot,  in  which  she  herself  and  Martin 
Sprenger,  her  faithful  bachelor,  were  to  reside  with  the  young 
couple  as  friends  and  dependants.  Silenced,  therefore,  but 
not  satisfied,  by  the  objections  of  her  young  mistress,  the 
zealous  Annette  retreated,  murmuring 'to  herself — '^'That 
little  hint  about  her  dress  is  the  only  natural  and  sensible 
word  she  has  said  in  my  hearing.  Please  God,  I  will  return 
and  help  her  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye.  That  dressing  my 
mistress  is  the  only  part  of  a  waiting-lady's  life  that  I  have 


276  WA VERLEY  NOVELS 

the  least  fancy  for  :  it  seems  so  natural  for  one  pretty  maiden 
to  set  off  another — in  faith  we  are  but  learning  to  dress  our- 
selves at  another  time/' 

And  with  this  sage  remark  Annette  Vielchen  tripped 
down^stairs. 


CHAPTER  XXII 

Toll  me  not  of  it — I  could  ne'er  abide 

The  mummery  of  all  that  forced  civility. 

"  Pray,  seat  yourself,  my  lord."    With  cringing  hams 

The  speech  is  spoken,  and,  with  bended  knee, 

Heard  by  the  smiling  courtier.     '  Before  you,  sir  ? 

It  must  he  on  the  earth  then."    Hang  it  all ! 

The  pride  which  cloaks  itself  in  such  poor  fashion 

Is  scarcely  fit  to  swell  a  beggar's  bosom. 

Old  Play, 

Up-stairs  and  down-stairs  tripped  Annette  Yeilchen,  the 
soul  of  all  that  was  going  on  in  the  only  habitable  corner  of 
the  huge  castle  of  Arnheim.  She  was  equal  to  every  kind 
of  service,  and  therefore  popped  her  head  into  the  stable  to 
be  sure  that  William  attended  properly  to  Arthur's  horse, 
looked  into  the  kitchen  to  see  that  the  old  cook,  Marthon, 
roasted  the  partridges  in  due  time  (an  interference  for 
which  she  received  little  thanks),  rummaged  out  a  flask  or 
two  of  Rhine  wine  from  the  huge  Dom  Daniel  of  a  cellar, 
and,  finally,  just  peeped  into  the  parlor  to  see  how  Arthur 
was  looking  ;  when,  having  the  satisfaction  to  see  he  had  in 
the  best  manner  he  could  sedulously  arranged  his  person, 
she  assured  him  that  he  should  shortly  see  her  mistress,  who 
was  rather  indisposed,  yet  could  not  refrain  from  coming 
down  to  see  so  valued  an  acquaintance. 

Arthur  blushed  when  she  spoke  thus,  and  seemed  so  hand- 
some in  the  waiting-maid's  eye,  that  she  could  not  help 
saying  to  herself,  as  she  went  to  her  young  lady's  room — 
''  Well,  if  true  love  cannot  manage  to  bring  that  couple 
together,  in  spite  of  all  the  obstacles  that  they  stand  bog- 
gling at,  I  will  never  believe  that  there  is  such  a  thing  as 
true  love  in  the  world,  let  Martin  Sprenger  say  what  he  will, 
and  swear  to  it  on  the  Gospels." 

When  she  reached  the  young  baroness's  apartment,  she 
found,  to  her  surprise,  that,  instead  of  having  put  on  what 
finery  she  possessed,  that  young  lady's  choice  had  preferred 
the  same  simple  kirtle  which  she  had  worn  during  the  first 
day  that  Arthur  had  dined  at  Geierstein.  Annette  looked 
at  first  puzzled  and  doubtful,  then  suddenly  recognized  the 

277 


278  WAVERLET  NOVELS 

good  taste  wliicli  had  dictated  the  attire,  and  exclaimed, 
*'  You  are  right — you  are  right  :  it  is  best  to  meet  him  as  a 
free-hearted  Swiss  maiden/' 

Anne  also  smiled  as  she  replied,  ^'  But,  at  the  same  time, 
in  the  walls  of  Arnheim,  I  must  appear  in  some  respect  aa 
the  daughter  of  my  father.  Here,  girl,  aid  me  to  put  this 
gem  upon  the  ribbon  which  binds  my  hair." 

It  was  an  aigrette,  or  plume,  composed  of  two  feathers  of 
a  vulture,  fastened  together  by  an  opal,  which  changed  to 
the  changing  light  with  a  variability  which  enchanted  the 
Swiss  damsel,  who  had  never  seen  anything  resembling  it  in 
her  life. 

'*  Now,  Baroness  Anne,"  said  she,  '^  if  that  pretty  thing 
be  really  worn  as  a  sign  of  your  rank,  it  is  the  only  thing 
belonging  to  your  dignity  that  I  should  ever  think  of 
coveting ;  for  it  doth  shimmer  and  change  color  after  a 
most  wonderful  fashion,  even  something  like  one's  own  cheek 
when  one  is  fluttered." 

^^  Alas,  Annette  ! "  said  the  baroness,  passing  her  hand 
across  her  eyes,  '^  of  all  the  gauds  which  the  females  of  my 
house  have  owned,  this  perhaps  hath  been  the  most  fatal  to 
its  possessors." 

"  And  why  then  wear  it  ?  "  said  Annette.  '^  Why  wear  it 
now,  of  all  days  in  the  year  ?  " 

''  Because  it  best  reminds  me  of  my  duty  to  my  father  and 
family.  And  now,  girl,  look  thou  sit  with  us  at  table,  and 
leave  not  the  apartment ;  and  see  thou  fly  not  to  and  fro  to 
help  thyself  or  others  with  anything  on  the  board,  but  re- 
main quiet  and  seated  till  William  helps  you  to  what  you 
have  occasion  for." 

'^  Well,  that  is  a  gentle  fashion  which  I  like  well  enough," 
said  Annette,  "  and  William  serves  us  so  debonairly,  that  it 
is  a  joy  to  see  him  ;  yet,  ever  and  anon,  I  feel  as  I  were  not 
Annette  Veilchen  herself,  but  only  Annette  Veilchen's 
picture,  since  I  can  neither  rise,  sit  down,  run  about,  or 
stand  still  without  breaking  some  rule  of  courtly  breeding. 
It  is  not  so,  I  daresay  with  you,  who  are  always  mannerly." 

"  Less  courtly  than  thou  seemest  to  think,"  said  the  high- 
born maiden  ;  "  but  I  feel  the  restraint  more  on  the  green- 
sward, and  under  heaven's  free  air,  than  when  I  undergo  it 
closed  within  the  walls  of  an  apartment." 

''Ah,  true — the  dancing,"  said  Annette;  ''that  wag 
something  to  be  sorry  for  indeed." 

"But  most  am  I  sorry,  Annette,  that  I  cannot  tell  whether  1 
QCt  precisely  right  or   wrong  in  seeing  this  young   man. 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  279 

though  it  must  be  for  the  last  time.     Were  my  father  to 
arrive  ?    Were  Ital  Schreckenwald  to  return *' 

'^  Your  father  is  too  deeply  engaged  on  some  of  his  dark 
and  mystic  errands/'  said  the  flippant  Swiss — *'  sailed  to  the 
mountains  of  the  Brockenberg,  where  witches  hold  their 
sabbath,  or  gone  on  a  hunting-party  with  the  Wild  Hunts- 
man/' 

''  Fie,  Annette,  how  dare  you  talk  thus  of  my  father  ?" 

''  Why,  I  know  little  of  him  personally,''  said  the  damsel, 
*'  and  you  yourself  do  not  know  much  more.  And  how 
should  that  be  false  which  all  men  say  is  true  ?  " 

''  Why,  fool,  what  do  they  say  ?" 

"  Why,  that  the  count  is  a  wizard,  that  your  grandmother 
was  a  will-of-wisp,  and  old  Ital  Schreckenwald  a  born  devil 
incarnate  ;  and  there  is  some  truth  in  that,  whatever  comes 
of  the  rest.'^ 

"Where  is  he?'' 

*'  Gone  down  to  spend  the  night  in  the  village,  to  see  the 
Rhinegrave's  men  quartered,  and  keep  them  in  some  order, 
if  possible  ;  for  the  soldiers  are  disappointed  of  pay  which 
they  had  been  promised  ;  and  when  this  happens,  nothing 
resembles  a  lanzknecht  except  a  chafed  bear." 

"  Go  we  down  then,  girl ;  it  is  perhaps  the  last  night 
which  we  may  spend  for  years  with  a  certain  degree  of 
freedom." 

I  will  not  pretend  to  describe  the  marked  embarrassment 
with  which  Arthur  Philipson  and  Anne  of  Geierstein  met  : 
neither  lifted  their  eyes,  neither  spoke  intelligibly,  as  they 
greeted  each  other,  and  the  maiden  herself  did  not  blush 
more  deeply  than  her  modest  visitor ;  while  the  good- 
humored  Swiss  girl,  whose  ideas  of  love  partook  of  the 
freedom  of  a  more  Arcadian  country  and  its  customs,  looked 
on  with  eyebrows  a  little  arched,  much  in  wonder,  and  a 
little  in  contempt,  at  a  couple  who,  as  she  might  think,  acted 
with  such  unnatural  and  constrained  reserve.  Deep  was  the 
reverence  and  the  blush  with  which  Arthur  offered  his  hand 
to  the  young  lady,  and  her  acceptance  of  the  courtesy  had 
the  same  character  of  extreme  bashfulness,  agitation,  and 
embarrassment.  In  short,  though  little  or  nothing  intelli- 
gible passed  between  this  very  handsome  and  interesting 
couple,  the  interview  itself  did  not  on  that  account  lose  any 
interest.  Arthur  handed  the  maiden,  as  was  the  duty  of  a 
gallant  of  the  day,  into  the  next  room,  where  their  repast 
was  prepared  ;  and  Annette,  who  watched  with  singular 
attention  everything  which  occurred,  felt  with  astonishment 


280  WA  VERLEY  NO VEL8 

that  the  forms  and  ceremonies  of  the  higher  orders  of 
society  had  such  an  influence,  even  over  her  free-born  mind, 
as  the  rites  of  the  Druids  over  that  of  the  Koman  general, 
when  he  said — 

I  scorn  them,  yet  they  awe  me. 

*'  What  can  have  changed  them  ?  ''  said  Annette.  * '  When 
at  Geierstein,  they  looked  but  like  another  girl  and  bachelor, 
only  that  Anne  is  so  very  handsome ;  but  now  they  move  in 
time  and  manner  as  if  they  were  leading  a  stately  pavin,  and 
behave  to  each  other  with  as  much  formal  respect  as  if  he 
were  Landamman  of  the  Unterwalden  and  she  the  first  lady 
of  Berne.  "'TIS  all  very  fine,  doubtless,  but  it  is  not  the  way 
that  Martin  Sprenger  makes  love." 

Apparently,  the  circumstances  in  which  each  of  the  young 
people  were  placed  recalled  to  them  the  habits  of  lofty,  and 
somewhat  formal,  courtesy  to  which  they  might  have  been 
accustomed  in  former  days  ;  and  while  the  baroness  felt  it 
necessary  to  observe  the  strictest  decorum,  in  order  to  qualify 
the  reception  of  Arthur  into  the  interior  of  her  retreat,  he, 
on  the  other  hand,  endeavored  to  show,  by  the  profoundness 
of  his  respect,  that  he  was  incapable  of  misusing  the  kind- 
ness with  which  he  had  been  treated.  They  placed  them- 
selves at  table,  scrupulously  observing  the  distance  which 
might  become  a  '^  virtuous  gentleman  and  maid."  The 
youth  William  did  the  service  of  the  entertainment  with 
deftness  and  courtesy,  as  one  well  accustomed  to  such  duty; 
and  Annette,  placing  herself  between  them,  and  endeavoring, 
as  closely  as  she  could,  to  adhere  to  the  ceremonies  which 
she  saw  them  observe,  made  practise  of  the  civilities  which 
were  expected  from  the  attendant  of  a  baroness.  Various, 
however,  were  the  errors  which  she  committed.  Her  de- 
meanor in  general  was  that  of  a  greyhound  in  the  slips,  ready 
to  start  up  every  moment ;  and  she  was  only  withheld  by  the 
recollection  that  she  was  to  ask  for  that  which  she  had  far 
more  mind  to  help  herself  to. 

Other  points  of  etiquette  were  transgressed  in  their  turn, 
after  the  repast  was  over  and  the  attendant  had  retired.  The 
waiting  damsel  often  mingled  too  unceremoniously  in  the 
conversation,  and  could  not  help  calling  her  mistress  by  her 
Christian  name  of  Anne,  and,  in  defiance  of  all  decorum, 
addressed  her,  as  well  as  Philipson,  with  the  pronoun  ^^  thou," 
which  then,  as  well  as  now,  was  a  dreadful  solecism  in  Ger- 
man politeness.  Her  blunders  were  so  far  fortunate,  that, 
by  furnishing  the  young  lady  and  Arthur  with  a  topic  foreign 


ANNE  OF  GEIEBSTEIN  281 

to  the  peculiarities  of  their  own  situation,  they  enabled  them 
to  withdraw  their  attentions  from  its  embarrassments,  and 
to  exchange  smiles  at  poor  Annette's  expense.  She  was  not 
long  of  perceiving  this,  and  half  nettled,  half  availing  her- 
self of  the  apology  to  speak  her  mind,  said,  with  considerable 
spirit,  *'  You  have  both  been  very  merry,  forsooth,  at  my 
expense,  and  all  because  I  wished  rather  to  rise  and  seek 
what  I  wanted  than  wait  till  the  poor  fellow  who  was  kept 
trotting  between  the  board  and  beauffet  found  leisure  to  bring 
it  to  me.  You  laugh  at  me  now,  because  I  call  you  by  your 
names,  as  they  were  given  to  you  in  the  blessed  church  at 
your  christening ;  and  because  I  say  to  you  "  thee "  and 
*'  thou,''  addressing  my  Juncker  and  my  Youngfrau  as  I 
would  do  if  I  were  on  my  knees  praying  to  Heaven.  But 
for  all  your  new-world  fancies,  I  can  tell  you,  you  are  but  a 
couple  of  children,  who  do  not  know  your  own  minds,  and 
are  jesting  away  the  only  leisure  given  you  to  provide  for 
your  own  happiness.  Nay,  frown  not,  my  sweet  Mistress 
Baroness  ;  I  have  looked  at  Mount  Pilatre  too  often  to  fear 
a  gloomy  brow." 

*^' Peace,  Annette,"  said  her  mistress,  '''or  quit  the  room." 

'^  Were  I  not  more  your  friend  than  I  am  my  own,"  said 
the  headstrong  and  undaunted  Annette,  ''  I  would  quit  the 
room,  and  the  castle  to  boot,  and  leave  you  to  hold  your 
house  here  with  your  amiable  seneschal,  Ital  Schreckenwald." 

"  If  not  for  love,  yet  for  shame,  for  charity,  be  silent,  or 
leave  the  room." 

^*^Nay,"  said  Annette,  '^  my  bolt  is  shot,  and  I  have  but 
hinted  at  what  all  upon  Geierstein  green  said,  the  night  when 
the  bow  of  Buttisholz  was  bended.  You  know  what  the  old 
saw  says- 


Peace — peace,  for  Heaven's  sake,  or  I  must  needs  fly  ! " 
said  the  young  baroness. 

*^Nay,  then,"  said  Annette,  considerably  changing  her 
tone,  as  if  afraid  that  her  mistress  should  actually  retire,  ''  if 
you  must  fly,  necessity  must  have  its  course.  I  know  no  one 
who  can  follow.  This  mistress  of  mine,  Signior  Arthur, 
would  require  for. her  attendant,  not  a  homely  girl  of  flesh 
and  blood  like  myself,  but  a  waiting-woman  with  substance 
composed  of  gossamer,  and  breath  supplied  by  the  spirit  of 
aether.  Would  you  believe  it,  it  is  seriously  held  by  many 
that  she  partakes  of  the  race  of  spirits  of  the  elements, 
which  makes  her  so  much  more  bashful  than  maidens  of  this 
everyday  world  ?  " 

Anne  of  Geierstein  seemed  rather  glad  to  lead  awaj  the 


282  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

conversation  from  the  turn  which  her  wayward  maiden  had 
given  to  it,  and  to  turn  it  on  more  indifferent  subjects, 
though  these  were  still  personal  to  herself. 

*'  Signior  Arthur,"  she  said,  ''  thinks,  perhaps,  he  has 
some  room  to  nourish  some  such  strange  suspicion  as  your 
heedless  folly  expresses,  and  some  fools  believe,  both  in 
Germany  and  Switzerland.  Confess,  Signior  Arthur,  you 
thought  strangely  of  me  when  I  passed  your  guard  upon  the 
bridge  of  Graff slust,  on  the  night  last  past.'^ 

The  recollection  of  the  circumstances  which  had  so  greatly 
surprised  him  at  the  time  so  startled  Arthur,  that  it  was 
with  some  difficulty  he  commanded  himself,  so  as  to  attempt 
an  answer  at  all ;  and  what  he  did  say  on  the  occasion  was 
broken  and  unconnected. 

"  I  did  hear,  I  own — that  is,  Eudolph  Donnerhugel  re- 
ported. But  that  I  believed  that  you,  gentle  lady,  were 
other  than  a  Christian  maiden " 

"Nay,  if  Eudolph  were  the  reporter,^*  said  Annette, 
''  you  would  hear  the  worst  of  my  lady  and  her  lineage,  that 
is  certain.  He  is  one  of  those  prudent  personages  who  de- 
preciate and  find  fault  with  the  goods  he  has  thoughts  of  pur- 
chasing, in  order  to  deter  other  offerers.  Yes,  he  told  you  a 
fine  goblin  story,  I  warrant  you,  of  my  lady's  grandmother  ; 
and  truly,  it  so  happened  that  the  circumstances  of  the  case 
gave,  I  daresay,  some  color  in  your  eyes  to '' 

"Not  so,  Annette,"  answered  Arthur  ;  "  whatever  might 
be  said  of  your  lady  that  sounded  uncouth  and  strange  fell 
to  the  ground  as  incredible.'' 

"Not  quite  so  much  so,  I  fancy,"  interrupted  Annette, 
without  heeding  sign  or  frown.  "  I  strongly  suspect  I 
should  have  had  much  more  trouble  in  dragging  you  hither 
to  this  castle  had  you  known  you  were  approaching  the 
haunt  of  the  Nymph  of  the  Fire,  the  Salamander,  as  they 
call  her,  not  to  mention  the  shock  of  again  seeing  the 
descendant  of  that  Maiden  of  the  Fiery  Mantle." 

"  Peace,  once  more,  Annette,"  said  her  mistress  ;  "  since 
Fate  has  occasioned  this  meeting,  let  us  not  neglect  the 
opportunity  to  disabuse  our  English  friend  of  the  absurd 
report  he  has  listened  to  with  doubt  and  wonder  perhaps, 
but  not  with  absolute  incredulity. 

" Signior  Arthur  Philipson,"  she  proceeded,  "it  is  true 
my  grandfather,  by  the  mother's  side,  Baron  Herman  of 
Arnheim,  was  a  man  of  great  knowledge  in  abstruse  sciences. 
He  was  also  a  presiding  judge  of  a  tribunal  of  which  you 
must  have  heard,  called  the  Holy  Vehme.     One  night  a 


ANNE  OF  GE1ER8TEIN  283 

Btranger,  closely  pursued  by  the  agents  of  that  body,  which 
(crossing  herself)  it  is  not  safe  even  to  name,  arrived  at  the 
castle  and  craved  his  protection,  and  the  rights  of  hospital- 
ity. My  grandfather,  finding  the  advance  which  the 
stranger  had  made  to  the  rank  of  adept,  gave  him  his  pro- 
tection, and  became  bail  to  deliver  him  to  answer  the  charge 
against  him  for  a  year  and  a  day,  which  delay  he  was,  it 
seems,  entitled  to  require  on  his  behalf.  They  studied  to- 
gether during  that  term,  and  pushed  their  researches  into 
the  mysteries  of  nature  as  far,  in  all  probability,  as  men 
have  the  power  of  urging  them.  When  the  fatal  day  drew 
nigh  on  which  the  guest  must  part  from  his  host,  he  asked 
permission  to  bring  his  daughter  to  the  castle,  that  they 
might  exchange  a  last  farewell.  She  was  introduced  with 
much  secrecy,  and  after  some  days,  finding  that  her  father's 
fate  was  so  uncertain,  the  baron,  with  the  sage's  consent, 
agreed  to  give  the  forlorn  maiden  refuge  in  his  castle,  hop- . 
ing  to  obtain  from  her  some  additional  information  concern- 
ing the  languages  and  the  wisdom  of  the  East.  Dannische- 
mend,  her  father,  left  this  castle,  to  go  to  render  himself  up 
to  the  Vehmegericht  at  Fulda.  The  result  is  unknown  ; 
perhaps  he  was  saved  by  Baron  Arnheim's  testimony,  per- 
haps he  was  given  up  to  the  steel  and  the  cord.  On  such 
matters,  who  dare  speak  ? 

^'  The  fair  Persian  became  the  wife  of  her  guardian  and 
protector.  Amid  many  excellences,  she  had  one  peculiarity 
allied  to  imprudence.  She  availed  herself  of  her  foreign 
dress  and  manners,  as  well  as  of  a  beauty  which  was  said  to 
have  been  marvelous,  and  an  agility  seldom  equaled,  to 
impose  upon  and  terrify  the  ignorant  German  ladies,  who, 
hearing  her  speak  Persian  and  Arabic,  were  already  disposed 
to  consider  her  as  over-closely  connected  with  unlawful 
arts.  She  was  of  a  fanciful  and  imaginative  dispoBition,  and 
delighted  to  place  herself  in  such  colors  and  circumstances 
as  might  confirm  their  most  ridiculous  suspicions,  which  she 
considered  only  as  matter  of  sport.  There  was  no  end  to 
the  stories  to  which  she  gave  rise.  Her  first  appearance  in 
the  castle  was  said  to  be  highly  picturesque,  and  to  have  in- 
ferred something  of  the  marvelous.  With  the  levity  of  a 
child,  she  had  some  childish  passions,  and  while  she  encour- 
aged the  growth  and  circulation  of  the  most  extraordinary 
legends  amongst  some  of  the  neighborhood,  she  entered  into' 
disputes  with  persons  of  her  own  quality  concerning  rank 
and  precedence,  on  which  the  ladies  of  Westphalia  have  at 
all  times  set  great  store.     This  cost  her  her  life  ;  for,  on  the 


284  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

morning  of  the  christening  of  my  poor  mother,  the  Baroness 
of  Arnheim  died  suddenly,  even  while  a  splendid  company 
was  assembled  in  the  castle  chapel  to  witness  the  ceremony. 
It  was  believed  that  she  died  of  poison,  administered  by  the 
Baroness  Steinfeldt,  with  whom  she  was  engaged  in  a  bitter 
quarrel,  entered  into  chiefly  on  behalf  of  her  friend  and  com- 
panion, the  Countess  Waldstetten." 

**  And  the  opal  gem  ? — and  the  sprinkling  with  water  ?  " 
said  Arthur  Philipson. 

'^  Ah  V  replied  the  young  baroness,  '^I  see  you  desire  to 
hear  the  real  truth  of  my  family  history,  of  which  you  have 
yet  learned  only  the  romantic  legend.  The  sprinkling  of 
water  was  necessarily  had  recourse  to  on  my  ancestress's  first 
swoon.  As  for  the  opal,  I  have  heard  that  it  did  indeed 
grow  pale,  but  only  because  it  is  said  to  be  the  nature  of 
that  noble  gem,  on  the  approach  of  poison.  Some  part  of 
the  quarrel  with  the  Baroness  Steinfeldt  was  about  the  right 
of  the  Persian  maiden  to  wear  this  stone,  which  an  ancestor 
of  my  family  won  in  battle  from  the  Soldan  of  Trebizond. 
All  these  things  were  confused  in  popular  tradition,  and  the 
real  facts  turned  into  a  fairy  tale.'' 

'^  But  you  have  said  nothing,''  suggested  Arthur  Philip- 
son,  "on — on " 

*^  On  what  ?  "  said  his  hostess. 

"  On  your  appearance  last  night." 

"  Is  it  possible,"  said  she,  "  that  a  man  of  sense,  and  an 
Englishman,  cannot  guess  at  the  explanation  which  I  have 
to  give,  though  not,  perhaps,  very  distinctly  ?  My  father, 
you  are  aware,  has  been  a  busy  man  in  a  disturbed 
country,  and  has  incurred  the  hatred  of  many  powerful  per- 
sons. He  is,  therefore,  obliged  to  move  in  secret,  and  avoid 
unnecessary  observation.  He  was,  besides,  averse  to  meet- 
his  brother,  the  Landamman,  I  was  therefore  told,  on  our 
entering  Germany,  that  I  was  to  expect  a  signal  where  and 
when  to  join  him ;  the  token  was  to  be  a  small  crucifix  of 
bronze,  which  had  belonged  to  my  poor  mother.  In  my 
apartment  at  Graffslust  I  found  the  token,  with  a  note  from 
my  father,  making  me  acquainted  with  a  secret  passage 
proper  to  such  places,  which,  though  it  had  the  appearance 
of  being  blocked  up,  was  in  fact  very  slightly  barricaded. 
By  this  I  was  instructed  to  pass  to  the  gate,  make  my  escape 
into  the  woods,  and  meet  my  father  at  a  place  appointed 
there." 

"  A  wild  and  perilous  adventure,"  said  Arthur. 

*'I  have  never  been  so  much  shocked,"  continued  the 


ANNE  OF  GEIEBSTEIN  285 

maiden,  "  as  at  receiving  this  summons,  compelling  me  to 
steal  away  from  my  kind  and  affectionate  uncle,  and  go  I 
knew  not  whither.  Yet  compliance  was  absolutely  necessary. 
The  place  of  meeting  was  plainly  pointed  out.  A  midnight 
walk,  in  the  neighborhood  of  protection,  was  to  me  a  trifle  ; 
but  the  precaution  of  posting  sentinels  at  the  gate  might 
have  interfered  with  my  purpose,  had  I  not  mentioned  it  to 
gome  of  my  elder  cousins,  the  Biedermans,  who  readily 
agreed  to  let  me  pass  and  repass  unquestioned.  But  you 
know  my  cousins  ;  honest  and  kind-hearted,  they  are  of  a 
rude  way  of  thinking,  and  as  incapable  of  feeling  a  generous 
delicacy  as — some  other  persons.  (Here  there  was  a  glance 
towards  Annette  Veilchen.)  They  exacted  from  me,  that 
I  should  conceal  myself  and  my  purpose  from  Sigismund  ; 
and,  as  they  are  always  making  sport  with  the  simple  youth, 
they  insisted  that  I  should  pass  him  in  such  a  manner  as 
might  induce  him  to  believe  that  I  was  a  spiritual  apparition, 
and  out  of  his  terrors  for  supernatural  beings  they  expected 
to  have  much  amusement.  I  was  obliged  to  secure  their 
connivance  at  my  escape  on  their  own  terms  ;  and,  indeed, 
I  was  too  much  grieved  at  the  prospect  of  quitting  my  kind 
uncle  to  think  much  of  anything  else.  Yet  my  surprise  was 
considerable,  when,  contrary  to  expectation,  I  found  you  on 
the  bridge  as  sentinel,  instead  of  my  cousin  Sigismund. 
Your  own  ideas  I  ask  not  for.'' 

*'  They  were  those  of  a  fool,"  said  Arthur — '^  of  a  thrice- 
sodden  fool.  Had  I  been  aught  else,  I  would  have  offered 
my  escort.     My  sword " 

"I  could  not  have  accepted  your  protection,''  said  Anne, 
calmly.  '^  My  mission  was  in  every  respect  a  secret  one.  I 
met  my  father ;  some  intercourse  had  taken  place  betwixt 
him  and  Eudolph  Donnerhugel,  which  induced  him  to  alter 
his  purpose  of  carrying  me  away  with  him  last  night.  I 
joined  him,  however,  early  this  morning,  while  Annette  acted 
for  a  time  my  part  amongst  the  Swiss  pilgrims.  My  father 
desired  that  it  should  not  be  known  when  or  with  whom  I 
left  my  uncle  and  his  escort.  I  need  scarce  remind  you  that 
I  saw  you  in  the  dungeon." 

''You  were  the  preserver  of  my  life,"  said  the  youth, 
*'the  restorer  of  my  liberty." 

"  Ask  me  not  the  reason  of  my  silence.  I  was  then  acting 
under  the  agency  of  others,  not  under  mine  own.  Your 
escape  was  effected  in  order  to  establish  a  communication 
betwixt  the  Swiss  without  the  fortress  and  the  soldiers  within. 
After  the  alarm  at  La  Eerette,  I  learned  from  Sigismund 


286  WA  VERLET  NOVELS 

'  Biederman  that  a  party  of  banditti  were  pursuing  your  father 
and  you,  with  a  view  to  pillage  and  robbery.  My  father  had 
furnished  me  with  the  means  of  changing  Anne  of  Geier- 
stein  into  a  German  maiden  of  quality.  I  set  out  instantly, 
and  glad  I  am  to  have  given  you  a  hint  which  might  free 
you  from  danger.'^ 

*'  But  my  father  ?  "  said  Arthur. 

"  I  have  every  reason  to  hope  he  is  well  and  safe/'  an- 
swered the  young  lady.  "  More  than  I  were  eager  to  pro- 
tect both  you  and  him — poor  Sigismund  amongst  the  first. 
And  now,  my  friend,  these  mysteries  explained,  it  is  time 
we  part,  and  forever. '' 

'*  Part,  and  forever  ! "  repeated  the  youth,  in  a  voice  like 
a  dying  echo. 

"  It  is  our  fate,*'  said  the  maiden.  "  I  appeal  to  you  if  it  is 
not  your  duty — I  tell  you  it  is  mine.  You  will  depart  with 
early  dawn  to  Strasburg — and — and — we  never  meet  again." 

With  an  ardor  of  passion  which  he  could  not  repress, 
Arthur  Philipson  threw  himself  at  the  feet  of  the  maiden, 
whose  faltering  tone  had  clearly  expressed  that  she  felt  deeply 
in  uttering  the  words.  She  looked  round  for  Annette,  but 
Annette  had.  disappeared  at  this  most  critical  moment ;  and 
her  mistress  for  a  second  or  two  was  not  perhaps  sorry  for 
her  absence. 

*'  Rise,"  she  said,  '^  Arthur — rise.  You  must  not  give  way 
to  feelings  that  might  be  fatal  to  yourself  and  me." 

"  Hear  me,  lady,  before  I  bid  you  adieu,  and  forever  :  the 
word  of  a  criminal  is  heard,  though  he  plead  the  worst 
cause.  I  am  a  belted  knight,  and  the  son  and  heir  of  an 
earl,  whose  name  has  been  spread  throughout  England  and 
France,  and  wherever  valor  has  had  fame." 

*'  Alas  ! "  said  she,  faintly,  "  I  have  but  too  long  suspected 
what  you  now  tell  me.     Rise,  I  pray  you — rise." 

"  Never  till  you  hear  me,"  said  the  youth,  seizing  one  of 
her  hands,  which  trembled^  but  hardly  could  be  said  to 
struggle,  in  his  grasp.  "  Hear  me,"  he  said,  with  the  en- 
thusiasm of  first  love,  when  the  obstacles  of  bashfulness  and 
diffidence  are  surmounted ;  ''  my  father  and  I  are — I  ac- 
knowledge it — Abound  on  a  most  hazardous  and  doubtful  ex- 
pedition. You  will  very  soon  learn  its  issue  for  good  or  bad. 
If  it  succeed,  you  shall  hear  of  me  in  my  own  character.  If 
I  fall,  I  must — I  will — I  do  claim  a  tear  from  Anne  of  Geier- 
stein.  If  I  escape,  I  have  yet  a  horse,  a  lance,  and  a  sword ; 
and  you  shall  hear  nobly  of  him  whom  you  have  thrice  pro 
tected  from  imminent  danger." 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  281 

*'  Arise — arise,"  repeated  the  maiden,  whose  tears  hegau- 
to  flow  fast,  as,  struggling  to  raise  her  lover,  they  fell  thick 
upon  his  head  and  face.  ^^I  have  heard  enough  ;  to  listen 
to  more  were  indeed  madness,  both  for  you  and  myself." 

'*  Yet  one  single  word,"  added  the  youth  ;  '^  while  Arthur 
has  a  heart,  it  beats  for  you  ;  while  Arthur  can  wield  an  arm, 
it  strikes  for  you,  and  in  your  cause." 

Annette  now  rushed  into  the  room. 

"  Away — away  ! "  she  cried.  *'  Schreckenwald  has  re- 
turned from  the  village  with  some  horrible  tidings,  and  I 
fear  me  he  comes  this  way." 

Arthur  had  started  to  his  feet  at  the  first  signal  of  alarm. 

*'  If  there  is  danger  near  your  lady,  Annette,  there  is  at 
least  one  faithful  friend  by  her  side." 

Annette  looked  anxiously  at  her  mistress. 

'*  But  Schreckenwald,"  she  said — ^'  Schreckenwald,  your 
father's  steward — his  confidant.  0,  think  better  of  it ;  I  can 
hide  Arthur  somewhere." 

The  noble-minded  girl  had  already  resumed  her  composure, 
and  replied  with  dignity.  *'  I  have  done  nothing,"  she  said, 
**to  offend  my  father.  If  Schreckenwald  be  my  father's 
steward,  he  is  my  vassal.  I  hide  no  guest  to  conciliate  him. 
Sit  down  (addressing  Arthur),  and  let  us  receive  this  man. 
Introduce  him  instantly,  Annette,  and  let  us  hear  his  tidings  ; 
and  bid  him  remember  that,  when  he  speaks  to  me,  he  ad- 
dresses his  mistress." 

Arthur  resumed  his  seat,  still  more  proud  of  his  choice 
from  the  noble  and  fearless  spirit  displayed  by  one  who  had 
so  lately  shown  herself  sensible  to  the  gentlest  feelings  of  the 
female  sex. 

Annette,  assuming  courage  from  her  mistress's  dauntless 
demeanor,  clapped  her  hands  together  as  she  left  the  room, 
saying,  but  in  a  low  voice,  *'I  see  that,  after  all,  it  is  some- 
thing to  be  a  baroness,  if  one  can  assert  her  dignity  conform* 
mgly.  How  could  I  be  so  much  frightened  for  this  rude 
man  I  ** 


CHAPTER  XXin 

Affairs  that  walk, 
As  they  say  spirits  do,  at  midnight  have 
In  them  a  wilder  nature  than  the  business 
That  seeks  dispatch  by  day. 

Henry  VIII.  Act  V. 

The  approach  of  the  steward  was  now  boldly  expected  by 
the  little  party.  Arthur,  flattered  at  once  and  elevated  by 
the  firmness  which  Anne  had  shown  when  this  person's  ar- 
rival was  announced,  hastily  considered  the  part  which  he 
was  to  act  in  the  approaching  scene,  and  prudently  deter- 
mined to  avoid  all  active  and  personal  interference,  till  he 
should  observe,  from  the  demeanor  of  Anne,  that  such  was 
likely  to  be  useful  or  agreeable  to  her.  He  resumed  his 
place,  therefore,  at  a  distant  part  of  the  board,  on  which 
their  meal  had  been  lately  spread,  and  remained  there,  de- 
termined to  act  in  the  manner  Anne's  behavior  should  suggest 
as  most  prudent  and  fitting — veiling,  at  the  same  time,  the 
most  acute  internal  anxiety  by  an  appearance  of  that  def- 
erential composure  which  one  of  inferior  rank  adopts  v/hen 
admitted  to  the  presence  of  a  superior.  Anne,  on  her  part, 
seemed  to  prepare  herself  for  an  interviev/  of  interest.  An 
air  of  conscious  dignity  succeeded  the  extreme  agitation 
which  she  had  so  lately  displayed,  and,  busying  herself  with 
some  articles  of  female  work,  she  also  seemed  to  expect  with 
tranquillity  the  visit  to  which  her  attendant  was  disposed  to 
attach  so  much  alarm. 

A  step  was  heard  upon  the  stair,  hurried  and  unequal,  as 
that  of  some  one  in  confusion  as  well  as  haste  ;  the  door  flew 
open,  and  Ital  Schreckenwald  entered. 

This  person,  with  whom  the  details  given  to  the  elder 
Philipson  by  the  Landamman  Biederman  have  made  the 
reader  in  some  degree  acquainted,  was  a  tall,  well-made 
soldierly-looking  man.  His  dress,  like  that  of  persons  of 
rank  at  the  period  in  Germany,  was  more  varied  in  color, 
more  cut  and  ornamented,  slashed  and  jagged,  than  the 
habit  worn  in  France  and  England.  The  never-failing 
hawk's  feather  decked  his  cap,  secured  with  a  medal  of  gold, 
which  served  as  a  clasp.  His  doublet  was  of  buff,  for  defense, 
but  "  laid  down,"  as  it  was  called  in  the  tailors'  craft,  with 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTBIN  289 

rich  lace  on  each  seam,  and  displaying  on  the  breast  a  golden 
chain,  the  emblem  of  his  rank  in  the  baron's  household.  He 
entered  with  rather  a  hasty  step,  and  busy  and  offended 
look,  and  said,  somewhat  rudely — "  Why,  how  now,  young 
lady — wherefore  this  ?  Strangers  in  the  castle  at  this  period 
of  night  !  '* 

Anne  .of  Geierstein,  though  she  had  been  long  absent  from 
her  native  country,  was  not  ignorant  of  its  habits  and  customs, 
and  knew  the  haughty  manner  in  which  all  who  were  noble 
exerted  their  authority  over  their  dependants. 

"  Are  you  a  vassal  of  Arnheim,  Ital  Schreckenwald,  and 
do  you  speak  to  the  Lady  of  Arnheim  in  her  own  castle  with 
an  elevated  voice,  a  saucy  look,  and  bonneted  withal  ? 
Know  your  place  ;  and,  when  you  have  demanded  pardon 
for  your  insolence,  and  told  your  errand  in  such  terms  as 
befit  your  condition  and  mine,  I  may  listen  to  what  you  have 
to  say.^' 

Schreckenwald's  hand,  in  spite  of  him,  stole  to  his  bonnet, 
and  uncovered  his  haughty  brow. 

^'  Noble  lady,''  he  said,  in  a  somewhat  milder  tone,  "  excuse 
me  if  my  haste  be  unmannerly,  but  the  alarm  is  instant. 
The  soldiery  of  the  Khinegrave  have  mutinied,  plucked  down 
the  banners  of  their  master,  and  set  up  an  independent 
ensign,  which  they  call  the  pennon  of  St.  Nicholas,  under 
which  they  declare  that  they  will  maintain  peace  with  God 
and  war  with  all  the  world.  This  castle  cannot  escape  them, 
when  they  consider  that  the  first  course  to  maintain  them- 
selves must  be  to  take  possession  of  some  place  of  strength. 
You  must  up,  then,  and  ride  with  the  very  peep  of  dawn. 
For  the  present,  they  are  busy  with  the  wine-skins  of  the 
peasants,  but  when  they  wake  in  the  morning  they  will  un- 
questionably march  hither  ;  and  you  may  chance  to  fall  into 
the  hands  of  those  who  will  think  of  the  terrors  of  the  Castle 
of  Arnheim  as  the  figments  of  a  fairy  tale,  and  laugh  at  its 
mistress's  pretensions  to  honor  and  respect.'' 

**  Is  it  impossible  to  make  resistance?  The  castle  is 
strong,''  said  the  young  lady,  '^  and  I  am  unwilling  to  leave 
the  house  of  my  fathers  without  attempting  somewhat  in 
our  defease." 

'*  Five  hundred  men,"  said  Schreckenwald,  '^  might  gar- 
rison Arnheim,  battlement  and  tower.  With  a  less  number 
it  were  madness  to  attempt  to  keep  such  an  extent  of  walls  ; 
and  how  to  get  twenty  soldiers  together,  I  am  sure  I  know 
not.  So,  having  now  the  truth  of  the  story,  let  me  beseech 
you  to  dismiss  this  guest — too  young,  I  think,  to  be  the  in- 


290  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

mate  of  a  lady's  bower — and  I  will  point  to  him  tlie  nighest 
way  out  of  the  castle  ;  for  this  is  a  strait  in  which  we  must 
all  be  contented  with  looking  to  our  own  safety." 

"  And  whither  is  it  that  you  propose  to  go  ?  "  said  the 
baroness,  continuing  to  maintain,  in  respect  to  Ital 
Schreckenwald,  the  complete  and  calm  assertion  of  absolute 
superiority,  to  which  the  seneschal  gave  way  with  such  marks 
of  impatience  as  a  fiery  steed  exhibits  under  the  management 
of  a  complete  cavalier. 

"  To  Strasburg  I  propose  to  go — that  is,  if  it  so  please  you 
— witii  such  slight  escort  as  I  can  get  hastily  together  by 
daybreak.  I  trust  we  may  escape  being  observed  by  the 
mutineers ;  or,  if  we  fall  in  with  a  party  of  stragglers,  I 
apprehend  but  little  difficulty  in  forcing  my  way." 

"And  wherefore  do  you  prefer  Strasburg  as  a  place  of 
asylum  ?  " 

"  Because  I  trust  we  shall  there  meet  your  Excellency's 
father,  the  noble  Count  Albert  of  Geierstein." 

"  It  is  well,"  said  the  young  lady.  "  You  also,  I  think, 
Siguier  Philipson,  spoke  of  directing  your  course  to  Stras- 
burg. If  it  consist  with  your  convenience,  you  may  avail  your- 
self of  the  protection  of  my  escort  as  far  as  that  city,  where 
you  expect  to  meet  your  father." 

It  will  readily  be  believed  that  Arthur  cheerfully  bowed 
assent  to  a  proposal  which  was  to  prolong  their  remaining 
in  society  together  ;  and  might  possibly,  as  his  romantic  im- 
agination suggested,  afford  him  an  opportunity,  on  a  road 
beset  with  dangers,  to  render  some  service  of  importance. 

Ital  Schreckenwald  attempted  to  remonstrate. 

'*  Lady — lady  !  "  he  said,  with  some  marks  of  impatience. 

"Take  breath  and  leisure,  Schreckenwald,"  said  Anne, 
''and  you  will  be  more  able  to  express  yourself  with  dis- 
tinctness and  with  respectful  propriety." 

The  impatient  vassal  muttered  an  oath  betwixt  his  teeth, 
and  answered  with  forced  civility — '*^  Permit  me  to  state, 
that  our  case  requires  we  should  charge  ourselves  with  the 
care  of  no  one  but  you.  We  shall  be  few  enough  for 
your  defense,  and  I  cannot  permit  any  stranger  to  travel 
with  us." 

"  If,"  said  Arthur,  "  I  conceived  that  I  was  to  be  a  useless 
encumbrance  on  the  retreat  of  this  noble  young  lady,  worlds, 
sir  squire,  would  not  induce  me  to  accept  her  offer.  But  I 
am  neither  child  nor  woman  :  I  am  a  full-grown  man,  and 
ready  to  show  such  good  service  as  manhood  may  in  defence 
of  your  lady." 


ANNE  OF  GEIEESTEIN  291 

''  If  we  must  not  challenge  your  valor  and  ability,  yonng 
gir/'  said  Schreckenwald,  ''who  shall  answer  for  your 
fidelity  ?'' 

''To  question  that  elsewhere,"  said  Arthur,  "might  be 
dangerous." 

But  Anne  interfered  between  them.  "  We  must  straight 
to  rest,  and  remain  prompt  for  alarm,  perhaps  even  before 
the  hour  of  dawn.  Schreckenwald,  I  trust  to  your  care  for 
due  watch  and  ward.  You  have  men  enough  at  least  for 
that  purpose.  And  hear  and  mark — it  is  my  des're  and  com- 
mand that  this  gentleman  be  accommodated  with  lodgings 
here  for  this  night,  and  that  he  travel  with  us  to-morrow. 
For  this  I  will  be  responsible  to  my  father,  and  your  part  is 
only  to  obey  my  commands.  I  have  long  had  occasion  to 
know  both  the  young  man's  father  and  himself,  who  were 
ancient  guests  of  my  uncle,  the  Landamman.  On  the  journey 
you  will  keep  the  youth  beside  you,  and  use  such  courtesy 
to  him  as  your  rugged  temper  will  permit." 

Ital  Schreckenwald  intimated  his  acquiescence  with  a  look 
of  bitterness,  which  it  were  vain  to  attempt  to  describe.  It 
expressed  spite,  mortification,  humbled  pride,  and  reluctant 
submission.  He  did  submit,  however,  and  ushered  young 
Philipson  into  a  decent  apartment  with  a  bed,  which  the 
fatigue  and  agitation  of  the  preceding  day  rendered  very  ac- 
ceptable. 

Notwithstanding  the  ardor  with  which  Arthur  expected 
the  rise  of  the  next  dawn,  his  deep  repose,  the  fruit  of  fatigue, 
held  him  until  the  reddening  of  the  east,  when  the  voice  of 
Schreckenwald  exclaimed,  "  Up,  sir  Englishman,  if  you  mean 
to  accomplish  your  boast  of  loyal  service.  It  is  time  we  were 
in  the  saddle,  and  we  shall  tarry  for  no  sluggards." 

Arthur  was  on  the  floor  of  the  apartment,  and  dressed,  in 
almost  an  instant,  not  forgetting  to  put  on  his  shirt  of  mail, 
and  assume  whatever  weapons  seemed  most  fit  to  render  him 
an  efficient  part  of  the  convoy.  He  next  hastened  to  seek 
out  the  stable,  to  have  his  horse  in  readiness  ;  and,  descend- 
ing for  that  purpose  into  the  under  story  of  the  lower  mass 
I  of  buildings,  he  was  wandering  in  search  of  the  way  which 
led  to  the  offices,  when  the  voice  of  Annette  Veilchen  softly 
whispered,  "  This  way,  Siguier  Philipson;  I  would  speak 
with  you.'' 

The  Swiss  maiden,  at  the  same  time,  beckoned  him  into  a 
small  room,  where  he  found  her  alone. 

"Were  you  not  surprised,"  she  said,  "to  see  my  lady 
queen  it  so  over  Ital    Schreckenwald,   who    keeps    every 


292  WA  VEELEY  NO VELS 

other  person  in  awe  with,  his  stern  looks  and  cross  words  ? 
But  the  air  of  command  seems  so  natural  to  her  that,  instead 
of  being  a  baroness,  she  might  have  been  an  empress.  It 
must  come  of  birth,  I  think,  after  all,  for  I  tried  last  night  to 
take  state  upon  me,  after  the  fashion  of  my  mistress,  and  would 
you  think  it,  the  brute  Schreckenwald  threatened  to  throw 
me  out  of  the  window  ?  But  if  ever  I  see  Martin  Sprenger 
again,  Fll  know  if  there  is  strength  in  a  Swiss  arm,  and  virtue 
in  a  Swiss  quarter-staff.  But  here  I  stand  prating,  and  my 
lady  wishes  to  see  you  for  a  minute  ere  we  take  to  horse. '^ 

'^Your  lady!^*  said  Arthur,  starting.  "Why  did  you 
lose  an  instant  ? — why  not  tell  me  before  ?  " 

'^  Because  I  was  only  to  keep  you  here  till  she  came,  and— • 
here  she  is.'* 

Anne  of  Geierstein  entered,  fully  attired  for  her  journey. 
Annette,  always  willing  to  do  as  she  would  wish  to  be  done 
by,  was  about  to  leave  the  apartment,  when  her  mistress  who 
had  apparently  made  up  her  mind  concerning  what  she  had 
to  do  or  say,  commanded  her  positively  to  remain. 

"  I  am  sure,"  she  said,  "  Signer  Philipson  will  rightly 
understand  the  feelings  of  hospitality — I  will  say  of  friend- 
ship— which  prevented  my  suffering  him  to  be  expelled  from 
my  castle  last  night,  and  which  have  determined  me  this 
morning  to  admit  of  his  company  on  the  somewhat  danger- 
ous road  to  Strasburg.  At  the  gate  of  that  town  we  part,  I 
to  join  my  father,  you  to  place  yourself  under  the  direction 
of  yours.  From  that  moment  intercourse  between  us  ends, 
and  our  remembrance  of  each  other  must  be  as  the  thoughts 
which  we  pay  to  friends  deceased." 

*^  Tender  recollections,"  said  Arthur,  passionately,  "  more 
dear  to  our  bosoms  than  all  we  have  surviving  upon  earth." 

"  Not  a  word  in  that  tone,"  answered  the  maiden.  ^'  With 
night  delusion  should  end,  and  reason  awaken  with  dawn- 
ing. One  word  more.  Do  not  address  me  on  the  road  ;  you 
may,  by  doing  so,  expose  me  to  vexatious  and  insulting  sus- 
picion, and  yourself  to  quarrels  and  peril.  Farewell,  our 
party  is  ready  to  take  horse." 

She  left  the  apartment,  where  Arthur  remained  for  a  mo- 
ment deeply  bewildered  in  grief  and  disappointment.  The 
patience,  may,  even  favor,  with  which  Anne  of  Geierstein 
had,  on  the  previous  night,  listened  to  his  passion  had  not 
prepared  him  for  the  terms  of  reserve  and  distance  which 
she  now  adopted  towards  him.  He  was  ignorant  that  noble 
maids,  if  feeling  or  passion  has  for  a  moment  swayed  them 
from  the  strict  path  of  principle  and  duty,  endeavor  to  atone 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  293 

for  it  by  instantly  returning,  and  severely  adhering,  to  the 
line  from  which  they  have  made  a  momentary  departure. 
He  looked  mournfully  on  Annette,  who,  as  she  had  been  in 
the  room  before  Anne's  arrival,  took  the  privilege  of  re- 
maining a  minute  after  her  departure  ;  but  he  read  no  com- 
fort in  the  glances  of  the  confidante,  who  seemed  as  much 
disconcerted  as  himself. 

"  I  cannot  imagine  what  hath  happened  to  her,"  said  An- 
nette ;  'Ho  me  she  is  kind  as  ever,  but  to  every  other  person 
about  her  she  plays  countess  and  baroness  with  a  witness  ; 
and  now  she  is  begun  to  tyrannize  over  her  own  natural  feel- 
ings, and — if  this  be  greatness,  Annette  Veilchen  trusts 
always  to  remain  the  penniless  Swiss  girl ;  she  is  mistress  of 
her  own  freedom,  and  at  liberty  to  speak  with  her  bachelor 
when  she  pleases,  so  as  religion  and  maiden  modesty  suffer 
nothing  in  the  conversation.  Oh,  a  single  daisy  twisted  with 
content  into  one's  hair  is  worth  all  the  opals  in  India,  if 
they  bind  us  to  torment  ourselves  and  other  people,  or  hinder 
us  from  speaking  our  mind,  when  our  heart  is  upon  our 
tongue.  But  never  fear,  Arthur  ;  for,  if  she  has  the  cruelty 
to  think  of  forgetting  you,  you  may  rely  on  one  friend  who 
while  she  has  a  tongue  and  Anne  has  ears,  will  make  it  im- 
possible for  her  to  do  so." 

So  saying,  away  tripped  Annette,  having  first  indicated  to 
Philipson  the  passage  by  which  he  would  find  the  lower 
court  of  the  castle.  There  his  steed  stood  ready,  among 
about  twenty  others.  Twelve  of  these  were  accoutered  with 
war  saddles  and  frontlets  of  proof,  being  intended  for  the 
use  of  as  many  cavaliers,  or  troopers,  retainers  of  the  family 
of  Arnheim,  whom  the  seneschal's  exertions  had  been  able 
to  collect  on  the  spur  of  the  occasion.  Two  palfreys,  some- 
what distinguished  by  their  trappings,  were  designed  for 
Anne  of  Geierstein  and  her  favorite  female  attendant.  The 
other  menials,  chiefly  boys  and  women  servants,  had  inferior 
horses.  At  a  signal  made,  the  troopers  took  their  lances  and 
stood  by  their  steeds,  till  the  females  and  menials  were 
mounted  and  in  order  ;  they  then  sprang  into  their  saddles 
and  began  to  move  forward,  slowly  and  with  great  precau- 
tion. Schreckenwald  led  the  van,  and  kept  Arthur  Philip- 
son  close  beside  him.  Anne  and  her  attendant  were  in  the 
center  of  the  little  body,  followed  by  the  unwarlike  train  of 
servants,  while  two  or  three  experienced  cavaliers  brought 
up  the  rear,  with  strict  orders  to  guard  against  surprise. 

On  their  being  put  into  motion,  the  first  thing  which  sur- 
prised Arthur  was,  that  the  horses'  hoofs  no  longer  ^nt 


294  WA  VERLEY  NOVELS 

forth  the  sharp  and  ringing  sound  arising  from  the  collision 
of  iron  and  flint,  and,  as  the  morning  light  increased,  he 
could  perceive  that  the  fetlock  and  hoof  of  every  steed,  his 
own  included,  had  been  carefully  wrapped  around  with  a 
sufficient  quantity  of  wool  to  prevent  the  usual  noise  which 
accompanied  their  motions.  It  was  a  singular  thing  to  be- 
hold the  passage  of  the  little  body  of  cavalry  down  the  rocky 
road  which  led  from  the  castle,  unattended  with  the  noise 
which  we  are  disposed  to  consider  as  inseparable  from  the 
motions  of  horse,  the  absence  of  which  seemed  to  give  a  pe- 
culiar and  almost  an  unearthly  appearance  to  the  cavalcade. 

They  passed  in  this  manner  the  winding  path  which  led 
from  the  Castle  of  Arnheim  to  the  adjacent  village,  which, 
as  was  the  ancient  feudal  custom,  lay  so  near  the  fortress 
that  its  inhabitants,  when  summoned  by  their  lord,  could 
instantly  repair  for  its  defense.  But  it  was  at  present  occu- 
pied by  very  different  inhabitants,  the  mutinous  soldiers  of 
the  Rhinegrave.  When  the  party  from  Arnheim  approached 
the  entrance  of  the  village,  Schreckenwald  made  a  signal  to 
halt,  which  was  instantly  obeyed  by  his  followers.  He  then 
rode  forward  in  person  to  reconnoiter,  accompanied  by  Arthur 
Philipson,  both  moving  with  the  utmost  steadiness  and  pre- 
caution. The  deepest  silence  prevailed  in  the  deserted 
streets.  Here  and  there  a  soldier  was  seen,  seemingly  de- 
signed for  a  sentinel,  but  uniformly  fast  asleep. 

'^  The  swinish  mutineers  ! "  said  Schreckenwald  ;  "  a  fair 
night-watch  they  keep,  and  a  beautiful  morning^s  rouse 
would  I  treat  them  with,  were  not  the  point  to  protect 
yonder  peevish  wench.  Halt  thou  here,  stranger,  while  I 
ride  back  and  bring  them  on;  there  is  no  danger." 

Schreckenwald  left  Arthur  as  he  spoke,  who,  alone  in  the 
street  of  a  village  filled  with  banditti,  though  they  were 
lulled  into  temporary  insensibility,  had  no  reason  to  consider 
his  case  as  very  comfortable.  The  chorus  of  a  wassail  song, 
which  some  reveler  was  trolling  over  in  his  sleep  ;  or,  in  its 
turn,  the  growling  of  some  village  cur,  seemed  the  signal  for 
an  hundred  ruffians  to  start  up  around  him.  But  in  the 
space  of  two  or  three  minutes  the  noiseless  cavalcade,  headed 
by  Ital  Schreckenwald,  again  joined  him,  and  followed  their 
leader,  observing  the  utmost  precaution  not  to  give  an  alarm. 
All  went  well  till  they  reached  the  farther  end  of  the  village, 
where,  although  the  haarenhauter  *  who  kept  guard  was  as 

*  Baarenhauter  [Bdrenhduter] — he  of  the  bear's  hide — a  nickname 
for  a  German  private  soldier. 


ANNE  OF  GEIEBSTEIN  295 

drunk  as  his  companions  on  duty,  a  large  shaggy  dog  which 
lay  beside  him  was  more  vigilant.  As  the  little  troop  ap- 
proached, the  animal  sent  forth  a  ferocious  yell,  loud  enough 
to  have  broken  the  rest  of  the  Seven  Sleepers,  and  which 
effectually  dispelled  the  slumbers  of  its  master.  The  soldier 
snatched  up  his  carabine  and  fired,  he  knew  not  well  at  what, 
or  for  what  reason.  The  ball,  however,  struck  Arthur's  horse 
under  him,  and,  as  the  animal  fell,  the  sentinel  rushed 
forward  to  kill  or  make  prisoner  the  rider. 

''Haste  on — haste  on,  men  of  Arnheim  !  care  for  nothing 
but  the  young  lady's  safety,'^  exclaimed  the  leader  of  the 
band. 

"  Stay,  I  command  you  ;  aid  the  stranger,  on  your  lives  ! " 
said  Anne,  in  a  voice  which,  usually  gentle  and  meek,  she 
now  made  heard  by  those  around  her,  like  the  note  of  a 
silver  clarion.     "  I  will  not  stir  till  he  is  rescued. '' 

Schreckenwald  had  already  spurred  his  horse  for  flight ; 
but,  perceiving  Anne's  reluctance  to  follow  him,  he  dashed 
back,  and  seizing  a  horse,  which,  bridled  and  saddled,  stood 
picqueted  near  him,  he  threw  the  reins  to  Arthur  Philipson  ; 
and  pushing  his  own  horse,  at  the  same  time,  betwixt  the 
Englishman  and  the  soldier,  he  forced  the  latter  to  quit  the 
hold  he  had  on  his  person.  In  an  instant  Philipson  was 
again  mounted,  when,  seizing  a  battle-ax  which  hung  at  the 
saddle-bow  of  his  new  steed,  he  struck  down  the  staggering 
sentinel,  who  was  endeavoring  again  to  seize  upon  him.  The 
whole  troop  then  rode  off  at  a  gallop,  for  the  alarm  began  to 
grow  general  in  the  village  ;  some  soldiers  were  seen  coming 
out  of  their  quarters,  and  others  were  beginning  to  get  upon 
horseback.  Before  Schreckenwald  and  his  party  had  ridden 
a  mile,  they  heard  more  than  once  the  sound  of  bugles  ;  and 
when  they  arrived  upon  the  summit  of  an  eminence  com- 
manding a  view  of  the  village,  their  leader,  who,  during  the 
retreat,  had  placed  himself  in  the  rear  of  his  company,  now 
halted  to  reconnoiter  the  enemy  they  had  left  behind  them. 
There  was  bustle  and  confusion  in  the  street,  but  there  did 
not  appear  to  be  any  pursuit  ;  so  that  Schreckenwald  fol- 
lowed his  route  down  the  river,  with  speed  and  activity  in- 
deed, but  with  so  much  steadiness  at  the  same  time  as  not 
to  distress  the  slowest  horse  of  his  party. 

When  they  had  ridden  two  hours  and  more,  the  confidence 
of  their  leader  was  so  much  augmented,  that  he  ventured  to 
command  a  halt  at  the  edge  of  a  pleasant  grove,  which  served 
to  conceal  their  number,  whilst  both  riders  and  horses  took 
6ome  refreshment,  for  which  purpose  forage  and  provisions 


296  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

had  been  borne  along  with  them.  Ital  Schreckenwald  having 
held  some  communication  with  the  baroness,  continued  to 
offer  their  traveling  companion  a  sort  of  surly  civility.  He  in- 
vited him  to  partake  of  his  own  mess,  which  was  indeed  little 
different  from  that  which  was  served  out  to  the  other  troopers, 
but  was  seasoned  with  a  glass  of  wine  from  a  more  choice 
flask. 

^'  To  your  health,  brother,'^  he  said  ;  ^'  if  you  tell  this  day's 
story  truly,  you  will  allow  that  I  was  a  true  comrade  to  you 
two  hours  since,  in  riding  through  the  village  of  Arnheim." 

'^  I  will  never  deny  it,  fair  sir,''  said  Philipson,  '^  and  I 
return  you  thanks  for  your  timely  assistance,  alike  whether 
it  sprang  from  your  mistress's  order  or  your  own  good- 
will." 

'^  Ho  !  ho  !  my  friend,"  said  Schreckenwald,  laughing, 
''you  are  a  philosopher,  and  can  try  conclusions  while  your 
horse  lies  rolling  above  you,  and  a  larrenhaiiter  aims  his 
sword  at  your  throat  ?  Well,  since  your  wit  hath  discovered 
so  much,  I  care  not  if  you  know  that  I  should  not  have  had 
much  scruple  to  sacrifice  twenty  such  smooth-faced  gentlemen 
as  yourself,  rather  than  the  young  Baroness  of  Arnheim  had 
incurred  the  slightest  danger," 

"The  propriety  of  the  sentiment,"  said  Philipson,  ''is  so 
undoubtedly  correct,  that  I  subscribe  to  it,  even  though  it  is 
something  discourteously  expressed  towards  myself." 

In  making  this  reply,  the  young  man,  provoked  at  the  in- 
solence of  Schreckenwald's  manner,  raised  his  voice  a  little. 
The  circumstance  did  not  escape  observation,  for  on  the  in- 
stant Annette  Veilchen  stood  before  them,  with  her  mis- 
tress's commands  on  them  both  to  speak  in  whispers,  or 
rather  to  be  altogether  silent. 

"  Say  to  your  mistress  that  I  am  mute,"  said  Philipson. 

"  Our  mistress,  the  baroness,  says,"  continued  Annette, 
with  an  emphasis  on  the  title,  to  which  she  began  to  ascribe 
some  talismanic  influence — ' '  the  baroness,  I  tell  you,  says, 
that  silence  much  concerns  our  safety,  for  it  were  most 
hazardous  to  draw  upon  this  little  fugitive  party  the  notice 
of  any  passengers  who  may  pass  along  the  road  during  the 
necessary  halt ;  and  so,  sirs,  it  is  the  baroness's  request  that 
you  will  continue  the  exercise  of  your  teeth  as  fast  as  you  can, 
and  forbear  that  of  your  tongues  till  you  are  in  a  safer 
condition." 

"  My  lady  is  wise,"  answered  Ital  Schreckenwald,  "  and 
her  maiden  is  witty.  I  drink,  Mrs.  Annette,  in  a  cup  of 
Rudesheimer,  to  the  continuance  of  her  sagacity,  and  of  your 


ANNE  OF  GEIEBSTEIN  29'? 

amiable  liveliness  of  disposition.  Will  it  please  you,  fair 
mistress,  to  pledge  me  in  this  generous  liquor  ?  " 

*'  Out,  thou  German  wine-flask  !  Out,  thou  eternal  swill- 
flagon  !  Heard  you  ever  of  a  modest  maiden  who  drank  wine 
before  she  had  dined  ?  '* 

*'  Eemain  without  the  generous  inspiration,  then,''  said 
the  German,  ''  and  nourish  thy  satirical  vein  on  sour  cider 
or  acid  whey/' 

A  short  space  having  been  allowed  to  refresh  themselves, 
the  little  party  again  mounted  their  horses,  and  traveled 
with  such  speed,  that  long  before  noon  they  arrived  at  the 
strongly  fortified  town  of  Kehl,  opposite  to  Strasburg,  on  the 
eastern  bank  of  the  Ehine. 

It  is  for  local  antiquaries  to  discover  whether  the  travelers 
crossed  from  Kehl  to  Strasburg  by  the  celebrated  bridge  of 
boats  which  at  present  maintains  the  communication  across 
the  river,  or  whether  they  were  wafted  over  by  some  other 
mode  of  transportation.  It  is  enough  that  they  passed  in 
safety,  and  had  landed  on  the  other  side,  where — whether 
she  dreaded  that  he  might  forget  the  charge  she  had  given 
him,  that  here  they  were  to  separate,  or  whether  she  thought 
that  something  more  might  be  said  in  the  moment  of  parting 
— the  young  baroness,  before  remounting  her  horse,  once  more 
approached  Arthur  Philipson,  who  too  truly  guessed  the 
tenor  of  what  she  had  to  say. 

*'  Gentle  stranger,"  she  said,  ''  I  must  now  bid  you  fare- 
well. But  first  let  me  ask  if  you  know  whereabouts  you  are 
to  seek  your  father  ?  " 

*'  In  an  inn  called  the  Flying  Stag,"  said  Arthur,  deject- 
edly ;  "  but  where  that  is  situated  in  this  large  town,  I  know 
not." 

*'  Do  you  know  the  place,  Ital  Schreckenwald  ?  " 

'^  I,  young  lady  ?  Not  I — I  know  nothing  of  Strasburg 
and  its  inns.  I  believe  most  of  our  party  are  as  ignorant  as 
I  am." 

"  You  and  they  speak  German,  I  suppose,"  said  the  bar- 
oness, dryly,  ''  and  can  make  inquiry  more  easily  than  a  for- 
eigner ?  Go,  sir,  and  forget  not  that  humanity  to  the  stranger 
is  a  religious  duty." 

With  that  shrug  of  the  shoulders  which  testifies  a  dis- 
pleased messenger,  Ital  went  to  make  some  inquiry,  and  in 
his  absence,  brief  as  it  was,  Anne  took  an  opportunity  to 
say  apart — ''  Farewell — farewell  !  Accept  this  token  of 
friendship,  and  wear  it  for  my  sake.     May  you  be  happy  !  '* 

Her  slender  fingers  dropped  into  his  hand  a  very  small 


296  WAVEELEY  NOVELS 

parcel.  He  tamed  to  thank  her,  but  she  was  already  at 
some  distance  ;  and  Schreckenwald,  who  had  taken  his  place 
by  his  side,  said  in  his  harsh  voice,  *'  Come,  sir  squire,  I 
have  found  out  your  place  of  rendezvous,  and  I  have  but 
little  time  to  play  the  gentleman-usher." 

He  then  rode  on  ;  and  Philipson,  mounted  on  his  military 
charger,  followed  him  in  silence  to  the  point  where  a  large 
street  joined,  or  rather  crossed,  that  which  led  from  the  quay 
on  which  they  had  landed. 

"  Yonder  swings  the  Flying  Stag,"  said  Ital,  pointing  to 
an  immense  sign,  which,  mounted  on  a  huge  wooden  frame, 
crossed  almost  the  whole  breadth  of  the  street.  *'  Your  in- 
telligence can,  I  think,  hardly  abandon  you,  with  such  a 
guide-post  in  your  eye." 

So  saying,  he  turned  his  horse  without  further  farewell, 
and  rode  back  to  join  his  mistress  and  her  attendants. 

Philipson's  eyes  rested  on  the  same  group  for  a  moment, 
when  he  was  recalled  to  a  sense  of  his  situation  by  the  thoughts 
of  his  father  ;  and,  spurring  his  jaded  horse  down  the  cross 
street,  he  reached  the  hostelry  of  the  Flying  Stag. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

I  was,  I  must  confess, 
Fair  Albion's  queen  in  former  golden  days  ; 
But  now  mischance  hath  trode  my  title  down, 
And  with  dishonor  laid  me  in  the  dust, 
Where  I  must  take  like  seat  unto  my  fortune, 
And  to  my  humble  seat  conform  myself. 

Henry  IV.  Part  III. 

The  hostelry  of  the  Flying  Stag,  in  Strasbnrg  was,  like 
every  inn  in  the  Empire  at  the  period,  conducted  much 
with  the  same  discourteous  inattention  to  the  wants  and  ac- 
commodation of  the  guests  as  that  of  John  Mengs.  But  the 
youth  and  good  looks  of  Arthur  Philipson,  circumstances 
which  seldom  or  never  fail  to  produce  some  effect  where  the 
fair  are  concerned,  prevailed  upon  a  short,  plump,  dimpled, 
blue-eyed,  fair-skinned  yungfrau,  the  daughter  of  the  land- 
lord of  the  Flying  Stag,  himself,  a  fat  old  man,  pinned  to 
the  oaken  chair  in  the  st^ibe,  to  carry  herself  to  the  young 
Englishman  with  a  degree  of  condescension  which,  in  the 
privileged  race  to  which  she  belonged,  was  little  short  of 
degradation.  She  not  only  put  her  light  buskins  and  her 
pretty  ankles  in  danger  of  being  soiled  by  tripping  across 
the  yard  to  point  out  an  unoccupied  stable,  but,  on  Arthur^s 
inquiry  after  his  father,  condescended  to  recollect  that  such 
a  guest  as  he  described  had  lodged  in  the  house  last  night, 
and  had  said  he  expected  to  meet  there  a  young  person,  his 
fellow-traveler. 

"  I  will  send  him  out  to  you,  fair  sir, ^^  said  the  little  yung- 
frau  with  a  smile,  which,  if  things  of  the  kind  are  to  be 
valued  by  their  rare  occurrence,  must  have  been  reckoned 
inestimable. 

She  was  as  good  as  her  word.  In  a  few  instants  the  elder 
Philipson  entered  the  stable,  and  folded  his  son  in  his 
arms. 

*'  My  son — my  dear  son  !  '*  said  the  Englishman,  his  usual 
stoicism  broken  down  and  melted  by  natural  feeling  and 
parental  tenderness.  '*  Welcome  to  me  at  all  times — wel- 
come in  a  period  of  doubt  and  danger — and  most  welcome 
of  all  in  a  moment  which  forms  the  very  crisis  of  our  fate. 

299 


300  WAVEBLET  NOVELS 

In  a  few  hours  I  shall  know  what  we  may  expect  from  the 
Duke  of  Burgundy.     Hast  thou  the  token  ?" 

Arthur's  hand  first  sought  that  which  was  nearest  to  his 
heart,  both  in  the  literal  and  allegorical  sense,  the  small 
parcel,  namely,  which  Anne  had  given  him  at  parting.  But 
he  recollected  himself  in  the  instant,  and  presented  to  his 
father  the  packet  which  had  been  so  strangely  lost  and  re- 
covered at  La  Ferette. 

'^  It  hath  run  its  own  risk  since  you  saw  it,^*  he  observed 
to  his  father,  ''  and  so  have  I  mine.  I  received  hospitality 
at  a  castle  last  night,  and  behold  a  body  of  lanzknechts  in 
the  neighborhood  began  in  the  morning  to  mutiny  for  their 
pay.  The  inhabitants  fled  from  the  castle  to  escape  their 
violence,  and,  as  we  passed  their  leaguer  in  the  gray  of  the 
morning,  a  drunken  haarenhauter  shot  my  poor  horse,  and  I 
was  forced,  in  the  way  of  exchange,  to  take  up  with  his 
heavy  Memish  animal,  with  its  steel  saddle  and  its  clumsy 
chaff  ron.^' 

"  Our  road  is  beset  with  perils, '^  said  his  father.  "I  too 
have  had  my  share,  having  been  in  great  danger  (he  told 
not  its  precise  nature)  at  an  inn  where  I  rested  last  night. 
But  I  left  it  in  the  morning,  and  proceeded  hither  in  safety. 
I  have  at  length,  however,  obtained  a  safe  escort  to  conduct 
me  to  the  Duke's  camp  near  Dijon  ;  and  I  trust  to  have  an 
audience  of  him  this  evening.  Then,  if  our  last  hope  should 
fail,  we  will  seek  the  seaport  of  Marseilles,  hoist  sail  for 
Candia  or  for  Ehodes,  and  spend  our  lives  in  defense  of 
Christendom,  since  we  may  no  longer  fight  for  England.-" 

Arthur  heard  these  ominous  words  without  reply ;  but 
they  did  not  the  less  sink  upon  his  heart,  deadly  as  the  doom 
of  the  judge  which  secludes  the  criminal  from  society  and  all 
its  joys,  and  condemns  him  to  an  eternal  prison-house.  The 
bells  from  the  cathedral  began  to  toll  at  this  instant,  and 
reminded  the  elder  Philipson  of  the  duty  of  hearing  mass, 
which  was  said  at  all  hours  in  some  one  or  other  of  the  sep- 
arate chapels  which  are  contained  in  that  magnificent  pile. 
His  son  followed,  on  an  intimation  of  his  pleasure. 

In  approaching  the  access  to  this  superb  cathedral,  the 
travelers  found  it  obstructed,  as  is  usual  in  Catholic  coun- 
tries, by  the  number  of  mendicants  of  both  sexes  who 
crowded  round  the  entrance  to  give  the  worshipers  an  op- 
portunity of  discharging  the  duty  of  almsgiving,  so  positively 
enjoined  as  a  chief  observance  of  their  church.  The  English- 
men extricated  themselves  from  their  importunity  by  bestow- 
ing, as  is  usual  on  such  occasions,  a  donative  of  small  coin 


ANNE  OF  GEIEBSTEIN  SOI 

npon  those  who  appeared  most  needy,  or  most  deserving  of 
their  charity.  One  tall  woman  stood  on  the  steps  close  to 
the  door,  and  extended  her  hand  to  the  elder  Philipson, 
who,  struck  with  her  appearance,  exchanged  for  a  piece  of 
silver  the  copper  coins  which  he  had  been  distributing 
amongst  others. 

''  A  marvel  ! ''  she  said,  in  the  English  language,  but  in  a 
tone  calculated  only  to  be  heard  by  him  alone,  although  his 
son  also  caught  the  sound  and  sense  of  what  she  said — '^  ay, 
a  miracle  !  An  Englishman  still  possesses  a  silver  piece,  and 
can  afford  to  bestow  it  on  the  poor  !  " 

Arthur  was  sensible  that  his  father  started  somewhat  at 
the  voice  or  words,  which  bore,  even  in  his  ear,  something 
of  deeper  import  than  the  observation  of  an  ordinary  mendi- 
cant. But,  after  a  glance  at  the  female  who  thus  addressed 
him,  his  father  passed  onwards  into  the  body  of  the  church, 
and  was  soon  engaged  in  attending  to  the  solemn  ceremony 
of  the  mass,  as  it  was  performed  by  a  priest  at  the  altar  of  a 
chapel  divided  from  the  main  body  of  the  splendid  edifice, 
and  dedicated,  as  it  appeared  from  the  image  over  the  altar, 
to  St.  George — that  military  saint  whose  real  history  is  so 
obscure,  though  his  popular  legend  rendered  him  an  object 
of  peculiar  veneration  during  the  feudal  ages.  The  cere- 
mony was  begun  and  finished  with  all  customary  forms. 
The  officiating  priest,  with  his  attendants,  withdrew,  and 
though  some  of  the  few  worshipers  who  had  assisted  at  the 
solemnity  remained  telling  their  beads,  and  occupied  with 
the  performance  of  their  private  devotions,  far  the  greater 
part  left  the  chapel,  to  visit  other  shrines,  or  to  return  to 
the  prosecution  of  their  secular  affairs. 

But  Arthur  Philipson  remarked  that,  whilst  they  dropped 
off  one  after  another,  the  tall  woman  who  had  received  his 
father^s  alms  continued  to  kneel  near  the  altar ;  and  he  was 
yet  more  surprised  to  see  that  his  father  himself,  who,  he 
had  many  reasons  to  know,  was  desirous  to  spend  in  the 
church  no  more  time  than  the  duties  of  devotion  absolutely 
claimed,  remained  also  on  his  knees,  with  his  eyes  resting  on 
the  form  of  the  veiled  devotee  (such  she  seemed  from  her 
dress),  as  if  his  own  motions  were  to  be  guided  by  hers.  By 
no  idea  which  occurred  to  him  was  Arthur  able  to  form  the 
least  conjecture  as  to  his  father^s  motives ;  he  only  knew 
that  he  was  engaged  in  a  critical  and  dangerous  negotiation, 
liable  to  influence  or  interruption  from  various  quarters ; 
and  that  political  suspicion  was  so  generally  awake  both  in 
France,  Italy,  and  Flanders,  that  the  most  important  agents 


302  WAVERLET  NOVELS 

were  often  obliged  to  assume  tlie  most  impenetrable  disguises, 
in  order  to  insinuate  themselves  without  suspicion  into  the 
countries  where  their  services  were  required.  Louis  XI.,  in 
particular,  whose  singular  policy  seemed  in  some  degree  to 
give  a  character  to  the  age  in  which  he  lived,  was  well 
known  to  have  disguised  his  principal  emissaries  and  en- 
voys in  the  fictitious  garbs  of  mendicant  monks,  minstrels, 
gipsies,  and  other  privileged  wanderers  of  the  meanest  de- 
scription. 

Arthur  concluded,  therefore,  that  it  was  not  improbable 
that  this  female  might,  like  themselves,  be  something  more 
than  her  dress  imported ;  and  he  resolved  to  observe  his 
father's  deportment  towards  her,  and  regulate  his  own  actions 
accordingly.  A  bell  at  last  announced  that  mass,  upon  a 
more  splendid  scale,  was  about  to  be  celebrated  before  the 
high  altar  of  the  cathedral  itself,  and  its  sound  withdrew 
from  the  sequestered  chapel  of  St.  George  the  few  who  had 
remained  at  the  shrine  of  the  military  saint,  excepting  the 
father  and  son,  and  the  female  penitent  who  kneeled  opposite 
to  them.  When  the  last  of  the  worshipers  had  retired,  the 
female  arose  and  advanced  towards  the  elder  Philipson,  who, 
folding  his  arms  on  his  bosom,  and  stooping  his  head,  in  an 
attitude  of  obeisance  which  his  son  had  never  before  seen  him 
assume,  appeared  rather  to  wait  what  she  had  to  say  than  to 
propose  addressing  her. 

There  was  a  pause.  Four  lamps,  lighted  before  the  shrine 
of  the  saint,  cast  a  dim  radiance  on  his  armor  and  steed, 
represented  as  he  was  in  the  act  of  transfixing  with  his  lance 
the  prostrate  dragon,  whose  outstretched  wings  and  writhing 
neck  were  in  part  touched  by  their  beams.  The  rest  of  the 
chapel  was  dimly  illuminated  by  the  autumnal  sun,  which 
could  scarce  find  its  way  through  the  stained  pane  of  the 
small  lanceolated  window,  which  was  its  only  aperture  to  the 
open  air.  The  light  fell  doubtful  and  gloomy,  tinged  with 
the  various  hues  through  which  it  passed,  upon  the  stately, 
yet  somewhat  broken  and  dejected,  form  of  the  female,  and 
on  those  of  the  melancholy  and  anxious  father,  and  his  son, 
who,  with  all  the  eager  interest  of  youth,  suspected  and 
anticipated  extraordinary  consequences  from  so  singular  an 
interview. 

At  length  the  female  approached  to  the  same  side  of  the 
shrine  with  Arthur  and  his  father,  as  if  to  be  more  distinctly 
heard,  without  being  obliged  to  raise  the  slow,  solemn  voice 
in  which  she  had  spoken. 

*^  Do  you  here  worship,''  she  said,  ''  the  St.  George  of  Bur- 


ANNE  OF  GEIER STEIN  303 

gundy  or  the  St.  George  of  Merry  England,  the  flower  of 
chivalry  ?  " 

*'  I  serve,"  said  Philipson,  folding  his  hands  humhly  on 
his  bosom,  ' '  the  saint  to  whom  this  chapel  is  dedicated,  and 
the  Deity  with  whom  I  hope  for  his  holy  intercession,  whether 
here  or  in  my  native  country." 

^^  Ay — you,"  said  the  female,  ^^even  you  can  forget — you, 
even  you,  who  have  been  numbered  among  the  mirror  of 
knighthood — can  forget  that  you  have  worshiped  in  the 
royal  fane  of  Windsor — that  you  have  there  bent  a  gartered 
knee,  where  kings  and  princes  kneeled  around  you — you  can 
forget  this,  and  make  your  orisons  at  a  foreign  shrine,  with 
a  heart  undisturbed  with  the  thoughts  of  what  you  have  been 
— praying,  like  some  poor  peasant,  for  bread  and  life  during 
the  day  that  passes  over  you." 

^'  Lady,"  replied  Philipson,  ^'  in  ray  proudest  hours  I  was, 
before  the  Being  to  whom  I  preferred  my  prayers,  but  as  a 
worm  in  the  dust.  In  His  eyes  I  am  now  neither  less  nor 
more,  degraded  as  I  may  be  in  the  opinion  of  my  fellow- 
reptiles." 

^'  How  canst  thou  think  thus  ?"  said  the  devotee  ;  ''  and 
yet  it  is  well  with  thee  that  thou  canst.  But  what  have  thy 
losses  been  compared  to  mine  ?  " 

She  put  her  hand  to  her  brow,  and  seemed  for  a  moment 
overpowered  by  agonizing  recollections. 

Arthur  pressed  to  his  father's  side,  and  inquired,  in  a  tone 
of  interest  which  could  not  be  repressed,  ^'  Father,  who  is 
this  lady  ?     Is  it  my  mother  ?  " 

^'  No,  my  son,"  answered  Philipson.  '^  Peace,  for  the  sake 
of  all  you  hold  dear  or  holy  ! " 

The  singular  female,  however,  heard  both  the  question  and 
answer,  though  expressed  in  a  whisper. 

"  Yes,"  she  said,  ''young  man,  I  am — I  should  say  I  was 
— your  mother — the  mother,  the  protectress,  of  all  that  was 
noble  in  England.     I  am  Margaret  of  Anjou." 

Arthur  sank  on  his  knees  before  the  dauntless  widow  of 
Henry  the  Sixth,  who  so  long,  and  in  such  desperate  circum- 
stances, upheld,  by  unyielding  courage  and  deep  policy,  the 
sinking  cause  of  her  feeble  husband  ;  and  who,  if  she  oc- 
casionally abused  victory  by  cruelty  and  revenge,  had  made 
some  atonement  by  the  indomitable  resolution  with  which 
she  had  supported  the  fiercest  storms  of  adversity.  Arthur 
had  been  bred  in  devoted  adherence  to  the  now  dethroned 
line  of  Lancaster,  of  which  his  father  was  one  of  the  most 
distinguished   supporters ;  and  his  earliest  deeds  of  arms, 


304  WAVEBLET  NOVELS 

which,  though  unfortunate,  were  neither  obscure  nor  ignoble, 
had  been  done  in  their  cause.     With  an  enthusiasm  belong- 
ing to  his  age  and  education,  he  in  the  same  instant  flung 
his  bonnet  on  the  pavement  and  knelt  at  the  feet  of  his  ill 
fated  sovereign. 

Margaret  threw  back  the  veil  which  concealed  those  noble 
and  majestic  features  which  even  yet,  though  rivers  of  tears 
had  furrowed  her  cheek,  though  care,  disappointment,  do- 
mestic grief,  and  humbled  pride  had  quenched  the  fire  of  her 
eye,  and  wasted  the  smooth  dignity  of  her  forehead — even 
yet  showed  the  remains  of  that  beauty  which  once  was  held 
unequal ed  in  Europe.  The  apathy  with  which  a  succession 
of  misfortunes  and  disappointed  hopes  had  chilled  the  feel- 
ings of  the  unfortunate  princess  was  for  a  moment  melted 
by  the  sight  of  the  fair  youth's  enthusiasm.  She  abandoned 
one  hand  to  him,  which  he  covered  with  tears  and  kisses,  and 
with  the  other  stroked  with  maternal  tenderness  his  curled 
locks,  as  she  endeavored  to  raise  him  from  the  posture  he  had 
assumed.  His  father,  in  the  meanwhile,  closed  the  door  of 
the  chapel  and  placed  his  back  against  it,  withdrawing  him- 
self thus  from  the  group,  as  if  for  the  purpose  of  preventing 
any  stranger  from  entering  during  a  scene  so  extraordinary. 

'^  And  thou,  then,''  said  Margaret,  in  a  voice  where  female 
tenderness  combated  strangely  with  her  natural  pride  of 
rank,  and  with  the  calm,  stoical  indifference  induced  by  the 
intensity  of  her  personal  misfortunes — *^'thou,  fair  youth, 
art  the  last  scion  of  the  noble  stem  so  many  fair  boughs  of 
which  have  fallen  in  our  hapless  cause.  Alas — alas  !  what 
can  I  do  for  thee  ?  Margaret  has  not  even  a  blessing  to  be- 
stow. So  wayward  is  her  fate,  that  her  benedictions  are 
curses,  and  she  has  but  to  look  on  you  and  wish  you  well  to 
insure  your  speedy  and  utter  ruin.  I — I  have  been  the  fatal 
poison-tree  whose  influence  has  blighted  and  destroyed  all 
the  fair  plants  that  arose  beside  and  around  me,  and  brought 
death  upon  every  one,  yet  am  myself  unable  to  find  it." 

*''' Noble  and  royal  mistress,"  said  the  elder  Englishman, 
/'  let  not  your  princely  courage,  which  has  borne  such  ex- 
tremities, be  dismayed,  now  that  they  are  passed  over,  and 
that  a  chance  at  least  of  happier  times  is  approaching  to  you 
and  to  England." 

^'  To  England,  to  me,  noble  Oxford  ! "  said  the  forlorn  and 
widowed  Queen.  "  If  to-morrow's  sun  could  place  me  once 
more  on  the  throne  of  England,  could  it  give  back  to  me  what 
I  have  lost  ?  I  speak  not  of  wealth  or  power  ;  they  are  as 
nothing  in  the  balance.     T  speak  not  of  the  hosts  of  noble 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  3©5 

friends  who  have  fallen  in  defense  of  me  and  mine — Somer- 
sets, Percys,  Staffords,  Cliffords ;  they  have  found  their 
place  in  fame,  in  the  annals  of  their  country.  I  speak  not 
of  my  husband,  he  has  exchanged  the  state  of  a  suffering 
saint  upon  earth  for  that  of  a  glorified  saint  in  Heaven.  But 
0,  Oxford,  my  son — my  Edward  !  Is  it  possible  for  me  to 
look  on  this  youth,  and  not  remember  that  thy  countess  and 
I  on  the  same  night  gave  birth  to  two  fair  boys  ?  How  oft 
we  endeavored  to  prophesy  their  future  fortunes,  and  to  per- 
suade ourselves  that  the  same  constellation  which  shone  on 
their  birth  would  influence  their  succeeding  life,  and  hold  a 
friendly  and  equal  bias  till  they  reached  some  destined  goal 
of  happiness  and  honor  !  Thy  Arthur  lives  :  but,  alas  !  my 
Edward,  born  under  the  same  auspices,  fills  a  bloody  grave." 

She  wrapped  her  head  in  her  mantle,  as  if  to  stifle  the 
complaints  and  groans  which  maternal  affection  poured 
forth  at  these  cruel  recollections.  Philipson,  or  the  exiled 
Earl  of  Oxford,  as  we  may  now  term  him,  distinguished  in 
those  changeful  times  by  the  steadiness  with  which  he  had 
always  maintained  his  loyalty  to  the  line  of  Lancaster,  saw 
the  imprudence  of  indulging  his  sovereign  in  her  weakness. 

'^  Eoyal  mistress,"  he  said,  ''  lifers  journey  is  that  of  a  brief 
winter's  day,  and  its  course  will  run  on  whether  we  avail  our- 
selves of  its  progress  or  no.  My  sovereign  is,  I  trust,  too  much 
mistress  of  herself  to  suffer  lamentation  for  what  is  passed  to 
deprive  her  of  the  power  of  using  the  present  time.  I  am 
here  in  obedience  to  your  command  ;  I  am  to  see  Burgundy 
forthwith,  and  if  I  find  him  pliant  to  the  purpose  to  which 
we  would  turn  him,  events  may  follow  which  will  change 
into  gladness  our  present  mourning.  But  we  must  use  our 
opportunity  with  speed  as  well  as  zeal.  Let  me  know,  then, 
madam,  for  what  reason  your  Majesty  hath  come  hither,  dis- 
guised and  in  danger  ?  Surely  it  was  not  merely  to  weep 
over  this  young  man  that  the  high-minded  Queen  Margaret 
left  her  father's  court,  disguised  herself  in  mean  attire,  and 
came  from  a  place  of  safety  to  one  of  doubt  at  least,  if  not  of 
danger  ? " 

'*  You  mock  me,  Oxford,"  said  the  unfortunate  Queen, ''  or 
you  deceive  yourself,  if  you  think  you  still  serve  that  Margaret 
whose  word  was  never  spoken  without  a  reason,  and  whose 
slightest  action  was  influenced  by  a  motive.  Alas  !  I  am 
no  longer  the  same  firm  and  rational  being.  The  feverish 
character  of  grief,  while  it  makes  one  place  hateful  to  me, 
drives  me  to  another  in  very  impatience  of  spirit.  My 
father's  residence,  thou  sayst,  is  safe  ;  but  is  it  tolerable  for 
20 


306  WA  VEBLET  NO  VEL8 

Buch  a  soul  as  mine  ?  Can  one  who  has  been  deprived  of  the 
noblest  and  richest  kingdom  of  Europe — one  who  has  lost 
hosts  of  noble  friends — one  who  is  a  widowed  consort,  a 
childless  mother — one  upon  whose  head  Heaven  hath  poured 
forth  its  last  vial  of  unmitigated  wrath — can  she  stoop  to  be 
the  companion  of  a  weak  old  man,  who,  in  sonnets  and  in 
music,  in  mummery  and  folly,  in  harping  and  rhyming,  finds 
a  comfort  for  all  that  poverty  has  that  is  distressing,  and, 
what  is  still  worse,  even  a  solace  in  all  that  is  ridiculous  and 
contemptible  ?  " 

"Nay,  with  your  leave,  madam,^'  said  her  counselor, 
*'  blame  not  the  good  King  Rene  because,  persecuted  by 
fortune,  he  has  been  able  to  find  out  for  himself  humbler 
sources  of  solace,  which  your  prouder  spirit  is  disposed  to 
disdain.  A  contention  among  his  minstrels  has  for  him  the 
animation  of  a  knightly  combat ;  and  a  crown  of  flowers 
twined  by  his  troubadours,  and  graced  by  their  sonnets,  he 
accounts  a  valuable  compensation  for  the  diadems  of  Jeru- 
salem, of  Naples,  and  of  both  Sicilies,  of  which  he  only  pos- 
sesses the  empty  titles/' 

"Speak  not  to  me  of  the  pitiable  old  man,'*  said  Mar- 
garet— "  sunk  below  even  the  hatred  of  his  worse  enemies, 
and  never  thought  worthy  of  anything  more  than  contempt. 
I  tell  thee,  noble  Oxford,  I  have  been  driven  nearly  mad 
with  my  forced  residence  at  x\ix,  in  the  paltry  circle  which 
he  calls  his  court.  My  ears,  tuned  as  they  now  are  only 
to  sounds  of  affliction,  are  not  so  weary  of  the  eternal  tink- 
ling of  harps,  and  squeaking  of  rebecks,  and  snapping  of 
castanets  ;  my  eyes  are  not  so  tired  of  the  beggarly  affectation 
of  court  ceremonial,  which  is  only  respectable  when  it  im- 
plies wealth  and  expresses  power — as  my  very  soul  is  sick  of 
the  paltry  ambition  which  can  find  pleasure  in  spangles, 
tassels,  and  trumpery,  when  the  reality  of  all  that  is  great 
and  noble  hath  passed  away.  No,  Oxford.  If  I  am  doomed 
to  lose  the  last  cast  which  fickle  fortune  seems  to  offer  me, 
I  will  retreat  into  the  meanest  convent  in  the  Pyrenean 
hills,  and  at  least  escape  the  insult  of  the  idiot  gaiety  of 
my   father.     Let  him   pass  from  our  memory  as  from  the 

fage  of  history,  in  which  his  name  will  never  be  recorded, 
have  much  of  more  importance  both  to  hear  and  to  tell. 
And  now,  my  Oxford,  what  news  from  Italy  ?  Will  the 
Duke  of  Milan  afford  us  assistance  with  his  counsels,  or  with 
his  treasures  ^" 

"  With  his  counsels  willingly,  madam  ;  but  how  you  will 
relish  them  I  know  not,  since  he  recommends  to  us  sub- 


ANNE  OF  GEIEESTEIN  307 

mission  to  our  hapless  fate,  and  resignation  to  the  will  of 
Providence/' 

'*  The  wily  Italian  !  Will  not,  then,  Galeasso  advance  any 
part  of  his  hoards,  or  assist  a  friend  to  whom  he  hath  in  hia 
time  full  often  sworn  faith  ?  '* 

"Not  even  the  diamonds  which  I  offered  to  deposit  in 
his  hands,"  answered  the  Earl,  "  could  make  him  unlock  hia 
treasury  to  supply  us  with  ducats  for  our  enterprise.  Yet 
he  said,  if  Charles  of  Burgundy  should  think  seriously  of  an 
exertion  in  our  favor,  such  was  his  regard  for  that  great 
prince,  and  his  deep  sense  of  your  Majesty's  misfortunes, 
that  he  would  consider  what  the  state  of  his  exchequer,  though 
much  exhausted,  and  the  condition  of  his  subjects,  though 
impoverished  by  taxes  and  talliages,  would  permit  him  to 
advance  in  your  behalf/' 

'*  The  double-faced  hypocrite  I'^  said  Margaret.  '^  If  the 
assistance  of  the  princely  Burgundy  lends  us  a  chance  of 
regaining  what  is  our  own,  then  he  will  give  us  some  paltry 
parcel  of  crowns,  that  our  restored  prosperity  may  forget  his 
indifference  to  our  adversity  !  But  what  of  Burgundy  ?  I 
have  ventured  hither  to  tell  you  what  I  have  learned,  and  to 
hear  report  of  your  proceedings — a  trusty  watch  provides  for 
the  secrecy  of  our  interview.  My  impatience  to  see  you 
brought  me  hither  in  this  mean  disguise.  I  have  a  small 
retinue  at  a  convent  a  mile  beyond  the  town — I  have  had 
your  arrival  watched  by  the  faithful  Lambert — and  now  I 
come  to  know  your  hopes  or  your  fears,  and  to  tell  you  my 
own." 

''Eoyal  lady/'  said  the  Earl,  ''I  have  not  seen  the  Duke. 
You  know  his  temper  to  be  wilful,  sudden,  haughty,  and 
unpersuadable.  If  he  can  adopt  the  calm  and  sustained  policy 
which  the  times  require,  I  little  doubt  his  obtaining  full 
amends  of  Louis,  his  sworn  enemy,  and  even  of  Edward,  his 
ambitious  brother-in-law.  But  if  he  continues  to  yield  'to 
extravagant  fits  of  passion,  with  or  without  provocation,  he 
may  hurry  into  a  quarrel  with  the  poor  but  hard^  Helve- 
tians, and  is  likely  to  engage  in  a  perilous  contest,  m  which 
he  cannot  be  expected  to  gain  anything,  while  he  undergoea 
a  chance  of  the  most  serious  losses." 

"  Surely,"  replied  the  Queen,  '*  he  will  not  trust  the  usurp- 
er Edward,  even  in  the  very  moment  when  he  is  giving  the 
greatest  proof  of  treachery  to  his  alliance  ?" 

"In  what  respect,  madam?"  replied  Oxford.  "The 
news  you  allude  to  has  not  reached  me." 

"  How,  my  lord  ?    Am  I  then  the  first  to  tell  you  that 


308  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

Edward  of  York  has  crossed  the  sea  with  such  an  army  aa 
scarce  even  the  renowned  Henry  V.,  my  father-in-law,  ever 
transported  from  France  to  Italy  ?  '* 

'^So  much  I  have  indeed  heard  was  expected/'  said 
Oxford ;  ''  and  I  anticipated  the  effect  as  fatal  to  our 
cause/' 

"  Edward  is  arrived,"  said  Margaret,  ''  and  the  traitor  and 
usurper  hath  sent  defiance  to  Louis  of  France,  and  demanded 
of  him  the  crown  of  that  kingdom  as  his  own  right — that 
crown  which  was  placed  on  the  head  of  my  unhappy  husband, 
when  he  was  yet  a  child  in  the  cradle/' 

"  It  is  then  decided — the  English  are  in  France  ! "  answered 
Oxford,  in  a  tone  expressive  of  the  deepest  anxiety.  *' And 
whom  brings  Edward  with  him  on  this  expedition  ?  " 

"  All — all  the  bitterest  enemies  of  our  house  and  cause. 
The  false,  the  traitorous,  the  dishonored  George,  whom  he 
calls  Duke  of  Clarence — the  blood-drinker,  Eichard — the 
licentious  Hastings — Howard — Stanley — in  a  word,  the 
leaders  of  all  those  traitors  whom  I  would  not  name,  unless 
by  doing  so  my  curses  could  sweep  them  from  the  face  of  the 
earth." 

"  And — I  tremble  to  ask,"  said  the  Earl — ''  does  Burgundy 
prepare  to  join  them  as  a  brother  of  the  war,  and  make 
common  cause  with  this  Yorkish  host  against  King  Louis  of 
France?" 

'^  By  my  advices,"  replied  the  Queen,  "and  they  are  both 
private  and  sure,  besides  that  they  are  confirmed  by  the 
bruit  of  common  fame — no,  my  good  Oxford — no  ! " 

''For  that  may  the  saints  be  praised  !"  answered  Oxford. 
*'  Edward  of  York — I  will  not  malign  even  an  enemy — is  a 
bold  and  fearless  leader  ;  but  he  is  neither  Edward  the  Third 
nor  the  heroic  Black  Prince,  nor  is  he  that  fifth  Henry  of 
Lancaster  under  whom  I  won  my  spurs,  and  to  whose  lineage 
the  thoughts  of  his  glorious  memory  would  have  made  me 
faithful,  had  my  plighted  vows  of  allegiance  ever  permitted 
me  entertain  a  thought  of  varying  or  of  defection.  Le* 
Edward  engage  in  war  with  Louis  without  the  aid  of  Bur- 
gundy, on  which  he  has  reckoned.  Louis  is  indeed  no  hero, 
but  he  is  a  cautious  and  skilful  general,  more  to  be  dreaded, 
perhaps,  in  these  politic  days  than  if  Charlemagne  could 
again  raise  the  oriflamme,  surrounded  by  Eoland  and  all  his 
paladins.  Lonis  will  not  hazard  such  fields  as  those  of 
Cressy,  of  Poitiers,  or  of  Agincourt.  With  a  thousand  lances 
f rom  Hainnult,  and  twenty  thousand  crowns  from  Burgundy, 
Edward  shall  risk  the  loss  of  England/  while  he  is  engaged  Id 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  309 

a  protracted  struggle  for  the  recovery  of  Normandy  and 
Guienne.     But  what  are  the  movements  of  Burgundy  ?  " 

"  He  has  menaced  Germany,"  said  Margaret,  "  and  his 
troops  are  now  employed  in  overrunning  Lorraine,  of  which 
he  has  seized  the  principal  towns  and  castles/' 

'^  Where  is  Ferrand  de  Vaudemont — a  youth,  it  is  said,  of 
courage  and  enterprise,  and  claiming  Lorraine  in  right  of  his 
mother,  Yolande  of  Anjou,  the  sister  of  your  Grace  ?  " 

'''Fled,''  replied  the  Queen,  '''into  Germany  or  Helvetia." 

''Let  Burgundy  beware  of  him,"  said  the  experienced 
Earl  ;  "for,  should  the  disinherited  youth  obtain  confeder- 
ates in  Germany  and  allies  among  the  hardy  Swiss,  Charles 
of  Burgundy  may  find  him  a  far  more  formidable  enemy 
than  he  expects.  We  are  strong  for  the  present  only  in  the 
Duke's  strength,  and  if  it  is  wasted  in  idle  and  desultory 
efforts  our  hopes,  alas  !  vanish  with  his  power,  even  if  he 
should  be  found  to  have  the  decided  will  to  assist  us.  My 
friends  in  England  are  resolute  not  to  stir  without  men  and 
money  from  Burgundy." 

"  It  is  a  fear,"  said  Margaret,  "  but  not  our  worst  fear.  I 
dread  more  the  policy  of  Louis,  who,  unless  my  espials  have 
grossly  deceived  me,  has  even  already  proposed  a  secret  peace 
to  Edward,  offering,  with  large  sums  of  money  to  purchase 
England  to  the  Yorkists,  and  a  truce  of  seven  years." 

"  It  cannot  be,"  said  Oxford.  "  No  Englishman,  com- 
manding such  an  army  as  Edward  must  now  lead,  dares  for 
very  shame  to  retire  from  France  without  a  manly  attempt 
to  recover  his  lost  provinces." 

"  Such  would  have  been  the  thoughts  of  a  rightful  prince," 
said  Margaret,  "  who  left  behind  him  an  obedient  and  faith- 
ful kingdom.  Such  may  not  be  the  thoughts  of  this  Edward, 
misnamed  Plantagenet,  base  perhaps  in  mind  as  in  blood, 
since  they  say  his  real  father  was  one  Blackburn,  an  archer 
of  Middleham — usurper,  at  least,  if  not  bastard — such  will 
not  be  his  thoughts.  *  Every  breeze  that  blows  from  England 
will  bring  with  it  apprehension  of  defection  amongst  those 
over  whom  he  has  usurped  authority.  He  will  not  sleep  in 
peace  till  he  returns  to  England  with  those  cut-throats, 
whom  he  relies  upon  for  the  defense  of  his  stolen  crown. 
He  will  engage  in  no  war  with  Louis,  for  Louis  will  not 
hesitate  to  soothe  his  pride  by  humiliation,  to  gorge  his 
avarice  and  pamper  his  voluptuous  prodigality  by  sums  of 
gold  ;  and  I  fear  much  we  shall  soon  hear  of  the  English 

*  The  Lancastrian  party  threw  the  imputation  of  bastardy  (which 
was  totally  unfounded)  upon  Edward  IV . 


810  WAVEBLET  NOVELS 

army  retiring  from  France  with  the  idle  boast  that  they  have 
displayed  their  banners  once  more,  for  a  week  or  two,  in  the 
provinces  which  were  formerly  their  own/^ 

*'  It  the  more  becomes  us  to  be  speedy  in  moving  Bur- 

fundy  to  decision,"  replied  Oxford  ;  "  and  for  that  purpose 
post  to  Dijon.  Such  an  army  as  Edward^s  cannot  be  trans- 
Eorted  over  the  narrow  seas  in  several  weeks.  The  proba- 
ility  is  that  they  must  winter  in  France,  even  if  they  should 
have  truce  with  King  Louis.  With  a  thousand  Hainault 
lances  from  the  eastern  part  of  Flanders,  I  can  be  soon  in 
the  North,  where  we  have  many  friends,  besides  the  assur- 
ance of  help  from  Scotland.  The  faithful  West  will  rise  at 
a  signal — a  Clifford  can  be  found,  though  the  mountain 
mists  have  hid  him  from  Richard's  researches — the  Welsh 
will  assemble  at  the  rallying  word  of  Tudor — the  Eed  Rose 
raises  its  head  once  more — and  so,  God  save  King  Henry  I " 
''Alas  !  "  said  the  Queen.  ''  But  no  husband — no  friend 
of  mine — the  son  but  of  my  mother-in-law  by  a  Welsh  chief- 
tain— cold,  they  say,  and  crafty.  But  be  it  so — let  me  only 
see  Lancaster  triumph  and  obtain  revenge  upon  York,  and 
I  will  die  contented  ! " 

'*  It  is  then  your  pleasure  that  I  should  make  the  proffers 
expressed  by  your  Grace's  former  mandates,  to  induce  Bur- 
gundy to  stir  himself  in  our  cause  ?  If  he  learns  the  proposal 
of  a  truce  betwixt  France  and  England,  it  will  sting  sharper 
than  aught  I  can  say.'' 

"  Promise  all,  however,"  said  the  Queen.  ''  I  know  his 
inmost  soul :  it  is  set  upon  extending  the  dominions  of  his 
house  in  every  direction.  For  this  he  has  seized  Gueldres — 
for  this  he  now  overruns  and  occupies  Lorraine — for  this  he 
covets  such  poor  remnants  of  Provence  as  my  father  still  calls 
his  own.  With  such  augmented  territories,  he  proposes  to 
exchange  his  ducal  diadem  for  an  arched  crown  of  independ- 
ent sovereignty.  Tell  the  Duke,  Margaret  can  assist  his 
views  ;  tell  him  that  my  father  Rene  shall  disown  the  opposi- 
tion made  to  the  Duke's  seizure  of  Lorraine — he  shall  do 
more,  he  shall  declare  Charles  his  heir  in  Provence,with  my 
ample  consent ;  tell  him,  the  old  man  shall  cede  his  domin- 
ions to  him  upon  the  instant  that  his  Hainaulters  embark 
for  England,  some  small  pension  deducted  to  maintain  a 
concert  of  fiddlers  and  a  troop  of  morrice-dancers.  These 
are  Rent's  only  earthly  wants.  Mine  are  still  fewer.  Re- 
venge upon  York,  and  a  speedy  grave  !  For  the  paltry  gold 
which  we  may  need,  thou  hast  jewels  to  pledge.  For  the 
©ther  conditions,  security  if  required." 


ANNE  OF  GEIER STEIN  811 

'*  For  these,  madam,  I  can  pledge  my  knigntly  word,  in 
addition  to  your  royal  faith  ;  and  if  more  is  required,  my 
eon  shall  be  a  hostage  with  Burgundy.'^ 

*'  Oh  no — no  I"  exclaimed  the  dethroned  Queen,  touched 
by  perhaps  the  only  tender  feeling  which  repeated  and  ex- 
traordinary misfortunes  had  not  chilled  into  insensibility. 
*'  Hazard  not  the  life  of  the  noble  youth — he  that  is  the  last 
of  the  loyal  and  faithful  house  of  Vere — he  that  should  have 
been  the  brother  in  arms  of  my  beloved  Edward — he  that 
had  so  nearly  been  his  companion  in  a  bloody  and  untimely 
grave  !  Do  not  involve  this  poor  child  in  these  fatal  in- 
trigues, which  have  been  so  baneful  to  his  family.  Let  him 
go  with  me.  Him  at  least  I  will  shelter  from  danger  whilst 
I  live,  and  provide  for  when  I  am  no  more.^^ 

''  Forgive  me,  madam,"  said  Oxford,  with  the  firmness 
which  distinguished  him.  ^'  My  sop,  as  you  deign  to  recol- 
lect, is  a  De  Vere,  destined,  perhaps,  to  be  the  last  of  his 
name.  Fall  he  may,  but  it  must  net  be  without  honor.  To 
whatever  dangers  his  duty  and  aliegiance  call  him,  be  it 
from  sword  or  lance,  ax  or  gibbet,  to  these  he  must  expose 
himself  frankly,  when  his  doing  so  can  mark  his  allegiance. 
His  ancestors  have  shown  him  how  to  brave  them  all.''' 

"  True — true,"  exclaimed  the  unfortunate  Queen,  raising 
her  arms  wildly.  *'  All  must  perish— -all  that  have  honored 
Lancaster — all  that  have  loved  Margaret,  or  whom  she  has 
loved  !  The  destruction  must  be  univers*il — the  young  must 
fall  with  the  old — not  a  lamb  of  the  scattered  flock  shall 
escape  ! " 

"  For  God's  sake,  gracious  madam,"  said  Oxford,  '*  com- 
pose yourself  !     I  hear  them  knock  on  the  chapel  door." 

^'It  is  the  signal  of  parting,"  said  the  exiled  Queen,  col- 
lecting herself.  ''  Do  not  fear,  noble  Oxford.  I  am  not  often 
thus ;  but  how  seldom  do  I  see  those  friends  whose  faces 
and  voices  can  disturb  the  composure  of  my  despair  I  Let 
me  tie  this  relic  about  thy  neck,  good  youth,  and  fear  not 
its  evil  influence,  though  you  receive  it  from  an  ill-omened 
hand.  It  was  my  husband's,  blessed  by  many  a  prayer,  and 
sanctified  by  many  a  holy  tear ;  even  my  unhappy  hands 
cannot  pollute  it.  I  should  have  bound  it  on  my  Edward's 
bosom  on  the  dreadful  morning  of  Tewkesbury  fight ;  but  be 
armed  early — went  to  the  field  without  seeing  me,  and  all 
my  purpose  was  vain." 

She  passed  a  golden  chain  round  Arthur's  neck  as  she 
spoke,  which  contained  a  small  gold  crucifix  of  rich  but 
barbarous  manufacture.     It  had  belonged,  said  tradition,  to 


312  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

Edward  the  Confessor.  The  knock  at  the  door  of  the 
chapel  was  repeated. 

"  We  must  not  tarry /^  said  Margaret ;  ''  let  us  part  here 
— you  for  Dijon,  I  to  Aix,  my  abode  of  unrest  in  Provence. 
Farewell ;  we  may  meet  in  a  better  hour — yet  how  can  I 
hope  it  ?  Thus  I  said  on  the  morning  before  the  fight  of 
St.  Albans — thus  on  the  dark  dawning  of  Towton — thus  on 
the  yet  more  bloody  field  of  Tewkesbury — and  what  was  the 
event  ?  Yet  hope  is  a  plant  which  cannot  be  rooted  out  of 
a  noble  breast  till  the  last  heart-string  crack  as  it  is  pulled 
away.'* 

So  saying,  she  passed  through  the  chapel  door,  and  min^ 
gled  in  the  miscellaneous  assemblage  of  personages  who  wor- 
shiped, or  indulged  their  curiosity,  or  consumed  their  idle 
hours,  amongst  the  aisles  of  the  cathedral. 

Philipson  and  his  son,  both  deeply  impressed  with  the 
singular  interview  which  had  just  taken  place,  returned  to 
their  inn,  where  they  found  a  pursuivant,  with  the  Duke  of 
Burgundy's  badge  and  livery,  who  informed  them  that,  if 
they  were  the  English  merchants  who  were  carrying  wares 
of  value  to  the  court  of  the  Duke,  he  had  orders  to  afford 
them  the  countenance  of  his  escort  and  inviolable  character. 
Under  his  protection  they  set  out  from  Strasburg  ;  but  such 
was  the  uncertainty  of  the  Duke  of  Burgundy's  motions, 
and  such  the  numerous  obstacles  which  occurred  to  interrupt 
their  journey,  in  a  country  disturbed  by  the  constant  pas- 
sage of  troops  and  preparation  for  war,  that  it  was  evening 
on  the  second  day  ere  they  reached  the  plain  near  Dijon  on 
which  the  whole,  or  great  part,  of  his  power  lay  encamped. 


CHAPTER  XXV 

Thus  said  the  Duke— thus  did  the  Duke  infer. 

Richard  III. 

The  eyes  of  the  elder  traveler  were  well  accustomed  to  sights 
of  martial  splendor,  yet  even  he  was  dazzled  with  the  rich 
and  glorious  display  of  the  Burgundian  camp,  in  which,  near 
the  walls  of  Dijon,  Charles,  the  wealthiest  prince  in  Europe, 
had  displayed  his  own  extravagance,  and  encouraged  his 
followers  to  similar  profusion.  The  pavilions  of  the  mean- 
est officers  were  of  silk  and  samite,  while  those  of  the  no- 
bility and  great  leaders  glittered  with  cloth  of  silver,  cloth 
of  gold,  variegated  tapestry,  and  other  precious  materials, 
which  in  no  other  situation  would  have  been  employed  as  a 
cover  from  the  weather,  but  would  themselves  have  been 
thought  worthy  of  the  most  careful  protection.  The  horse- 
men and  infantry  who  mounted  guard  were  arrayed  in  the 
richest  and  most  gorgeous  armor.  A  beautiful  and  very 
numerous  train  of  artillery  was  drawn  up  near  the  entrance 
of  the  camp,  and  in  its  commander  Philipson  (to  give  the 
Earl  the  traveling  name  to  which  our  readers  are  accus- 
tomed) recognized  Henry  Colvin,  an  Englishman  of  inferior 
birth,  but  distinguished  for  his  skill  in  conducting  these 
terrible  engines  which  had  of  late  come  into  general  use  in 
war.  The  banners  and  pennons  which  were  displayed  by 
every  knight,  baron,  and  man  of  rank  floated  before  their 
tents,  and  the  owners  of  these  transitory  dwellings  sat  at 
the  door  half-armed,  and  enjoyed  the  military  contests  of 
the  soldiers,  in  wrestling,  pitching  the  bar,  and  other  ath- 
letic exercises. 

Long  rows  of  the  noblest  horses  were  seen  at  picquet, 
prancing  and  tossing  their  heads,  as  impatient  of  the  inac- 
tivity to  which  they  were  confined,  or  were  heard  neighing 
over  the  provender  which  was  spread  plentifully  before  them. 
The  soldiers  formed  joyous  groups  around  the  minstrels  and 
strolling  jugglers,  or  were  engaged  in  drinking-parties  at  the 
sutlers^  tents  ;  others  strolled  about  with  folded  arms,  cast- 
ing their  eyes  now  and  then  to  the  sinking  sun,  as  if  desir* 

313 


814  WA  VERLEY  NOVELS 

ons  that  the  hour  should  arrive  which  should  put  an  end 
to  a  day  unoccupied,  and  therefore  tedious. 

At  length  the  travelers  reached,  amidst  the  dazzling  varie- 
ties of  this  military  display,  the  pavilion  of  the  Duke  him- 
self, before  which  floated  heavily  in  the  evening  breeze  the 
broad  and  rich  banner  in  which  glowed  the  armorial  bear- 
ings and  quarterings  of  a  prince,  duke  of  six  provinces,  and 
count  of  fifteen  counties,  who  was,  from  his  power,  his  dis- 
position, and  the  success  which  seemed  to  attend  his  enter- 
prises, the  general  dread  of  Europe.  The  pursuivant  made 
himself  known  to  some  of  the  household,  and  the  English- 
men were  immediately  received  with  courtesy,  though  not 
such  as  to  draw  attention  upon  them,  and  conveyed  to  a 
neighboring  tent,  the  residence  of  a  general  ofl&cer,  which 
they  were  given  to  understand  was  destined  for  their  accom- 
modation, and  where  their  packages  accordingly  -were  de- 
posited, and  refreshments  offered  them. 

''  As  the  camp  is  filled,*'  said  the  domestic  who  waited 
upon  them,  "  with  soldiers  of  different  nations  and  uncer- 
tain dispositions,  the  Duke  of  Burgundy,  for  the  safety  of 
your  merchandise,  has  ordered  you  the  protection  of  a  regular 
sentinel.  In  the  meantime,  be  in  readiness  to  wait  on  hia 
Highness,  seeing  you  may  look  to  be  presently  sent  for.*' 

Accordingly,  the  elder  Philipson  was  shortly  after  sum- 
moned to  the  Duke's  presence,  introduced  by  a  back  en- 
trance into  the  ducal  pavilion,  and  into  that  part  of  it  which,, 
screened  by  close  curtains  and  wooden  barricades,  formed 
Charles's  own  separate  apartment.  The  plainness  of  the 
furniture,  and  the  coarse  apparatus  of  the  Duke's  toilet, 
formed  a  strong  contrast  to  the  appearance  of  the  exterior 
of  the  pavilion  ;  for  Charles,  whose  character  was,  in  that  as 
in  other  things,  far  from  consistent,  exhibited  in  his  own 
person  during  war  an  austerity,  or  rather  coarseness,  of 
dress,  and  sometimes  of  manners  also,  which  was  more  like 
the  rudeness  of  a  German  lanzknecht  than  the  bearing  of  a 
prince  of  exalted  rank  ;  while,  at  the  same  time,  he  en- 
couraged and  enjoined  a  great  splendor  of  expense  and  display 
amongst  his  vassals  and  courtiers,  as  if  to  be  rudely  attired, 
and  to  despise  every  restraint,  even  of  ordinary  ceremony, 
were  a  privilege  of  the  sovereign  alone.  Yet,  when  it 
pleased  him  to  assume  state  in  person  and  manners,  none 
knew  better  than  Charles  of  Burgundy  how  he  ought  to 
adorn  and  demean  himself. 

Upon  his  toilet  appeared  brushes  and  combs  which 
might  have  claimed  dismissal  as  past  the  term  of  service. 


ANNE  OF  GEIEBSTEIN  315 

overworn  hats  and  doublets,  dog-leashes,  leather  belts,  and 
other  such  paltry  articles  ;  amongst  which  lay  at  random,  as 
it  seemed,  the  great  diamond  called  Sanci,  the  three  rubies 
termed  the  Three  Brothers  of  Antwerp,  another  great  dia- 
mond called  the  Lamp  of  Flanders,  and  other  precious 
stones  of  scarcely  inferior  value  and  rarity.  This  extraor- 
dinary display  somewhat  resembled  the  character  of  the 
Duke  himself,  who  mixed  cruelty  with  justice,  magnanimity 
with  meanness  of  spirit,  economy  with  extravagance,  and 
liberality  with  avarice  ;  being,  in  fact,  consistent  m  nothing 
excepting  in  his  obstinate  determination  to  follow  the 
opinion  he  had  once  formed,  in  every  situation  of  things,  and 
through  all  variety  of  risks. 

In  the  midst  of  the  valueless  and  inestimable  articles  of 
his  wardrobe  and  toilet,  the  Duke  of  Burgundy  called  out 
to  the  English  traveler,  ^*  Welcome,  Herr  Philipson^wel- 
come,  you  of  a  nation  whose  traders  are  princes,  and  their 
merchants  the  mighty  ones  of  the  earth.  What  new  com- 
modities have  you  brought  to  gull  us  with  ?  You  merchants, 
by  St.  George,  are  a  wily  generation." 

"  Faith,  no  new  merchandise  I,  my  lord,"  answered  the 
elder  Englishman  :  "  I  bring  but  the  commodities  which  I 
showed  your  Highness  the  last  time  I  communicated  with 
you,  in  the  hope  of  a  poor  trader  that  your  Grace  may  find 
them  more  acceptable  upon  a  review  than  when  you  first 
saw  them." 

*'  It  is  well.  Sir — Philipville,  I  think  they  call  you  ?  You 
are  a  simple  trader,  or  you  take  me  for  a  silly  purchaser,  that 
you  think  to  gull  me  with  the  same  wares  which  I  fancied 
not  formerly.  Change  of  fashion,  man — novelty — is  the 
motto  of  commerce ;  your  Lancaster  wares  have  had  their 
day,  and  I  have  bought  of  them  like  others,  and  was  like 
enough  to  have  paid  dear  for  them  too.  York  is  all  the 
vogue  now." 

"It  may  be  so  among  the  vulgar,"  said  the  Earl  of  Ox- 
i'ord ;  *'but  for  souls  like  your  Highness  faith,  honor,  and 
loyalty  are  jewels  which  change  of  fancy  or  mutability  of 
taste  cannot  put  out  of  fashion." 

"  Why,  it  may  be,  noble  Oxford,"  said  the  Duke,  *'  that  I 
preserve  in  my  secret  mind  some  veneration  for  these  old- 
fashioned  qualities,  else  why  should  I  have  such  regard  for 
your  person,  in  which  they  have  ever  been  distinguished  ? 
But  my  situation  is  painfully  urgent,  and  should  I  make  a 
false  step  at  this  crisis,  I  might  break  the  purposes  of  my 
whole  life.     Observe  me,  sir  merchant.     Here  has  come  ovei 


S16  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

your  old  competitor,  Blackburn,  whom  some  call  Edward  of 
York  and  of  London,  with  a  commodity  of  bows  and  bills 
such  as  never  entered  France  since  King  Arthur^s  time  ;  and 
he  offers  to  enter  into  joint  adventure  with  me,  or,  in  plain 
speech,  to  make  common  cause  with  Burgundy,  till  we 
smoke  out  of  his  earths  the  old  fox  Louis,  and  nail  his  hide 
to  the  stable-door.  In  a  word,  England  invites  me  to  take 
part  with  him  against  my  most  wily  and  inveterate  enemy, 
the  King  of  France ;  to  rid  myself  of  the  chain  of  vassalage, 
and  to  ascend  into  the  rank  of  independent  princes  ;  how 
think  you,  noble  earl,  can  I  forego  this  seducing  tempta- 
tion ?'' 

*'  You  must  ask  this  of  some  of  your  counselors  of  Bur- 
gundy,'' said  Oxford  ;  ''  it  is  a  question  fraught  too  deeply 
with  ruin  to  my  cause  for  me  to  give  a  fair  opinion  on 
it.'' 

"Nevertheless,"  said  Charles,  "I  ask  thee  as  an  honorable 
man,  what  objections  you  see  to  the  course  proposed  to  me  ? 
Speak  your  mind,  and  speak  it  freely." 

"  My  lord,  I  know  it  is  in  your  Highness's  nature  to  enter- 
tain no  doubts  of  the  facility  of  executing  anything  which 
you  have  once  determined  shall  be  done.  Yet,  though  this 
princelike  disposition  may  in  some  cases  prepare  for  its  own 
success,  and  has  often  done  so,  there  are  others  in  which, 
persisting  in  our  purpose,  merely  because  we  have  once  willed 
it,  leads  not  to  success  but  to  ruin.  Look,  therefore,  at  this 
English  army.  Winter  is  approaching,  where  are  they  to  be 
lodged  ?  how  are  they  to  be  victualed  ?  by  whom  are  they  to 
be  paid  ?  Is  your  Highness  to  take  all  the  expense  and  labor 
of  fitting  them  for  the  summer  campaign  ?  for,  rely  on  it, 
an  English  army  never  was,  nor  will  be,  fit  for  service  till 
they  have  been  out  of  their  own  island  long  enough  to  accus- 
tom them  to  military  duty.  They  are  men,  I  grant,  the 
fittest  for  soldiers  in  the  world,  but  they  are  not  soldiers  as 
yet,  and  must  be  trained  to  become  such  at  your  Highness's 
expense." 

^^  Be  it  so,"  said  Charles ;  "  I  think  the  Low  Countries 
can  find  food  for  the  beef -consuming  knaves  for  a  few  weeks, 
and  villages  for  them  to  lie  in,  and  officers  to  train  their  sturdy 
limbs  to  war,  and  provost-marshals  enough  to  reduce  their 
refractory  spirit  to  discipline." 

"  What  happens  next  ?  "  said  Oxford.  ^'  You  march  to 
Paris,  add  to  Edward's  usurped  power  another  kingdom,  re- 
store to  him  all  the  possessions  which  England  ever  had  in 
France,  Normandy,  Maine,  Anjou,  Gascony,  and  all  besides 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  317 

— can  yon  trust  this  Edward  when  yon  shall  have  thus  fos- 
tered his  strength,  and  made  him  far  stronger  than  this 
Louis  whom  you  have  united  to  pull  down  ?  " 

"  By  St.  George,  I  will  not  dissemble  with  you  !  It  is  in 
that  very  point  that  my  doubts  trouble  me.  Edward  is  in- 
deed my  brother-in-law,  but  I  am  a  man  little  inclined  to 
put  my  head  under  my  wife's  girdle.''^ 

''  And  the  times/'  said  Philipson,  "  have  too  often  shown 
the  inefficiency  of  family  alliances  to  prevent  the  most  gross 
breaches  of  faith.'' 

"  You  say  well,  earl.  Clarence  betrayed  his  father-in-law  ; 
Louis  poisoned  his  brother.  Domestic  affections,  pshaw !  they 
sit  warm  enough  by  a  private  man's  fireside,  but  they  cannot 
come  into  fields  of  battle,  or  princes'  halls,  where  the  wind 
blows  cold.  No,  my  alliance  with  Edward  by  marriage  were 
little  succor  to  me  in  time  of  need.  I  would  as  soon  ride  an 
unbroken  horse,  with  no  better  bridle  than  a  lady's  garter. 
But  what  then  is  the  result  ?  He  wars  on  Louis  ;  whichever 
gains  the  better,  I,  who  must  be  strengthened  in  their  mutual 
weakness,  receive  the  advantage.  The  Englishmen  slay  the 
French  with  their  cloth-yard  shafts,  and  the  Frenchmen,  by 
skirmishes,  waste,  weaken,  and  destroy  the  English.  With 
spring  I  take  the  field  with  an  army  superior  to  both,  and 
then,  St.  George  for  Burgundy  ! " 

''And  if  in  the  meanwhile,  your  Highness  will  deign  to 
assist,  even  in  the  most  trifling  degree,  a  cause  the  most 
honorable  that  ever  knight  laid  lance  in  rest  for,  a  moderate 
sum  of  money,  and  a  small  body  of  Hainault  lances,  who 
may  gain  both  fame  and  fortune  by  the  service,  may  replace 
the  injured  heir  of  Lancaster  in  the  possession  of  his  native 
and  rightful  dominion." 

"Ay,  marry,  sir  earl,"  said  the  Duke,  "you  come  roundly 
to  the  point ;  but  we  have  seen,  and  indeed  partly  assisted  at, 
so  many  turns  betwixt  York  and  Lancaster,  that  we  have  some 
doubt  which  is  the  side  to  which  Heaven  has  given  the  right, 
and  the  inclinations  of  the  people  the  effectual  power ;  we 
are  surprised  into  absolute  giddiness  by  so  many  extraordi- 
nary revolutions  of  fortune  as  England  has  exhibited." 

"  A  proof,  my  lord,  that  these  mutations  are  not  yet  ended, 
and  that  your  generous  aid  may  give  to  the  better  side  an 
effectual  turn  of  advantage." 

"  And  lend  my  cousin,  Margaret  of  Anjou,  my  arm  to  de- 
throne my  wife's  brother  ?  Perhaps  he  deserves  small  good- 
will at  my  hands,  since  he  and  his  insolent  nobles  have  been 
urging  me  with  remonstrances,  and  even  threats,  to  lay  aside  all 


SIS  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

mj  own  important  affairs,  and  join  Edward,  forsooth,  in  hia 
knight-errant  expedition  against  Louis.  I  will  march  against 
Louis  at  my  own  time,  and  not  sooner  ;  and,  by  St.  George  ! 
neither  island  king  nor  island  noble  shall  dictate  to  Charles 
of  Burgundy.  You  are  fine  conceited  companions,  you 
English  of  both  sides,  that  think  the  matters  of  your  own 
bedlam  island  are  as  interesting  to  all  the  world  as  to  your- 
selves. But  neither  York  nor  Lancaster,  neither  brother 
Blackburn  nor  cousin  Margaret  of  Anjou,  not  with  John  do 
Vere  to  back  her,  shall  gull  me.  Men  lure  no  hawks  with 
empty  hands. '* 

Oxford,  familiar  with  the  Duke's  disposition,  suffered  him 
to  exhaust  himself  in  chafing,  that  any  one  should  pretend 
to  dictate  his  course  of  conduct,  and,  when  he  was  at  length 
silent,  replied  with  calmness — ''  Do  I  live  to  hear  the  noble 
Duke  of  Burgundy,  the  mirror  of  European  chivalry,  say  that 
no  reason  has  been  shown  to  him  for  an  adventure  where  a 
helpless  queen  is  to  be  redressed — a  royal  house  raised  from 
the  dust  ?  Is  there  not  immortal  los  and  honor — the  trumpet 
of  fame  to  proclaim  the  sovereign  who,  alone  in  a  degenerate 
age,  has  united  the  duties  of  a  generous  knight  with  those 
of  a  princely  sovereign " 

The  Duke  interrupted  him,  striking  him  at  the  same  time 
on  the  shoulder — ^''  And  King  Eene's  five  hundred  fiddlers 
to  tune  their  cracked  violins  in  my  praise,  and  King  Eene 
himself  to  listen  to  them,  and  say,  'Well  fought,  Duke — 
well  played,  fiddler  ? '  I  tell  thee,  John  of  Oxford,  when 
thou  and  I  wore  maiden  armor,  such  words  as  fame,  honor, 
los,  knightly  glory,  lady's  love,  and  so  forth,  were  good 
mottoes  for  our  snow-white  shields,  and  a  fair  enough  argu- 
ment for  splintering  lances — ay,  and  in  tilt-yard,  though 
somewhat  old  for  these  fierce  follies,  I  would  jeopard  my 
person  in  such  a  quarrel  yet,  as  becomes  a  knight  of  the 
order  ;  but  when  we  come  to  paying  down  of  crowns,  and 
embarking  of  large  squadrons,  we  must  have  to  propose  to 
our  subjects  some  substantial  excuse  for  plunging  them  in 
war — some  proposal  for  the  public  good — or,  by  St.  George  I 
for  our  own  private  advantage,  which-  is  the  same  thing. 
This  is  the  course  the  world  runs,  and,  Oxford,  to  tell  the 
plain  truth,  I  mean  to  hold  the  same  bias.'^ 

'^  Heaven  forbid  that  I  should  expect  your  Highness  to 
act  otherwise  than  with  a  view  to  your  subjects'  welfare— 
the  increase,  that  is,  as  your  Grace  happily  expresses  it,  of 
your  own  power  and  dominion.  The  money  we  require  is 
not  in  benevolence,  but  in  loan  ;  and  Margaret  is  willing  to 


ANNE  OF  GEIEESTEIN  31© 

deposit  these  jewels,  of  which  I  think  your  Grace  knows  the 
value,  till  she  shall  repay  the  sum  which  your  friendship 
may  advance  in  her  necessity/' 

**  Ha,  ha  !  '*  said  the  Duke,  "  would  our  cousin  make  a 
pawnbroker  of  us,  and  have  us  deal  with  her  like  a  Jewish 
usurer  with  his  debtor  ?  Yet,  in  faith,  Oxford,  we  may  need 
the  diamonds,  for  if  this  business  were  otherwise  feasible, 
it  is  possible  that  I  myself  must  become  a  borrower  to  aid 
my  cousin's  necessities.  I  have  applied  to  the  states  of  the 
duchy,  who  are  now  sitting,  and  expect,  as  is  reasonable,  a 
large  supply.  But  there  are  restless  heads  and  close  hands 
among  them,  and  they  may  be  niggardly.  So  place  the 
jewels  on  the  table  in  the  meanwhile.  Well,  say  I  am  to  be 
no  sufferer  in  purse  by  this  feat  of  knight-errantry  which 
you  propose  to  me,  still  princes  enter  not  into  war  without 
some  view  of  advantage  ?  '* 

*'  Listen  to  me,  noble  sovereign.  You  are  naturally  bent 
to  unite  the  great  estates  of  your  father  and  those  you 
have  acquired  by  your  own  arms  into  a  compact  and  firm 
dukedom " 

*'  Call  it  kingdom,''  said  Charles  ;  'Mt  is  the  worthier 
word." 

''  Into  a  kingdom,  of  which  the  crown  shall  sit  as  fair  and 
even  on  your  Grace's  brow  as  that  of  France  on  your  present 
suzerain,  Louis." 

"  It  needs  not  such  shrewdness  as  yours  to  descry  that 
such  is  my  purpose,"  said  the  Duke  ;  "  else,  wherefore  am  I 
here  with  helm  on  my  head  and  sword  by  my  side  ?  And 
wherefore  are  my  troops  seizing  on  the  strong  places  in  Lor- 
raine, and  chasing  before  them  the  beggarly  De  Vaudemont, 
who  has  the  insolence  to  claim  it  as  his  inheritance  ?  Yes, 
my  friend,  the  aggrandizements  of  Burgundy  is  a  theme  for 
which  the  duke  of  that  fair  province  is  bound  to  fight,  while 
he  can  put  foot  in  stirrup." 

"  But  think  you  not,"  said  the  English  earl,  *'  since  you 
allow  me  to  speak  freely  with  your  Grace  on  the  footing  of 
old  acquaintanceship — think  you  not  that  in  this  chart  of 
your  dominions,  otherwise  so  fairly  bounded,  there  is  some- 
thing on  the  southern  frontier  which  might  be  arranged 
more  advantageously  for  a  King  of  Burgundy  ?  " 

"  I  cannot  guess  whither  you  would  lead  me,"  said  the 
Duke,  looking  at  a  map  of  the  duchy  and  his  other  posses- 
sions, to  which  the  Englishman  had  pointed  his  attention, 
and  then  turning  his  broad  keen  eye  upon  the  face  of  the 
banished  earl. 


320  WA  VERLET  NOVELS 

''  I  would  say/'  replied  the  latter,  "  that,  to  so  powerful  a 
prince  as  your  Grace,  there  is  no  safe  neighbor  but  the  sea^ 
Here  is  Provence,  which  interferes  betwixt  you  and  the  Medi- 
terranean— Provence,  with  its  princely  harbors  and  fertile 
cornfields  and  vineyards.  Were  it  not  well  to  include  it 
in  your  map  of  sovereignty,  and  thus  touch  the  middle  sea 
with  one  hand,  while  the  other  rested  on  the  sea- coast  of 
Flanders?'' 

''  Provence,  said  you  ? ''  replied  the  Duke,  eagerly  ;  '^  why, 
man,  my  very  dreams  are  of  Provence.  I  cannot  smell  an 
orange  but  it  reminds  me  of  its  perfumed  woods  and  bowers, 
its  olives,  citrons,  and  ;fomegranates.  But  how  to  frame 
pretensions  to  it  ?  Shame  it  were  to  disturb  Eene,  the 
harmless  old  man,  nor  would  it  become  a  near  relation. 
Then  he  is  the  uncle  of  Louis  ;  and  most  probably,  failing 
his  daughter  Margaret,  or  perhaps  in  preference  to  her,  he 
hath  named  the  French  king  his  heir." 

**  A  better  claim  might  be  raised  up  in  your  Grace's  own 
person,"  sad  the  Earl  of  Oxford,  ^'  if  you  will  afford  Mar- 
garet of  Anjou  the  succor  she  requires  by  me." 

*^Take  the  aid  thou  requirest,"  replied  the  Duke — '^take 
double  the  amount  Ojl  It  in  men  and  money  !  Let  me  but 
have  a  claim  upon  Provence,  though  thin  as  a  single  thread 
of  thy  Queen  Margaret's  hair,  and  let  me  alone  for  twisting 
it  into  the  tough  texture  of  a  quadruple  cable.  But  I  am  a 
fool  to  listen  to  the  dreams  of  one  who,  ruined  himself,  can 
lose  little  by  holding  forth  to  others  the  most  extravagant 
hopes." 

Charles  breathed  high,  and  changed  complexion  as  he 
spoke. 

"  I  am  not  such  a  person,  my  Lord  Duke,"  said  the  Earl. 
"Listen  to  me — Eene  is  broken  with  years,  fond  of  repose, 
and  too  poor  to  maintain  his  rank  with  the  necessary  dignity  ; 
too  good-natured,  or  too  feeble-minded,  to  lay  farther  imposts 
on  his  subjects  ;  weary  of  contending  with  bad  fortune,  and 
desirous  to  resign  his  territories " 

"  His  territories  ! "  said  Charles. 

''Yes,  all  he  actually  possesses,  and  the  much  more  ex- 
tensive dominions  which  he  has  claim  to,  but  which  have 
passed  from  his  sway." 

''  You  take  away  my  breath  ! "  said  the  Duke.  ''  Eene 
resign  Provence  !  And  what  says  Margaret — the  proud,  the 
high-minded  Margaret — will  she  subscribe  to  sc  humiliating 
a  proceeding  ?  " 

*'  For  the  chance  of  seeing  Lancaster  triumph  in  England, 


ANNE  OF  GE1EB8TEIN  821 

she  would  resign,  not  only  dominion,  but  life  itself.  And 
in  truth  the  sacrifice  is  less  than  it  may  seem  to  be.  It  is 
certain  that,  when  Rene  dies,  the  King  of  France  will  claim 
the  old  man's  county  of  Provence  as  a  male  fief,  and  there 
is  no  one  strong  enough  to  back  Margaret's  claim  of  inherit- 
ance, however  just  it  may  be.'* 

'^  It  is  just,  said  Charles — '*  it  is  undeniable  I  I  will  not 
hear  of  its  being  denied  or  challenged — that  is,  when  once  it 
is  established  in  our  own  person.  It  is  the  true  principle  of 
the  war  for  the  public  good,  that  none  of  the  great  fiefs  be 
suffered  to  revert  again  to  the  crown  of  France,  least  of  all 
while  it  stands  on  a  brow  so  astucious  and  unprincipled  as 
that  of  Louis.  Burgundy  joined  to  Provence — a  dominion 
from  the  German  Ocean  to  the  Mediterranean  !  Oxford, 
thou  art  my  better  angel  ! " 

"Your  Grace  must,  however,  reflect, '*  said  Oxford,  ''that 
honorable  provision  must  be  made  for  King  Eene.'' 

*'  Certainly,  man — certainly  :  he  shall  have  a  score  of  fid- 
dlers and  jugglers  to  play,  roar,  and  recite  to  him  from  morn- 
ing till  night.  He  shall  have  a  court  of  troubadours,  who 
shall  do  nothing  but  drink,  flute,  and  fiddle  to  him,  and 
pronounce  arrests  of  love,  to  be.  confirmed  or  reversed  by  an 
appeal  to  himself,  the  supreme  roi  d'ainour.  And  Margaret 
shall  also  be  honorably  sustained,  in  the  manner  you  may 
point  out.'* 

"  That  will  be  easily  settled,*'  answered  the  English  earl. 
"  If  our  attempts  on  England  succeed,  she  will  need  no  aid 
from  Burgundy.  If  she  fails,  she  retires  into  a  cloister,  and 
it  will  not  be  long  that  she  will  need  the  honorable  mainte- 
nance which,  I  am  sure,  your  Grace's  generosity  will  willingly 
assign  her/' 

''Unquestionably,*'  answered  Charles,  "and  on  a  scale 
which  will  become  us  both  ;  but,  by  my  halidome,  John  of 
Vere,  the  abbess  into  whose  cloister  Margaret  of  Anjou  shall 
retire  will  have  an  ungovernable  penitent  under  her  charge. 
Well  do  I  know  her ;  and,  sir  earl,  I  will  not  clog  our  dis- 
course by  expressing  any  doubts  that,  if  she  pleases,  she  can 
compel  her  father  to  resign  his  estates  to  whomsoever  she 
will.  She  is  like  my  brache,  Gorgon,  who  compels  whatso- 
ever hound  is  coupled  with  her  to  go  the  way  she  chooses,  or 
she  strangles  him  if  he  resists.  So  has  Margaret  acted  with 
her  simple-minded  husband,  and  I  am  aware  that  her  father, 
a  fool  of  a  different  cast,  must  of  necessity  be  equally  tract- 
able. I  think  /  could  have  matched  her,  though  my  very 
neck  aches  at  the  thought  of  the  struggles  we  should  hay« 

21 


822  WAVEBLET  NOVELS 

had  for  mastery.  But  you  look  grave,  because  I  jest  with 
the  pertinacious  temper  of  my  unhappy  cousin." 

"  My  lord,"  said  Oxford,  ^'  whatever  are  or  have  been  the 
defects  of  my  mistress,  she  is  in  distress,  and  almost  in  des- 
olation. She  is  my  sovereign,  and  your  Highnesses  cousin 
not  the  less." 

*'  Enough  said,  sir  earl,"  answered  the  Duke.  "  Let  us 
speak  seriously.  Whatever  we  may  think  of  the  abdication 
of  King  Rene,  I  fear  we  shall  find  it  difficult  to  make  Louis 
XI,  see  the  matter  as  favorably  as  we  do.  He  will  hold  that 
the  county  of  Provence  is  a  male  fief,  and  that  neither  the 
resignation  of  Rene  nor  the  consent  of  his  daughter  can 
prevent  its  reverting  to  the  crown  of  France,  as  the  King  of 
Sicily,  as  they  call  him,  hath  no  male  issue." 

"  That,  may  it  please  your  Grace,  is  a  question  for  battle 
to  decide  ;  and  your  Highness  has  successfully  braved  Louis 
for  a  less  important  stake.  All  I  can  say  is,  that,  if  your 
Grace's  active  assistance  enables  the  young  Earl  of  Richmond 
to  succeed  in  his  enterprise,  you  shall  have  the  aid  of  three 
thousand  English  archers,  if  old  John  of  Oxford,  for  want 
of  a  better  leader,  were  to  bring  them  over  himself." 

"  A  noble  aid,"  said  the  Duke,  '^  graced  still  more  by  him 
who  promises  to  lead  them.  Thy  succor,  noble  Oxford, 
were  precious  to  me,  did  you  but  come  with  your  sword  by 
your  side  and  a  single  page  at  your  back.  I  know  you  well, 
both  heart  and  head.  But  let  us  to  this  gear  ;  exiles,  even 
the  wisest,  are  privileged  in  promises,  and  sometimes — excuse 
me,  noblfe  Oxford — impose  on  themselves  as  well  as  on  their 
friends.  What  are  the  hopes  on  which  you  desire  me  again 
to  embark  on  so  troubled  and  uncertain  an  ocean  as  these 
civil  contests  of  yours  ?  " 

The  Earl  of  Oxford  produced  a  schedule,  and  explained  to 
the  Duke  the  plan  of  his  expedition,  to  be  backed  by  an  in- 
surrection of  the  friends  of  Lancaster,  of  which  it  is  enough 
to  say,  that  it  was  bold  to  the  verge  of  temerity  ;  but  yet  so 
well  compacted  and  put  together  as  to  bear,  in  those  times 
of  rapid  revolution,  and  under  a  leader  of  Oxford's  approved 
military  skill  and  political  sagacity,  a  strong  appearance  of 
probable  success. 

While  Duke  Charles  mused  over  the  particulars  of  an  en. 
terprise  attractive  and  congenial  to  his  own  disposition,  while 
he  counted  over  the  affronts  which  he  had  received  from  his 
brother-in-law,  Edward  IV.,  the  present  opportunity  for 
taking  a  signal  revenge,  and  the  rich  acquisition  which  he 
hoped  to  make  in  Provence  by  the  cession  in  his  favor  of 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  323 

Ren6  of  Anjon  and  his  daughter,  the  Englishman  failed  not 
to  press  on  his  consideration  the  urgent  necessity  of  suffering 
no  time  to  escape. 

"  The  accomplishment  of  this  scheme/'  he  said,  '^  demands 
the  utmost  promptitude.  To  have  a  chance  of  success,  I 
must  be  in  England,  with  your  Grace's  auxiliary  forces, 
before  Edward  of  York  can  return  from  France  with  hia 
army/' 

"  And  having  come  hither,'*  said  the  Duke,  ''  our  worthy 
brother  will  be  in  no  hurry  to  return  again.  He  will  meet 
with  black-eyed  French  women  and  ruby-colored  French 
wine,  and  brother  Blackburn  is  no  man  to  leave  such  com- 
modities in  a  hurry." 

''  My  Lord  Duke,  I  will  speak  truth  of  my  enemy.  Edward 
is  indolent  and  luxurious  when  things  are  easy  around  him, 
but  let  him  feel  the  spur  of  necessity,  and  he  becomes  as 
eager  as  a  pampered  steed.  Louis,  too,  who  seldom  fails  in 
finding  means  to  accomplish  his  ends,  is  bent  upon  deter- 
mining the  English  king  to  recross  the  sea  ;  therefore,  speed, 
noble  prince — speed  is  the  soul  of  your  enterprise." 

'*  Speed  !  "  said  the  Duke  of  Burgundy.  ''  Why,  1  will 
go  with  you  and  see  the  embarkation  myself ;  and  tried, 
approved  soldiers  you  shall  have,  such  as  are  nowhere  to  ba 
found  save  in  Artois  and  Hainault." 

'^  But  pardon  yet,  noble  Duke,  the  impatience  of  a  drown- 
ing wretch  urgently  pressing  for  assistance.  When  shall  we 
to  the  coast  of  Flanders  to  order  this  important  measure  ?" 

'^  Why,  in  a  fortnight,  or  perchance  a  week,  or,  in  a  word, 
so  soon  as  I  shall  have  chastised  to  purpose  a  certain  gang 
of  thieves  and  robbers  who,  as  the  scum  of  the  caldron  will 
always  be  uppermost,  have  got  up  into  the  fastnesses  of  the 
Alps,  and  from  thence  annoy  our  frontiers  by  contraband 
traffic,  pillage,  and  robbery." 

"  Your  Highness  means  the  Swiss  confederates  ?" 

'*  Ay,  the  peasant  churls  give  themselves  such  a  name. 
They  are  a  sort  of  manumitted  slaves  of  Austria,  and,  like  a 
ban-dog  whose  chain  is  broken,  they  avail  themselves  of  their 
liberty  to  annoy  and  rend  whatever  comes  in  their  way." 

"  I  traveled  through  their  country  from  Italy,"  said  the 
exiled  earl,  *'  and  I  heard  it  was  the  purpose  of  the  cantons 
to  send  envoys  to  solicit  peace  of  your  Highness." 

*'  Peace  ! "  exclaimed  Charles.  "  A  proper  sort  of  peaceful 
proceedings  those  of  their  embassy  have  been  !  Availing 
themselves  of  a  mutiny  of  the  burghers  of  La  Ferette,  the  first 
garrison  town  which  they  entered,  they  stormed  the  walls, 


324  WA  VEBLEY  NO  VELS 

seized  on  Archibald  de  Hagenbach,  who  commanded  the 
place  on  my  part^  and  put  him  to  death  in  the  market- 
place. Such  an  insult  must  be  punished,  Sir  John  de 
Vere  ;  and  if  you  do  not  see  me  in  the  storm  of  passion 
which  it  well  deserves,  it  is  because  I  have  already  given 
orders  to  hang  up  the  base  runagates  who  call  themselves 
ambassadors." 

"For  God's  sake,  noble  Duke/'  said  the  Englishman, 
throwing  himself  at  Charles's  feet,  ''  for  your  own  character, 
for  the  sake  of  the  peace  of  Christendom,  revoke  such  an 
order  if  it  is  really  given  ! " 

"  What  means  this  passion  ?  "  said  Duke  Charles.  *^  What 
are  these  men's  lives  to  thee,  excepting  that  the  con- 
sequences of  a  war  may  delay  your  expedition  for  a  few 
days?" 

'^  May  render  it  altogether  abortive,"  said  the  Earl ;  "  nay, 
must  needs  do  so.  Hear  me.  Lord  Duke.  I  was  with  these 
men  on  a  part  of  their  journey." 

"  You  f "  sftid  the  Duke — ^^  you  a  companion  of  the 
paltry  Swiss  peasants  ?  Misfortune  has  sunk  the  pride  of 
English  nobility  to  a  low  ebb,  when  you  selected  such 
associates." 

'^  I  was  thrown  amongst  them  by  accident,"  said  the  Earl. 
"  Some  of  them  are  of  noble  blood,  and  are,  besides,  men  for 
whose  peaceable  intentions  I  ventured  to  constitute  myself 
their  warrant." 

'*  On  my  honor,  my  Lord  of  Oxford,  you  graced  them 
highly,  and  me  no  less,  in  interfering  between  the  Swiss  and 
myself  !  Allow  me  to  say  that  I  condescend  when,  in  defer- 
ence to  past  friendship,  I  permit  you  to  speak  to  me  of  your 
own  English  affairs.  Methinks  you  might  well  spare  me 
your  opinion  upon  topics  with  which  you  have  no  natural 
concern." 

^'  My  Lord  of  Burgundy,"  replied  Oxford,  ^^  I  followed 
your  banner  to  Paris,  and  had  the  good  luck  to  rescue  you 
in  the  fight  at  Mont  L'Hery,  when  yOu  were  beset  by  the 
French  men-at-arms " 

"  We  have  not  forgot  it,"  said  Duke  Charles  ;  '*  and  it  is 
a  sign  that  we  keep  the  action  in  remembrance,  that  you 
have  been  suffered  to  stand  before  us  so  long,  pleading  the 
cause  of  a  set  of  rascals  whom  we  are  required  to  spare  from 
the  gallows  that  groans  for  them  because,  forsooth,  they  have 
been  the  fellow-travelers  of  the  Earl  of  Oxford  ! " 

''  Not  so,  my  lord.  I  ask  their  lives  only  because  they  are 
upon  a  peaceful  errand,  and  the  leaders  amongst  them  at 


ANNE  OF  GEIEB8TEIN  325 

least  have  no  accession  to  the  (jrime  of  which  yon  com- 
plain/' 

The  Duke  traversed  the  apartment  with  unequal  steps  in 
much  agitation,  his  large  eyebrows  drawn  down  over  his 
eyes,  his  hands  clenched,  and  his  teeth  set,  until  at  length 
he  seemed  to  take  a  resolution.  He  rung  a  handbell  of  silver, 
which  stood  upon  his  table. 

''  Here,  Contay,''  he  said  to  the  gentleman  of  his  chamber 
who  entered,  ''  are  these  mountain  fellows  yet  executed  ?'' 

'*No,  may  it  please  your  Highness;  but  the  executioner 
waits  them  so  soon  as  the  priest  hath  confessed  them.'' 

'^  Let  them  live,"  said  the  Duke.  "  We  will  hear  to-mor- 
row in  what  manner  they  propose  to  justify  their  proceedings 
towards  us." 

Oontay  bowed  and  left  the  apartment ;  then  turning  to 
the  Englishman,  the  Duke  said,  with  an  indescribable  mix- 
ture of  haughtiness  with  familiarity,  and  even  kindness,  but 
having  his  brows  cleared  and  his  looks  composed — ^^  We  are 
now  clear  of  obligation,  my  Lord  of  Oxford  :  you  have  ob- 
tained life  for  life — nay,  to  make  up  some  inequality  which 
there  may  be  betwixt  the  value  of  the  commodities  bestowed, 
you  have  obtained  six  lives  for  one.  I  will,  therefore,  pay 
no  more  attention  to  you  should  you  again  upbraid  me  with 
the  stumbling  horse  at  Mont  L'Hery,  or  your  own  achieve- 
ments on  that  occasion.  Most  princes  are  contented  with 
privately  hating  such  men  as  have  rendered  them  extraor- 
dinary services.  I  feel  no  such  disposition — I  only  detest 
being  reminded  of  having  had  occasion  for  them.  Pshaw  I 
I  am  half -choked  with  the  effort  of  foregoing  my  own  fixed 
resolution.     So  ho  !  who  waits  there  ?     Bring  me  a  drink." 

An  usher  entered,  bearing  a  large  silver  flagon,  which,  in- 
stead of  wine,  was  filled,  with  tisanne,  slightly  flavored  by 
aromatic  herbs. 

''  I  am  so  hot  and  choleric  by  nature,"  said  the  Duke, 
'^  that  our  leeches  prohibit  me  from  drinking  wine.  But 
you,  Oxford,  are  bound  by  no  such  regimen.  Get  thee  to 
thy  countryman,  Oolvin,  the  general  of  our  artillery.  We 
commend  thee  to  his  custody  and  hospitality  till  to-morrow, 
which  must  be  a  busy  day,  since  I  expect  to  receive  the  an- 
swer of  these  wiseacres  of  the  Dijon  assembly  of  estates ; 
and  have  also  to  hear — thanks  to  your  lordship's  interference 
— these  miserable  Swiss  envoys,  as  they  call  themselves. 
Well,  no  more  on't.  Good-night.  You  may  communicate 
freely  with  Oolvin,  who  is,  like  yourself,  an  old  Lancastrian. 
But  harkye,  not  a  word  respecting  Provence — not  even  in 


326  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

your  sleep.  Contay,  conduct  this  English  gentleman  to 
Colvin's  tent.     He  knows  my  pleasure  respecting  him.^' 

''  So  please  your  Grace/'  answered  Contay,  ''  I  left  the 
English  gentleman's  son  with  Monsieur  de  Colvin.'' 

'*  What  !  thine  own  son,  Oxford  ?  And  with  thee  here  ? 
Why  did  you  not  tell  me  of  him  ?  Is  he  a  true  scion  of  the 
ancient  tree  ?  " 

"  It  is  my  pride  to  believe  so,  my  lord.  He  has  been  the 
faithful  companion  of  all  my  dangers  and  wanderings.'' 

"  Happy  man  ! "  said  the  Duke,  with  a  sigh.  **  You,  Ox- 
ford, have  a  son  to  share  your  poverty  and  distress  ;  I  have 
none  to  be  partner  and  successor  to  my  greatness." 

'^  You  have  a  daughter,  my  lord,"  said  the  noble  de 
Vere,  *'  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  she  will  one  day  wed  some 
powerful  prince,  who  may  be  the  stay  of  your  Highness's 
house." 

'^  Never  !  By  St.  George — never  !  "  answered  the  Duke, 
sharply  and  shortly.  '^  I  will  have  no  son-in-law,  who  may 
make  the  daughter's  bed  a  stepping-stone  to  reach  the 
father's  crown.  Oxford,  I  have  spoken  more  freely  than  I 
am  wont,  perhaps  more  freely  than  I  ought ;  but  I  hold  some 
men  trustworthy,  and  believe  you.  Sir  John  de  Vere,  to  be 
one  of  them." 

The  English  nobleman  bowed,  and  was  about  to  leave 
his  presence,  but  the  Duke  presently  recalled  him. 

'^  There  is  one  thing  more,  Oxford.  The  cession  of  Pro- 
vence is  not  quite  enough.  Eene  and  Margaret  must  dis- 
avow this  hot-brained  Ferrand  de  Vaudemont,  who  is  mak- 
ing some  foolish  stir  in  Lorraine,  in  right  of  his  mother 
Yolande." 

"  My  lord,"  said  Oxford,  "Ferrand  is  the  grandson  of 
Rene  the  nephew  of  Queen  Margaret ;  but  yet-— — " 

"  But  yet,  by  St.  George,  his  rights,  as  he  calls  them,  on 
Lorraine  must  positively  be  disowned.  You  talk  of  their 
family  feelings,  while  you  are  urging  me  to  make  war  on 
my  own  brother-in-law  ! " 

"  Rent's  best  apology  for  deserting  his  grandson,"  an- 
swered Oxford,  "  will  be  his  total  inability  to  support  and 
assist  him.  I  will  communicate  your  Grace's  condition, 
though  it  is  hard  one." 

So  saying,  he  left  the  pavilion. 


CHAPTEE  XXVI 

I  humbly  thank  your  Highness, 
And  am  right  glad  to  catch  this  good  occasion 
Most  thoroughly  to  be  winnow'd,  where  my  chaff 
And  corn  shall  fly  asunder. 

King  Henry  VIII. 

CoLViw,  the  English  officer,  to  whom  the.  Duke  of  Bur* 
gundy,  with  splendid  pay  and  appointments,  committed  the 
charge  of  his  artillery,  was  owner  of  the  tent  assigned  for 
the  Englishman's  lodging,  and  received  the  Earl  of  Oxford 
with  the  respect  due  to  his  rank,  and  to  the  Duke's  especial 
orders  upon  that  subject.  He  had  been  himself  a  follower 
of  the  Lancaster  faction,  and  of  course,  was  well  disposed 
towards  one  of  the  very  few  men  of  distinction  whom  he  had 
known  personally,  and  who  had  constantly  adhered  to  that 
family  through  the  train  of  misfortunes  by  which  they 
seemed  to  be  totally  overwhelmed.  A  repast,  of  which  his 
son  had  already  partaKen,  was  offered  to  the  Earl  by  Colvin, 
who  omitted  not  to  recommend,  by  precept  and  example, 
the  good  wine  of  Burgundy,  from  which  the  sovereign  of 
the  province  was  himself  obliged  to  refrain. 

"His  Grace  shows  command  of  passion  in  that,''  said 
Colvin.  ''  For,  sooth  to  speak,  and  only  conversing  betwixt 
friends,  his  temper  grows  too  headlong  to  bear  the  spur 
which  a  cup  of  cordial  beverage  gives  to  the  blood,  and  he, 
therefore,  wisely  restricts  himself  to  such  liquid  as  may  cool 
rather  than  inflame  his  natural  fire  of  disposition." 

"  I  can  perceive  as  much,"  said  the  Lancastrian  noble. 
'*  When  I  first  knew  the  noble  Duke,  who  was  then  Earl  of 
Charolais,  his  temper,  though  always  sufficiently  fiery,  was 
calmness  to  the  impetuosity  which  he  now  displays  on  the 
smallest  contradiction.  Such  is  the  course  of  an  uninter- 
rupted flow  of  prosperity.  He  has  ascended,  by  his  own 
courage  and  the  advantage  of  circumstances,  from  the 
doubtful  place  of  a  feudatory  and  tributary  prince  to  rank 
with  the  most  powerful  sovereigns  in  Europe,  and  to  assume 
independent  majesty.  But  I  trust  the  noble  starts  of  gener- 
osity which  atoned  for  his  wilful  and  wayward  temper  are 
not  more  few  than  formerly  ?  " 

327 


328  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

*'  I  have  good  right  to  say  that  they  are  not/'  replied  the 
Boldier  of  fortune,  who  understood  generosity  in  the  re- 
stricted sense  of  liberality.  ''  The  Duke  is  a  noble  and  open- 
handed  master/' 

"  I  trust  his  bounty  is  conferred  on  men  who  are  as  faith- 
ful and  steady  in  their  service  as  you,  Colvin,  have  ever  been. 
But  I  see  a  change  in  your  army.  I  know  the  banners  of 
most  of  the  old  houses  in  Burgundy — how  is  it  that  I  observe 
so  few  of  them  in  the  Duke's  camp  ?  I  see  flags,  and  pennons, 
and  pennoncelles  ;  but  even  to  me,  who  have  been  so  many 
years  acquainted,  with  the  nobility  both  of  France  and 
Flanders,  their  bearings  are  unknown. "" 

^'  My  noble  Lord  of  Oxford,"  answered  the  officer,  ''  it  ill 
becomes  a  man  who  lives  on  the  Duke^s  pay  to  censure  his 
conduct ;  but  his  Highness  hath  of  late  trusted  too  much, 
as  it  seems  to  me,  to  the  hired  arms  of  foreign  levies,  and 
too  little  to  his  own  native  subjects  and  retainers.  He  holds 
it  better  to  take  into  his  pay  large  bands  of  German  and 
Italian  mercenary  soldiers  than  to  repose  confidence  in  the 
knights  and  squires  who  are  bound  to  him  by  allegiance  and 
feudal  faith.  He  uses  the  aid  of  his  own  subjects  but  as  the 
means  of  producing  him  sums  of  money,  which  he  bestows 
on  his  hired  troops.  The  Grermans  are  honest  knaves  enough 
while  regularly  paid ;  but  Heaven  preserve  me  from  the 
Duke's  Italian  bands,  and  that  Campo-basso,  their  leader, 
who  waits  but  the  highest  price  to  sell  his  Highness  like  a 
sheep  for  the  shambles  ! " 

'^  Think  you  so  ill  of  him  ?  "  demanded  the  Earl. 

"  So  very  ill  indeed,  that,  I  believe,"  replied  Oolvin,  ''  there 
is  no  sort  of  treachery  which  the  heart  can  devise  or  the  arm 
perpetrate  that  hath  not  ready  reception  in  his  breast  and 
prompt  execution  at  his  hand.  It  is  painful,  my  lord,  for 
an  honest  Englishman  like  me  to  serve  in  an  army  where 
such  traitors  have  command.  But  what  can  I  do,  unless  I 
could  once  more  find  me  a  soldier's  occupation  in  my  native 
country  ?  I  often  hope  it  will  please  merciful  Heaven  again 
to  awaken  those  brave  civil  wars  in  my  own  dear  England, 
where  all  was  fair  fighting,  and  treason  was  unheard  of." 

Lord  Oxford  gave  his  host  to  understand  that  there  was  a 
possibility  that  his  pious  wish  of  living  and  dying  in  his  own 
country,  and  in  the  practise  of  his  profession,  was  not  to  be 
despaired  of.  Meantime  he  requested  of  him,  that  early  on 
the  next  morning  he  would  procure  him  a  pass  and  an  escort 
for  his  son,  whom  he  was  compelled  to  despatch  forthwith  to 
Nancy  [Aix],  the  residence  of  King  Een6. 


ANNU  OF  GEIERSTEIN  32ft 

"  What  ! "  said  Colvin,  "  is  my  young  Lord  of  Oxford  to 
take  a  degree  in  the  Court  of  Love,  for  no  other  business  is 
listened  to  at  King  Ken^^'s  capital  save  love  and  poetry  't'' 

'^  I  am  not  ambitious  of  such  distinction  for  him,  my  good 
host/^  answered  Oxford  ;  ^'  but  Queen  Margaret  is  with  her 
father,  and  it  is  but  fitting  that  the  youth  should  kiss  her 
hand." 

''  Enough  spoken,"  said  the  veteran  Lancastrian.  "  I 
trust,  though  winter  is  fast  approaching,  the  Red  Eose  may 
bloom  in  spring." 

He  then  ushered  the  Earl  of  Oxford  to  the  partition  of  the 
tent  which  he  was  to  occupy,  in  which  there  was  a  couch  for 
Arthur  also,  their  host,  as  Colvin  might  be  termed,  assuring 
them  that,  with  peep  of  day,  horses  and  faithful  attendants 
should  be  ready  to  speed  the  youth  on  his  journey  to  Nancy 
[Aix]. 

''And  now,  Arthur,"  said  his  father,  ''we  must  part  once 
more.  I  dare  give  thee,  in  this  land  of  danger,  no  written 
communication  to  my  mistress,  Queen  Margaret ;  but  say  to 
her,  that  I  have  found  the  Duke  of  Burgundy  wedded  to  his 
own  views  of  interest,  but  not  averse  to  combine  them  with 
hers.  Say,  that  I  have  little  doubt  that  he  will  grant  us  the 
required  aid,  but  not  without  the  expected  resignation  in  his 
favor  by  herself  and  King  Eene.  Say,  I  would  never  have 
recommended  such  a  sacrifice  for  the  precarious  chance  of 
overthrowing  the  house  of  York,  but  that  I  am  satisfied  that 
France  and  Burgundy  are  hanging  like  vultures  over  Pro- 
vence, and  that  the  one  or  other,  or  both  princes,  are  ready, 
on  her  father^s  demise,  to  pounce  on  such  possessions  as  they 
have  reluctantly  spared  to  him  during  his  life.  An  accom- 
modation with  Burgundy  may,  therefore,  on  the  one  hand, 
insure  his  active  co-operation  in  the  attempt  on  England ; 
and,  on  the  other,  if  our  high-spirited  princess  complies  not 
with  the  Duke^s  request,  the  justice  of  her  cause  will  give  no 
additional  security  to  her  hereditary  claims  on  her  father^s 
dominions.  Bid  Queen  Margaret,  therefore,  unless  she 
should  have  changed  her  views,  obtained  King  Rene's  formal 
deed  of  cession,  conveying  his  estates  to  the  Duke  of  Bur- 
gundy, with  her  Majesty's  consent.  The  necessary  provis- 
ions to  King  and  to  herself  may  be  filled  up  at  her  Grace's 
pleasure,  or  they  may  be  left  blank.  I  can  trust  to  the  Duke's 
generosity  to  their  being  suitably  arranged.  All  that  I  fear 
is,  that  Charles  may  embroil  himself " 

"  In  some  silly  exploit,  necessary  for  his  own  honor  and 
the  safety  of  the  dominions,"  answered  a  voice  behind  the 


330  WA  VERLET  NO  VEL8 

lining  of  the  tent,  "  and,  by  doing  so,  attend  to  his  own 
affairs  more  than  to  ours — ha,  sir  earl  ?  *' 

At  the  same  time  the  curtain  was  drawn  aside,  and  a 
person  entered,  in  whom,  though  clothed  with  the  jerkin 
and  bonnet  of  a  private  soldier  of  the  Walloon  guard,  Ox- 
ford instantly  recognized  the  Duke  of  Burgundy's  harsh 
features,  and  fierce  eyes,  as  they  sparkled  from  under  the 
fur  and  feathers  with  which  the  cap  was  ornamented. 

Arthur,  who  knew  not  the  Prince's  person,  started  at  the 
intrusion,  and  laid  his  hand  on  his  dagger  ;  but  his  father 
made  a  signal  which  staid  his  hand,  and  he  gazed  witk 
wonder  on  the  solemn  respect  with  which  the  Earl  received 
the  intrusive  soldier.  The  first  word  informed  him  of  the 
cause. 

"  If  this  masking  be  done  in  proof  of  my  faith,  noble 
Duke,  permit  me  to  say  it  is  superfluous." 

"  Nay,  Oxford,"  answered  the  Duke,  "  I  was  a  courteous 
spy ;  for  I  ceased  to  play  the  eavesdropper  at  the  very 
moment  when  I  had  reason  to  expect  you  were  about  to  say 
something  to  anger  me." 

"  As  I  am  a  true  knight,  my  Lord  Duke,  if  you  had 
i-emained  behind  the  arras,  you  would  only  have  heard  the 
same  truths  which  I  am  ready  to  tell  in  your  Grace's  presence, 
though  it  may  have  chanced  they  might  have  been  more 
bluntly  expressed." 

*'  Well,  speak  them,  then,  in  whatever  phrase  thou  wilt : 
they  lie  in  their  throats  that  say  Charles  of  Burgundy  was 
ever  offended  by  advice  from  a  well-meaning  friend." 

"  I  would  then  have  said,"  replied  the  English  earl,  ''  that 
all  which  Margaret  of  Anjou  had  to  apprehend  was  that  the 
Duke  of  Burgundy,   when  buckling  on  his  armor  to  win 
Provence  for  himself,  and  to   afford  to   her   his  powerful 
assistance  to  assert  her  rights  in  England,  was  likely  to  be 
withdrawn  from  such  high  objects  by  an  imprudently  eager 
desire  to  avenge  himself  of  imaginary  affronts  offered  to  him, 
as  he  supposed,  by  certain  confederacies  of  Alpine  moun- 
taineers,  over  whom  it  is  impossible  to  gain  any  important 
advantage   or   acquire  reputation,  while,  on  the  contrary, 
there  is  a  risk  of  losing  both.     These  men  dwell  amongst 
rocks  and  deserts  which  are  almost  inaccessible,  and  subsist 
ill  a  manner  so  rude,   that   the   poorest   of   your   subjects 
would  starve  if  subjected  to  such  diet.     They  are  formed  by 
nature  to  be  the  garrison  of  the  mountain  fortresses  in  which 
she  has  placed  them  ;  for  Heaven's  sake  meddle  not  with 
them,  but  follow  forth  your  own  nobler  and  more  important 


ANNE  OF  GEIEBSTEIN  331 

objects,  witlioufc  stirring  a  nest  of  hornets,  which,  once  in 
motion,  may  sting  you  into  madness/' 

The  Duke  had  promised  patience,  and  endeavored  to  keep 
his  word ;  but  the  swollen  muscles  of  his  face,  and  his  flashing 
eyes,  showed  how  painful  to  him  it  was  to  suppress  his  re- 
sentment. 

''  You  are  misinformed, my  lord,'*  he  said  :  '^  these  men  are 
not  the  inoffensive  herdsmen  and  peasants  you  are  pleased  to 
suppose  them.  If  they  were,  I  might  afford  to  despise  them. 
But,  flushed  with  some  victories  over  the  sluggish  Austrians, 
they  have  shaken  off  all  reverence  for  authority,  assume  aira 
of  independence,  form  leagues,  make  inroads,  storm  towns, 
doom  and  execute  men  of  noble  birth  at  their  pleasure.  Thou 
art  dull,  and  look^st  as  if  thou  dost  not  apprehend  me.  To 
rouse  thy  English  blood,  and  make  thee  sympathize  with  my 
feelings  to  these  mountaineers,  know  that  these  Swiss  are 
very  Scots  to  my  dominions  in  their  neighborhood — poor, 
proud,  ferocious ;  easily  offended,  because  they  gain  by  war  ; 
ill  to  be  appeased,  because  they  nourish  deep  revenge  ;  ever 
ready  to  seize  the  moment  of  advantage,  and  attack  a  neigh- 
bor when  he  is  engaged  in  other  affairs.  The  same  unquiet, 
perfidious,  and  inveterate  enemies  that  the  Scots  are  to  Eng- 
land are  the  Swiss  to  Burgundy  and  to  my  allies.  What 
say-you  ?  Can  I  undertake  anything  of  consequence  till  I 
have  crushed  the  pride  of  such  a  people  ?  It  will  be  but  a 
few  days'  work.  I  will  grasp  the  mountain  hedgehog, 
prickles  and  all,  with  my  steel-gauntlet. '' 

^'  Your  Grace  will  then  have  shorter  work  with  them," 
replied  the  disguised  nobleman,  "  than  our  English  kings 
have  had  with  Scotland.  The  wars  there  have  lasted  so  long, 
and  proved  so  bloody,  that  wise  men  regret  we  ever  began 
them." 

''Nay,"  said  the  Duke,  "  I  will  not  dishonor  the  Scots  by 
comparing  them  in  all  respects  to  these  mountain  churls  of 
the  cantons.  The  Scots  have  blood  and  gentry  among  them, 
and  we  have  seen  many  examples  of  both  ;  these  Swiss  are  a 
mere  brood  of  peasants,  and  the  few  gentlemen  of  birth  they 
can  boast  must  hide  their  distinction  in  the  dress  and  man- 
ners of  clowns.  They  will,  I  think,  scarce  stand  against  a 
charge  of  Hainaulters." 

"  Not  if  the  Hainaulters  find  ff round  to  ride  upon. 
But '' 

"  Nay,  to  silence  your  scruples,"  said  the  Duke,  interrupt- 
ing him,  "know  that  these  people  encourage,  by  their  coun- 
tenance and  aid,  the  formation  of  the  most  dangerous  con 


832  WA  VEBLE Y  NO  VELS 

Bpiracies  in  my  dominions.  Look  here — I  told  you  that  my 
officer.  Sir  Archibald  de  Hagenbach,  was  murdered  when 
the  town  of  Brisach  was  treacherously  taken  by  these  harm- 
less Switzers  of  yours.  And  here  is  a  scroll  of  parchment 
which  announces  that  my  servant  was  murdered  by  doom  of 
the  Vehmegericht,  a  band  of  secret  assassins,  whom  I  will 
not  permit  to  meet  in  any  part  of  my  dominions.  0,  could 
I  but  catch  them  above  ground  as  they  are  found  lurking 
below,  they  should  know  what  the  life  of  a  nobleman  is  worth  ! 
Then,  look  at  the  insolence  of  their  attestation." 

The  scroll  bore,  with  the  day  and  date  adjected,  that  judg- 
ment had  been  done  on  Archibald  de  Hagenbach,  for  tyranny 
violence,  and  oppression,  by  order  of  the  Holy  Vehme,  and 
that  it  was  executed  by  their  officials,  who  were  responsible 
for  the  same  to  their  tribunal  alone.  It  was  countersigned 
in  red  ink,  with  the  badges  of  the  Secret  Society,  a  coil  of 
ropes  and  a  drawn  dagger. 

^^  This  document  I  found  stuck  to  my  toilet  with  a  knife,^' 
said  the  Duke — "  another  trick  by  which  they  give  mystery 
to  their  murderous  jugglery." 

The  thought  of  what  he  had  undergone  in  John  Mengs's 
house,  and  reflections  upon  the  extent  and  omnipresence  of 
these  secret  associations,  struck  even  the  brave  Englishman 
with  an  involuntary  shudder. 

"  For  the  sake  of  every  saint  in  Heaven,"  he  said,  '^  for- 
bear, my  lord,  to  speak  of  these  tremendous  societies,  whose 
creatures  are  above,  beneath,  and  around  us.  No  man  is 
secure  of  his  life,  however  guarded,  if  it  be  sought  by  a  man 
who  is  careless  of  his  own.  You  are  surrounded  by  Germans, 
Italians,  and  other  strangers.  How  many  amongst  these 
may  be  bound  by  the  secret  ties  which  withdraw  men  from 
every  other  social  bond,  to  unite  them  together  in  one  inex- 
tricable, though  secret,  compact  ?  Beware,  noble  Prince, 
of  the  situation  on  which  your  throne  is  placed,  though  it 
still  exhibits  all  the  splendor  of  power  and  all  the  solidity  of 
foundation  that  belong  to  so  august  a  structure.  I — the 
friend  of  thy  house — were  it  with  my  dying  breath,  must 
needs  tell  thee  that  the  Swiss  hang  like  an  avalanche  over 
thy  head,  and  the  secret  associations  work  beneath  thee  like 
the  first  throes  of  the  coming  earthquake.  Provoke  not  the 
contest,  and  the  snow  will  rest  undisturbed  on  the  mountain- 
side, the  agitation  of  the  subterranean  vapors  will  be  hushed 
to  rest ;  but  a  single  word  of  defiance  or  one  flash  of  indig- 
nant scorn  may  call  their  terrors  into  instant  action." 

**  You  speak,"  said  the  Duke,  ^'  with  more  awe  of  a  pack 


ANNE  OF  GEIEE8TEIN  33«i 

of  naked  churls  and  a  band  of  midnight  assassins  than  I  have 
seen  you  show  for  real  danger.  Yet  I  will  not  scorn  your 
council :  I  will  hear  the  Swiss  envoys  patiently,  and  I  will 
not,  if  I  can  help  it,  show  the  contempt  with  which  I  cannot 
but  regard  their  pretensions  to  treat  as  independent  states. 
On  the  Secret  Associations  I  will  be  silent,  till  time  gives 
me  the  means  of  acting  in  combination  with  the  Emperor, 
the  Diet,  and  the  Princes  of  the  Empire,  that  they  may  be 
driven  from  all  their  burrows  at  once.  Ha,  sir  earl,  said  I 
f^ell?'' 

"It  is  well  thought,  my  lord,  but  it  may  be  unhappily 
«jpoken.  You  are  in  a  position  where  one  word  overheard  by 
d  traitor  might  produce  death  and  ruin." 

"  I  keep  no  traitors  about  me,"  said  Charles.  "  If  I 
thought  there  were  such  in  my  camp,  I  would  rather  die  by 
them  at  once  than  live  in  perpetual  terror  and  suspicion." 

"  Your  Highnesses  ancient  followers  and  servants,"  said 
the  Earl,  "speak  unfavorably  of  the  Count  of  Campo-basso, 
who  holds  so  high  a  rank  in  your  confidence." 

"  Ay,"  replied  the  Duke,  with  composure,  "  it  is  easy  to 
decry  the  most  faithful  servant  in  a  court  by  the  unanimous 
hatred  of  all  the  others.  I  warrant  me  your  bull-headed 
countryman,  Colvin,  has  been  railing  against  the  Count  like 
the  rest  of  them  ;  for  Campo-basso  sees  nothing  amiss  in  any 
department  but  he  reports  it  to  me  without  fear  or  favor. 
And  then  his  opinions  are  cast  so  much  in  the  same  mold 
with  my  own,  that  I  can  hardly  get  him  to  enlarge  upon  what 
he  best  understands,  if  it  seems  in  any  respect  different  from 
my  sentiments.  Add  to  this,  a  noble  person,  grace,  gaiety, 
skill  in  the  exercises  of  war  and  in  the  courtly  arts  of  peace 
— such  is  Campo-basso  ;  and  being  such,  is  he  not  a  gem  for 
a  prince's  cabinet  ?  " 

"  The  very  materials  out  of  which  a  favorite  is  formed," 
answered  the  Earl  of  Oxford,  "but  something  less  adapted 
for  making  a  faithful  counselor." 

"  Why,  thou  mistrustful  fool,"  said  the  Duke,  "  must  I 
tell  thee  the  very  inmost  secret  respecting  this  man, 
Campo-basso,  and  will  nothing  short  of  it  stay  these  imagi- 
nary suspicions  which  thy  new  trade  of  an  itinerant  merchant 
hath  led  thee  to  entertain  so  rashly  ?  " 

"If  your  Highness  honors  me  with  your  confidence,"  said 
the  Earl  of  Oxford,  "  I  can  only  say  that  my  fidelity  shall 
deserve  it." 

"Know  then,  thou  misbelieving  mortal,  that  my  good 
friend  and  brother,  Louis  of  France,  sent  me  private  inf orma* 


334  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

tion  through  no  less  a  person  than  his  famous  barber,  Oliver 
le  Diable,  that  Campo-basso  had  for  a  certain  sum  offered  to 
put  my  person  into  his  hands,  alive  or  dead.      You  start  ?  " 

"  I  do,  indeed,  recollecting  your  Highnesses  practise  of 
riding  out  lightly  armed,  and  with  a  very  small  attendance, 
to  reconnoiter  the  ground  and  visit  the  outposts,  and  there- 
fore how  easily  such  a  treacherous  devise  might  be  carried 
into  execution/' 

''  Pshaw  ! "  answered  the  Duke.  "  Thou  seest  the  danger 
as  if  it  were  real,  whereas  nothing  can  be  more  certain  than 
that,  if  my  cousin  of  France  had  ever  received  such  an  offer, 
he  would  have  been  the  last  person  to  have  put  me  on  my 
guard  against  the  attempt.  No,  he  knows  the  value  I  set  on 
Campo-basso's  services,  and  forged  the  accusation  to  deprive 
me  of  them." 

''And  yet,  my  lord,'*  replied  the  English  earl,  ''your 
Highness,  by  my  counsel,  will  not  unnecessarily  or  impa- 
tiently fling  aside  your  armor  of  proof,  or  ride  without  the 
escort  of  some  score  of  your  trusty  Walloons. '^ 

"  Tush,  man,  thou  wouldst  make  a  carbonado  of  a  fever- 
stirred  wretch  like  myself  betwixt  the  bright  iron  and  the 
burning  sun.  But  I  will  be  cautious  though  I  jest  thus ; 
and  you,  young  man,  may  assure  my  cousin,  Margaret  of 
Anjou,  that  I  will  consider  her  affairs  as  my  own.  And  re- 
member, youth,  that  the  secrets  of  princes  are  fatal  gifts,  if 
he  to  whom  they  are  imparted  blaze  them  abroad ;  but  if 
duly  treasured  up,  they  enrich  the  bearer.  And  thou  shalt 
have  cause  to  say  so  if  thou  canst  bring  back  with  thee  from 
Aix  the  deed  of  resignation  of  which  thy  father  hath  spoken. 
Good-night — good-night !  '* 

He  left  the  apartment. 

"  You  have  just  seen,'*  said  the  Earl  of  Oxford  to  his  son, 
"  a  sketch  of  this  extraordinary  prince  by  his  own  pencil. 
It  is  easy  to  excite  his  ambition  or  thirst  of  power,  but  well- 
nigh  impossible  to  limit  him  to  the  just  measures  by  which 
it  is  most  likely  to  be  gratified.  He  is  ever  like  the  young 
archer,  startled  from  his  mark  by  some  swallow  crossing  his 
eye,  even  careless  as  he  draws  the  string.  Now  irregularly  and 
offensively  suspicious,  now  unreservedly  lavish  of  his  confi- 
dence ;  not  long  since  the  enemy  of  the  line  of  Lancaster, 
and  ally  of  her  deadly  foe,  now  its  last  and  only  stay  and 
hope.  God  mend  all !  It  is  a  weary  thing  to  look  on  the  game 
and  see  how  it  might  be  won,  while  we  are  debarred  by  the 
caprice  of  others  from  the  power  of  playing  it  according  to 
our  own  skill.     How  much  must  depend  on  the  decision  of 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  335 

Duke  Charles  upon  the  morrow,  and  how  little  do  I  possess 
the  power  of  influencing  him,  either  for  his  own  safety  or 
our  advantage  !  Good-night,  my  son,  and  let  us  trust  events 
to  Him  who  alone  can  control  them/* 


CHAPTER  XXVII 

My  blood  hath  been  too  cold  and  temperate, 
Unapt  to  stir  at  these  indignities, 
And  you  have  found  me  ;  for,  accordingly, 
You  tread  upon  my  patience. 

Henry  IV, 

The  dawn  of  morning  roused  the  banished  Earl  of  Oxford 
and  his  son,  and  its  lights  were  scarce  abroad  on  the  eastern 
heaven  ere  their  host,  Oolvin,  entered  with  an  attendant, 
bearing  some  bundles,  which  he  placed  on  the  floor  of  the 
tent,  and  instantly  retired.  The  officer  of  the  Duke's  ord- 
nance then  announced  that  he  came  with  a  message  from  the 
Duke  of  Burgundy. 

^'  His  Highness, '^  he  said,  '^  has  sent  four  stout  yeomen, 
with  a  commission  of  credence  to  my  young  master  of  Oxford, 
and  an  ample  purse  of  gold,  to  furnish  his  expenses  to  Aix, 
and  while  his  affairs  may  detain  him  there  ;  also  a  letter  of 
credence  to  King  Rene,  to  ensure  his  reception,  and  two 
suits  of  honor  for  his  use.  as  for  an  English  gentleman, 
desirous  to  witness  the  festive  solemnities  of  Provence,  and 
in  whose  safety  the  Duke  deigns  to  take  deep  interest.  His 
farther  affairs  there,  if  he  hath  any,  his  Highness  recommends 
to  him  to  manage  with  prudence  and  secrecy.  His  Highness 
hath  also  sent  a  couple  of  horses  for  his  use — one  an  ambling 
jennet  for  the  road,  and  another  a  strong  barbed  horse  of 
Flanders,  in  case  he  hath  aught  to  do.  It  will  be  fitting  that 
my  young  master  change  his  dress,  and  assume  attire  more 
near  his  proper  rank.  His  attendants  know  tho  road,  and  have 
power,  in  case  of  need,  to  summon,  in  the  Duke*s  name, 
assistance  from  all  faithful  Burgundians.  I  have  but  to  add, 
the  sooner  the  young  gentleman  sets  forward,  it  will  be  the 
better  sign  of  a  successful  journey." 

^'I  am  ready  to  mount  the  instant  that  I  have  changed 
my  dress,"  said  Arthur. 

"  And  1"  said  his  father,  '^  have  no  wish  to  detain  him  on 
the  service  in  which  he  is  now  employed.  Neither  he  nor  1 
will  say  more  than  '  God  be  with  you.'  How  and  where  we 
are  to  meet  again,  who  can  tell  ?  " 

"  I  believe,''  said  Oolvin,  '^  that  must  rest  on  the  motioTis 


ANNE  OF  GEIER STEIN  337 

of  the  Duke,  which,  perchance,  are  not  yet  determined  upon  ;' 
but  his  Highness  depends  upon  your  remaining  with  him,  my 
noble  lord,  till  the  affairs  of  which  you  come  to  treat  may  be 
more  fully  decided.  Something  I  have  for  your  lordship's 
private  ear,  when  your  son  hath  parted  on  his  journey." 

While  Colvin  was  thus  talking  with  his  father,  Arthur, 
who  was  not  above  half-dressed  when  he  entered  the  tent, 
had  availed  himself  of  an  obscure  corner,  in  which  he  ex- 
changed the  plain  garb  belonging  to  his  supposed  condition 
as  a  merchant  for  such  a  riding-suit  as  became  a  young  man 
of  some  quality  attached  to  the  court  of  Burgundy.  It  was 
not  without  a  natural  sensation  of  pleasure  that  the  youth 
resumed  an  apparel  suitable  to  his  birth,  and  which  no  one 
was  personally  more  fitted  to  become  ;  but  it  was  with  much 
deeper  feeling  that  he  hastily,  and  as  secretly  as  possible, 
flung  round  his  neck,  and  concealed  under  the  collar  and 
folds  of  his  ornamented  doublet,  a  small  thin  chain  of  gold, 
curiously  linked  in  what  was  called  Morisco  work.  This 
was  the  contents  of  the  parcel  which  Anne  of  Geierstein  had 
indulged  his  feelings,  and  perhaps  her  own,  by  putting  into 
his  hands  as  they  parted.  The  chain  was  secured  by  a  slight 
plate  of  gold,  on  which  a  bodkin,  or  a  point  of  a  knife,  had 
traced  on  the  one  side,  in  distinct  though  light  characters. 
Adieu  for  ever  !  while  on  the  reverse  there  was  much 
more  obscurely  traced  the  word  Remember  ! — A  VOK  G. 

All  who  may  read  this  are,  have  been,  or  will  be,  lovers  ; 
and  there  is  none,  therefore,  who  may  not  be  able  to  compre- 
hend why  this  token  was  carefully  suspended  around  Arthur^s 
neck,  so  that  the  inscription  might  rest  on  the  region  of  his 
heart,  without  the  interruption  of  any  substance  which  could 
prevent  the  pledge  from  being  agitated  by  every  throb  of 
that  busy  organ. 

This  being  hastily  ensured,  a  few  minutes  completed  the 
rest  of  his  toilette  ;  and  he  kneeled  before  his  father  to  ask 
his  blessing  and  his  further  commands  for  Aix. 

His  father  blessed  him  almost  inarticulately,  and  then 
said,  with  recovered  firmness,  that  he  was  already  possessed 
of  all  the  knowledge  necessary  for  success  on  his  mission. 

*'  When  you  can  bring  me  the  deeds  wanted,'^  he  whis- 
pered with  more  firmness,  "  you  will  find  me  near  the  person 
of  the  Duke  of  Burgundy." 

They  went  forth  of  the  tent  in  silence,  and  found  before 
it  the  four  Burgundian  yeomen,  tall  and  active-looking  men, 
ready  mounted  themselves,  and  holding  two  saddled  horses — ■ 
the  one  accoutered  for  war,  the  other  a  spirited  jennet,  for 


338  WAVEELEY  NOVELS 

'the  purposes  of  the  journey.  One  of  them  led  a  sumpter= 
horse,  on  which  Colvin  informed  Arthur  he  would  find  the 
change  of  habit  necessary  when  he  should  arrive  at  Aix  ;  and 
at  the  same  time  delivered  to  him  a  heavy  purse  of  gold. 

*'  Thiebault/'  he  continued,  pointing  out  the  eldest  of  the 
attendant  troopers,  ''  may  be  trusted — I  will  be  warrant  for 
his  sagacity  and  fidelity.  The  other  three  are  picked  men, 
who  will  not  fear  their  skin-cutting.^' 

Arthur  vaulted  into  the  saddle  with  a  sensation  of  pleasure 
which  was  natural  to  a  young  cavalier  who  had  not  for  many 
months  felt  a  spirited  horse  beneath  him.  The  lively  jennet 
reared  with  impatience.  Arthur,  sitting  firm  on  his  seat, 
as  if  he  had  been  a  part  of  the  animal,  only  said,  *^Ere  we 
are  long  acquainted,  thy  spirit,  my  fair  roan,  will  be  some- 
thing more  tamed/' 

''  One  word  more,  my  son,''  said  his  father,  and  whispered 
in  Arthur's  ear,  as  he  stooped  from  the  saddle  ;  "  if  you 
receive  a  letter  from  me,  do  not  think  yourself  fully  ac- 
quainted with  the  contents  till  the  paper  has  been  held 
opposite  to  a  hot  fire." 

Arthur  bowed,  and  motioned  to  the  elder  trooper  to  lead 
the  way,  when  all,  giving  rein  to  their  horses,  rode  off  through 
the  encampment  at  a  round  pace,  the  young  leader  signing 
an  adieu  to  his  father  and  Colvin. 

The  Earl  stood  like  a  man  in  a  dream,  following  his  son 
with  his  eyes,  in  a  kind  of  reverie,  which  was  only  broken 
when  Colvin  said,  *'  I  marvel  not,  my  lord,  that  you  are 
anxious  about  my  young  master  :  he  is  a  gallant  youth,  well 
worth  a  father's  caring  for,  and  the  times  we  live  in  are  both 
false  and  bloody." 

*'  God  and  St.  Mary  be  my  witness,"  said  the  Earl,  *'  that 
if  I  grieve,  it  is  not  for  my  own  house  only  ;  if  I  am  anxious, 
it  is  not  for  the  sake  of  my  own  son  alone ;  but  it  is  hard  to 
risk  a  last  stake  in  a  cause  so  perilous.  What  commands 
brought  you  from  the  Duke  ?  " 

'^  His  Grace,"  said  Colvin,  "  will  get  on  horseback  after  he 
has  breakfasted.  He  sends  you  some  garments,  which,  if 
not  fitting  your  quality,  are  yet  nearer  to  suitable  apparel 
than  those  you  now  wear,  and  he  desires  that,  observing  your 
incognito  as  an  English  merchant  of  eminence,  you  will 
join  him  in  his  cavalcade  to  Dijon,  where  he  is  to  receive 
the  answer  of  the  Estates  of  Burgundy  concerning  matters 
submitted  to  their  consideration,  and  thereafter  give  public 
audience  to  the  deputies  from  Switzerland.  His  Highness 
has  charged  me  with  the  care  of  finding  you  suitable  accom- 


ANNE  OF  GEIEBSTEIN  339 

modation  during  the  ceremonies  of  the  day,  which  he  thinks 
you  will,  as  a  stranger,  be  pleased  to  look  upon.  But  he 
probably  told  you  all  this  himself,  for  I  think  you  saw  him 
last  night  in  disguise.  Nay,  look  as  strange  as  you  will — 
the  Duke  plays  that  trick  too  often  to  be  able  to  do  it  with 
secrecy  ;  the  very  horse-boys  know  him  while  he  traverses 
the  tents  of  the  common  soldiery,  and  sutler  women  give 
him  the  name  of  the  spied  spy.  If  it  were  only  honest  Harry 
Colvin  who  knew  this,  it  should  not  cross  his  lips.  But  it 
is  practised  too  openly,  and  too  widely  known.  Come,  noble 
lord,  though  I  must  teach  my  tongue  to  forego  that  courtesy, 
will  you  along  to  breakfast  ?  "     • 

The  meal,  according  to  the  practise  of  the  time,  was  a 
solemn  and  solid  one  ;  and  a  favored  officer  of  the  great 
Duke  of  Burgundy  lacked  no  means,  it  may  be  believed,  of 
rendering  due  hospitality  to  a  guest  having  claims  of  such 
high  respect.  But,  ere  the  breakfast  was  over,  a  clamorous 
flourish  of  trumpets  announced  that  the  Duke,  with  his 
attendants  and  retinue,  was  sounding  to  horse.  Philipson, 
as  he  was  still  called,  was,  in  the  name  of  the  Duke,  pre- 
sented with  a  stately  charger,  and  with  his  host  mingled  in 
the  splendid  assembly  which  began  to  gather  in  front  of  the 
Duke's  pavilion.  In  a  few  minutes,  the  Prince  himself  issued 
forth,  in  the  superb  dress  of  the  Order  of  the  Golden  Fleece, 
of  which  his  father  Philip  had  been  the  founder,  and  Charles 
was  himself  the  patron  and  sovereign.  Several  of  his  court- 
iers were  dressed  in  the  same  magnificent  robes,  and,  with 
their  followers  and  attendants,  displayed  so  much  wealth  and 
splendor  of  appearance  as  to  warrant  the  common  saying, 
that  the  Duke  of  Burgundy  maintained  the  most  magnificent 
court  in  Christendom.  The  officers  of  his  household  attended 
in  their  order,  together  with  heralds  and  pursuivants,  the 
grotesque  richness  of  whose  habits  had  a  singular  effect 
among  those  of  the  high  clergy  in  their  albes  and  dalmatiques, 
and  of  the  knights  and  crown  vassals  who  were  arrayed  in 
armor.  Among  these  last,  who  were  variously  equipped, 
according  to  the  different  character  of  their  service,  rode 
Oxford,  but  in  a  peaceful  habit,  neither  so  plain  as  to  be 
out  of  place  amongst  such  splendor,  nor  so  rich  as  to  draw 
on  him  a  special  or  particular  degree  of  attention.  He  rode 
by  the  side  of  Colvin,  his  tall,  muscular  figure  and  deep- 
marked  features  forming  a  strong  contrast  to  the  rough, 
almost  ignoble,  cast  of  countenance,  and  stout,  thick-set 
form,  of  the  less  distinguished  soldier  of  fortune. 

Ranged  into  a  solemn  procession,  the  rear  of  which  waa 


340  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

closed  by  a  guard  of  two  hundred  picked  arquebusiers^  a 
description  of  soldiers  who  were  just  then  coming  into  no- 
tice, and  as  many  mounted  men-at-arms,  the  Duke  and  his 
retinue,  leaving  the  barriers  of  the  camp,  directed  their 
march  to  the  town,  or  rather  city,  of  Dijon,  in  those  days 
the  capital  of  all  Burgundy. 

It  was  a  town  well  secured  with  walls  and  ditches,  which 
last  were  filled  by  means  of  a  small  river,  named  Dousche 
[Ouche],  which  combines  its  waters  for  that  purpose  with  a 
torrent  called  Suzon.  Four  gates,  with  appropriate  barbi- 
cans, outworks,  and  drawbridges,  corresponded  nearly  to 
the  cardinal  points  of  the  compass,  and  gave  admission  to 
the  city.  The  number  of  towers,  which  stood  high  above 
its  walls,  and  defended  them  at  different  angles,  was  thirty- 
three  ;  and  the  walls  themselves,  which  exceeded  in  most 
places  the  height  of  thirty  feet,  were  built  of  stones  hewn 
and  squared,  and  were  of  great  thickness  This  stately  city 
was  surrounded  on  the  outside  with  hills  covered  with  vine- 
yards, while  from  within  its  walls  rose  the  towers  of  many 
noble  buildings,  both  public  and  private,  as  well  as  the 
steeples  of  magnificent  churches  and  of  well-endowed  con- 
vents, attesting  the  wealth  and  devotion  of  the  house  of 
Burgundy. 

When  the  trumpets  of  the  Duke's  procession  had  sum- 
moned the  burgher  guard  at  the  gate  of  St.  JSTicholas,  the 
drawbridge  fell,  the  portcullis  rose,  the  people  shouted  joy- 
ously, the  windows  were  hung  with  tapestry  ;  and  as,  in  the 
midst  of  his  retinue,  Charles  himself  came  riding  on  a  milk- 
white  steed,  attended  only  by  six  pages  under  fourteen  years 
old,  with  each  a  gilded  partisan  in  his  hand,  the  acclama- 
tions with  which  he  was  received  on  all  sides  showed  that, 
if  some  instances  of  misrule  had  diminished  his  popularity, 
enough  of  it  remained  to  render  his  reception  into  his  capi- 
tal decorous  at  least,  if  not  enthusiastic.  It  is  probable  that 
the  veneration  attached  to  his  father's  memory  counter- 
acted for  a  long  time  the  unfavorable  effect  which  some  of 
his  own  actions  were  calculated  to  produce  on  the  public 
mind. 

The  procession  halted  before  a  large  Gothic  building  in 
the  center  of  Dijon.  This  was  then  called  Maison  du  Due, 
as,  after  the  union  of  Burgundy  with  France,  it  was  termed 
Maison  du  Eoy.  The  mcdre  of  Dijon  attended  on  the  steps 
before  this  palace,  accompanied  by  his  official  brethren,  and 
escorted  by  a  hundred  able-bodied  citizens,  in  black  velvet 
cloaks,   bearing  half-pikes    in    their    hands.      The   maire 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  341 

kneeled  to  kiss  the  stirrup  of  the  Duke,  and  at  the  moment 
when  Charles  descended  from  his  horse  every  bell  in  the  city 
commenced  so  thundering  a  peal,  that  they  might  almost 
have  awakened  the  dead  who  slept  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
steeples,  which  rocked  with  their  clangor.  Under  the  in- 
fluence of  this  stunning  peal  of  welcome,  the  Duke  entered 
the  great  hall  of  the  building,  at  the  upper  end  of  which 
were  erected  a  throne  for  the  sovereign,  seats  for  his  more 
distinguished  officers  of  state  and  higher  vassals,  with 
benches  behind  for  persons  of  less  note.  On  one  of  these, 
but  in  a  spot  from  which  he  might  possess  a  commanding 
view  of  the  whole  assembly,,  as  well  as  of  the  Duke  himself, 
Colvin  placed  the  noble  Englishman ;  and  Charles,  whose 
quick,  stern  eye  glanced  rapidly  over  the  party  when  they 
were  seated,  seemed,  by  a  nod  so  slight  as  to  be  almost  im- 
perceptible to  those  around  him,  to  give  his  approbation  of 
the  arrangement  adopted. 

When  the  Duke  and  his  assistants  were  seated  and  in 
order,  the  maire,  again  approaching,  in  the  most  humble 
manner,  and  kneeling  on  the  lowest  step  of  th^  ducal  throne, 
requested  to  know  if  his  Highnesses  leisure  permitted  him 
to  hear  the  inhabitants  of  his  capital  express  their  devoted 
zeal  to  his  person,  and  to  accept  the  benevolence  which,  in 
the  shape  of  a  silver  cup  filled  with  gold  pieces,  he  had  the 
distinguished  honor  to  place  before  his  feet,  in  name  of  the 
citizens  and  community  of  Dijon. 

Charles,  who  at  no  time  affected  much  courtesy,  answered 
briefly  and  bluntly,  with  a  voice  which  was  naturally  harsh 
and  dissonant,  ''  All  things  in  their  order,  good  Master 
Maire,  Let  us  first  hear  what  the  Estates  of  Burgundy  have 
to  say  to  us ;  we  will  then  listen  to  the  burghers  of  Dijon/' 

The  maire  rose  and  retired,  bearing  in  his  hand  the  silver 
cup,  and  experiencing  probably  some  vexation,  as  well  as 
surprise,  that  its  contents  had  not  secured  an  instant  and 
gracious  acceptance. 

''I  expected,"  said  Duke  Charles, ''to  have  met  at  this 
hour  and  place  our  Estates  of  the  duchy  of  Burgundy,  or  a 
deputation  of  them,  with  an  answer  to  our  message  conveyed 
to  them  three  days  since  by  our  chancelor.  Is  there  no  one 
here  on  their  part  ?  " 

The  maire,  as  none  else  made  any  attempt  to  answer,  said 
that  the  members  of  the  Estates  had  been  in  close  delibera- 
tion the  whole  of  that  morning,  and  doubtless  would  in- 
stantly wait  upon  his  Highness  when  they  heard  that  he  had 
honored  the  town  with  his  presence. 


342  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

"  Go,  Toison  d'Or/'  said  the  Duke  to  the  herald  of  the 
order  of  the  Golden  Fleece,*  "  bear  to  these  gentlemen  the 
tidings  that  we  desire  to  know  the  end  of  their  deliberations ; 
and  that  neither  in  courtesy  nor  in  loyalty  can  they  expect 
us  to  wait  long.  Be  round  with  them,  sir  herald,  or  we  shall 
be  as  round  with  you/' 

While  the  herald  was  absent  on  his  mission,  we  may  re- 
mind our  readers  that,  in  all  feudalized  countries  (that  is  to 
say,  in  almost  all  Europe  during  the  middle  ages),  an  ardent 
spirit  of  liberty  pervaded  the  constitution  ;  and  the  only  fault 
that  could  be  found  was,  that  the  privileges  and  freedom  for 
which  the  great  vassals  contended  did  not  sufficiently  descend 
to  the  lower  orders  of  society,  or  extend  protection  to  those 
who  were  most  likely  to  need  it.  The  two  first  ranks  in  the 
estate,  the  nobles  and  clergy,  enjoyed  high  and  important 
privileges,  and  even  the  third  estate,  or  citizens,  had  this 
immunity  in  peculiar,  that  no  new  duties,  customs,  or  taxes 
of  any  kind  could  be  exacted  from  them  save  by  their  own 
consent. 

The  memory  of  Duke  Philip,  the  father  of  Charles,  was 
dear  to  the  Burgundians  ;  for  during  twenty  years  that  sage 
prince  had  maintained  his  rank  among  the  sovereigns  of 
Europe  with  much  dignity,  and  had  accumulated  treasure 
without  exacting  or  receiving  any  great  increase  of  supplies 
from  the  rich  countries  which  he  governed.  But  the  extrav- 
agant schemes  and  immoderate  expense  of  Duke  Charles 
had  already  excited  the  suspicion  of  his  Estates  ;  and  the 
mutual  good-will  betwixt  the  prince  and  people  began  to  be 
exchanged  for  suspicion  and  distrust  on  the  one  side  and  de- 
fiance on  the  other.  The  refractory  disposition  of  the  Estates 
had  of  late  increased,  for  they  had  disapproved  of  various 
wars  in  which  their  Duke  had  needlessly  embarked ;  and 
from  his  levying  such  large  bodies  of  mercenary  troops,  they 
came  to  suspect  he  might  finally  employ  the  wealth  voted  t© 
him  by  his  subjects  for  the  undue  extension  of  his  royal 
prerogative,  and  the  destruction  of  the  liberties  of  the 
people. 

At  the  same  time  the  Duke's  uniform  success  in  enterprises 
which  appeared  desperate  as  well  as  difficult,  esteem  for  the 
frankness  and  openness  of  his  character,  and  dread  of  the 
obstinacy  and  headstrong  tendency  of  a  temper  which  could 
seldom  bear  persuasion,  and  never  endured  opposition,  still 
threw  awe  and  terror  around  the  throne,  which  was  materi- 

^  The  chief  ord^r  of  knighthood  in  the  state  of  Burgundy. 


ANNE  OF  GEIEBSTEIN  343 

ally  aided  by  the  attachment  of  the  common  people  to  the 
person  of  the  present  duke  and  to  the  memory  of  his  father. 
It  nad  been  understood  that  upon  the  present  occasion  there 
was  strong  opposition  amongst  the  Estates  to  the  system  of 
taxation  proposed  on  the  part  of  the  Duke,  and  the  issue  was 
ftxpected  with  considerable  anxiety  by  the  Duke's  counselors, 
and  with  fretful  impatience  by  the  sovereign  himself. 

After  a  space  of  about  ten  minutes  had  elapsed,  the  Chan- 
cellor of  Burgundy,  who  was  Archbishop  of  Vienne,  and  a 
prelate  of  high  rank,  entered  the  hall  with  his  train  ;  and 
passing  behind  the  ducal  throne  to  occupy  one  of  the  most 
distinguished  places  in  the  assembly,  he  stopped  for  a  mo- 
ment to  urge  his  master  to  receive  the  answer  of  his  Estates 
in  a  private  manner,  giving  him  at  the  same  time  to  under- 
stand that  the  result  of  the  deliberations  had  been  by  no 
means  satisfactory. 

"  By  St.  George  of  Burgundy,  my  Lord  Archbishop,^'  an- 
swered the  Duke,  sternly  and  aloud,  "  we  are  not  a  prince 
of  a  mind  so  paltry  that  we  need  to  shun  the  moody  looks  of 
a  discontented  and  insolent  faction.  If  the  Estates  of  Bur- 
gundy send  a  disobedient  and  disloyal  answer  to  our  paternal 
message,  let  them  deliver  it  in  open  court  that  the  assembled 
people  may  learn  how  to  decide  between  their  duke  and  those 
petty  yet  intriguing  spirits  who  would  interfere  with  our 
authority.'' 

The  chancellor  bowed  gravely  and  took  his  seat ;  while  the 
English  earl  observed,  that  the  most  of  the  members  of  the 
assembly,  excepting  such  as  in  doing  so  could  not  escape  the 
Duke's  notice,  passed  some  observations  to  their  neighbors, 
which  was  received  with  a  half-suppressed  nod,  shrug,  or 
shake  of  the  head,  as  men  treat  a  proposal  upon  which  it  is 
dangerous  to  decide.  At  time,  Toison  d'Or,  who  acted  as 
master  of  ceremonies,  introduced  into  the  hall  a  committee 
of  the  Estates,  consisting  of  twelve  members,  four  from  each 
branch  of  the  Estates,  announced  as  empowered  to  deliver 
the  answer  of  that  assembly  to  the  Duke  of  Burgundy. 

When  the  deputation  entered  the  hall,  Charles  arose  from 
his  throne,  according  to  ancient  custom,  and  taking  from 
his  head  his  bonnet,  charged  with  a  huge  plume  of  feathers, 
*'  Health  and  welcome,"  he  said,  *'  to  my  good  subjects  of 
the  Estates  of  Burgundy  ! "  All  the  numerous  train  of 
courtiers  rose  and  uncovered  their  heads  with  the  same  cere- 
mony. The  members  of  the  states  then  dropped  on  one  knee, 
the  four  ecclesiastics,  among  whom  Oxford  recognized  the 
black  priest  of  St.  Paul's,  approaching  nearest  to  the  Duke's 


S44.  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

person,  the  nobles  kneeling  behind  them,  and  the  burgesses 
m  the  rear  of  the  whole. 

''  Noble  Duke/'  said  the  priest  of  St.  Paul's,  ''  will  it  best 
please  you  to  hear  the  answer  of  your  good  and  loyal  Estates 
of  Burgundy  by  the  voice  of  one  member  speaking  for  the 
whole,  or  by  three  persons,  each  delivering  the  sense  of  the 
body  to  which  he  belongs  ?  " 

'^  As  you  will,"  said  the  Duke  of  Burgundy. 

''A  priest,  a  noble,  and  a  free  burgher,''  said  the  church- 
man, still  on  one  knee,  ^'  will  address  your  Highness  in  suc- 
cession. For  though,  blessed  be  the  God  who  leads  brethren 
to  dwell  together  in  unity  !  we  are  agreed  in  the  general 
answer,  yet  each  body  of  the  Estates  may  have  special  and 
separate  reasons  to  allege  for  the  common  opinion." 

*^' We  will  hear  you  separately,'' said  Duke  Charles,  casting 
his  hat  upon  his  head,  and  throwing  himself  carelessly  back 
into  his  seat.  At  the  same  time,  all  who  were  of  noble 
blood,  whether  in  the  committee  or  amongst  the  spectators, 
vouched  their  right  to  be  peers  of  their  sovereign  by  assum- 
ing their  bonnets  ;  and  a  cloud  of  waving  plumes  at  once 
added  grace  and  dignity  to  the  assembly. 

When  the  Duke  resumed  his  seat,  the  deputation  arose 
from  their  knees,  and  the  black  priest  of  St.  Paul's,  again 
stepping  forth,  addressed  him  in  these  words  : — 

''  My  Lord  Duke,  your  loyal  and  faithful  clergy  have  con- 
sidered your  Highness's  proposal  to  lay  a  talliage  on  your 
people,  in  order  to  make  war  on  the  Confederate  Cantons  in 
the  country  of  the  Alps.  The  quarrel,  my  liege  lord,  seems 
to  your  clergy  an  unjust  and  oppressive  one  on  your  High- 
ness's part  ,  nor  can  they  hope  that  God  will  bless  those  who 
arm  in  it.  They  are  therefore  compelled  to  reject  your 
Highness's  proposal." 

The  Duke's  eye  lowered  gloomily  on  the  deliverer  of  this 
unpalatable  message.  He  shook  his  head  with  one  of  those 
stern  and  menacing  looks  which  the  harsh  composition  of 
his  features  rendered  them  peculiarly  qualified  to  express. 
*^  You  have  spoken,  sir  priest,"  was  the  only  reply  which  he 
deigned  to  make. 

One  of  the  four  nobles,  the  S  re  de  Myrebeau,  then  ex- 
pressed himself  thus : — 

*'  Your  Highness  has  asked  of  your  faithful  nobles  to  con- 
sent to  new  imposts  and  exactions,  to  be  levied  through 
Burgundy,  for  the  raising  of  additional  bands  of  hired  sol- 
diers for  the  maintenance  of  the  quarrels  of  the  state.  My 
lord,  the  swords  of  the  Burgundian  nobles,  knights,  and 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  34& 

gentlemen  have  been  ever  at  your  Higliness's  command,  as 
those  of  our  ancestors  have  been  readily  wielded  for  your 
predecessors.  In  your  Highnesses  just  quarrel  we  will  go 
farther,  and  fight  firmer,  than  any  hired  fellows  who  can  be 
procured,  whether  from  France,  or  Germany,  or  Italy.  We 
will  not  give  our  consent  that  the  people  should  be  taxed  for 
paying  mercenaries  to  discharge  that  military  duty  which  it 
is  alike  our  pride  and  our  exclusive  privilege  to  render. ^^ 

''You  have  spoken.  Sire  de  Myrebeau,'''  were  again  the 
only  words  of  the  Duke's  reply.  He  uttered  them  slowly 
and  with  deliberation,  as  if  afraid  lest  some  phrase  of  im- 
prudent violence  should  escape  along  with  what  he  purposed 
to  say.  Oxford  thought  he  cast  a  glance  towards  him  before 
he  spoke,  as  if  the  consciousness  of  his  presence  was  some 
additional  restraint  on  his  passion.  ''  Now,  Heaven  grant,^* 
he  said  to  himself,  ''that  this  opposition  may  work  its  proper 
effect,  and  induce  the  Duke  to  renounce  an  imprudent 
attempt,  so  hazardous  and  so  unnecessary  ! '' 

While  he  muttered  these  thoughts,  the  Duke  made  a  sign 
to  one  of  the  tiers  etat,  or  commons,  to  speak  in  his  turn. 
The  person  who  obeyed  the  signal  was  Martin  Block,  a 
wealthy  butcher  and  grazier  of  Dijon.  His  words  were 
these  : — "N^oble  Prince,  our  fathers  were  the  dutiful  sub- 
jects of  your  predecessors ;  we  are  the  same  to  you  ;  our 
children  will  be  alike  the  liegemen  of  your  successors.  But, 
touching  the  request  your  chancellor  has  made  to  us,  it  is 
such  as  our  ancestors  never  complied  with,  such  as  we  are 
determined  to  refuse,  and  such  as  will  never  be  conceded  by 
the  Estates  of  Burgundy  to  any  prince  whatsoever,  even  to 
the  end  of  time."*' 

Charles  had  borne  with  impatient  silence  the  speeches  of 
the  two  former  orators  ;  but  this  blunt  and  hardy  reply  of 
the  third  Estate  excited  him  beyond  what  his  nature  could 
endure.  He  gave  way  to  the  impetuosity  of  his  disposition, 
stamped  on  the  floor  till  the  throne  shook  and  the  high  vault 
rung  over  their  heads,  and  overwhelmed  the  bold  burgher 
with  reproaches.  "  Beast  of  Burden,^'  he  said,  "am  I  to  be 
stunned  with  thy  braying,  too  ?  The  nobles  may  claim 
leave  to  speak,  for  they  can  fight ;  the  clergy  may  use  their 
tongues,  for  it  is  their  trade  ;  but  thou,  that  hast  never  shed 
blood,  save  that  of  bullocks  more  stupid  than  thou  art  thy- 
self— must  thou  and  thy  herd  come  hither,  privileged,  for- 
sooth, to  bellow  at  a  prince's  footstool  ?  Know,  brute  as 
thou  art,  that  steers  are  never  introduced  into  temples  but 
to  be  sacrificed,  or  butchers  and  mechanics  brought  before 


346  WAVERLET  NOVELS 

their  sovereign,  save  that  they  may  have  the  honor  to  supply 
the  public  wants  from  their  own  swelling  hoards!" 

A  murmur  of  displeasure,  which  even  the  terror  of  the 
Duke's  wrath  could  not  repress,  ran  through  the  audience  at 
these  words ;  and  the  burgher  of  Dijon,  a  sturdy  plebeian, 
replied,  with  little  reverence — ''Our  purses,  my  Lord  Duke, 
are  our  own  ;  we  will  not  put  the  strings  of  them  into  your 
Highnesses  hands,  unless  we  are  satisfied  with  the  purposes 
to  which  the  money  is  to  be  applied  ;  and  we  know  well  how 
to  protect  our  persons  and  our  goods  against  foreign  rufiBans 
and  plunderers." 

Charles  was  on  the  point  of  ordering  the  deputy  to  be  ar- 
rested, when,  having  cast  his  eye  towards  the  Earl  of  Oxford, 
whose  presence,  in  despite  of  himself,  imposed  a  certain 
degree  of  restraint  upon  him,  he  exchanged  that  piece  of 
imprudence  for  another, 

'*  I  see,"  he  said,  addressing  the  committee  of  Estates 
'*  that  you  are  all  leagued  to  disappoint  my  purposes,  and 
doubtless  to  deprive  me  of  all  the  power  of  a  sovereign  save 
that  of  wearing  a  coronet,  and  being  served  on  the  knee  like 
a  second  Charles  the  Simple,  while  the  Estates  of  my  king- 
dom divide  the  power  among  them.  But  you  shall  know 
that  you  have  to  do  with  Charles  of  Burgundy — a  prince 
who,  though  he  has  deigned  to  consult  you,  is  fully  able  to 
fight  battles  without  the  aid  of  his  nobles,  since  they  refuse 
him  the  assistance  of  their  swords  ;  to  defray  the  expense 
without  the  help  of  his  sordid  burghers  ;  and,  it  may  be,  to 
find  out  a  path  to  Heaven  without  the  assistance  of  an  un- 
grateful priesthood.  I  will  show  all  that  are  here  present 
how  little  my  mind  is  affected,  or  my  purpose  changed,  by 
your  seditious  reply  to  the  message  with  which  I  honored 
you.  Here,  Toison  d'Or,  admit  into  our  presence  these  men 
from  the  confederated  towns  and  cantons,  as  they  call  them- 
selves, of  Switzerland." 

Oxford,  and  all  who  really  interested  themselves  in  the 
Duke^s  welfare,  heard,  with  the  utmost  apprehension,  his 
resolution  to  give  an  audience  to  the  Swiss  envoys,  prepos- 
sessed as  he  was  against  them,  and  in  the  moment  when  hia 
mood  was  chafed  to  the  uttermost  by  the  refusal  of  the  Es- 
tates to  grant  him  supplies.  They  were  aware  that  obstacles 
opposed  to  the  current  of  his  passion  were  like  rocks  in  the 
bed  of  a  river,  whose  course  they  cannot  interrupt,  while  they 
provoke  it  to  rage  and  foam.  All  were  sensible  that  the  die 
was  cast,  but  none  who  were  not  endowed  with  more  than 
mortal  prescience  could  have  imagined  how  deep  was  the 


ANNE  OF  GEIEB8TEIN  847 

pledge  which  depended  upon  ifc.  Oxford  in  particular,  con- 
ceived that  the  execution  of  his  plan  of  a  descent  upon  Eng- 
land was  the  principal  point  compromised  by  the  Duke  in 
his  rash  obstinacy ;  but  he  suspected  not — he  dreamed  not  of 
supposing — that  the  life  of  Charles  himself,  and  the  indepen- 
dence of  Burgundy  as  a  separate  kingdom,  hung  quivering 
in  the  same  scales. 


CHAPTER  xxym 

Why,  'tis  a  boisterous  and  cruel  style, 

A  style  for  challengers.    Why,  she  defies  us, 

Like  Turk  to  Christian. 

As  You  Like  It 

The  doors  of  the  hall  were  now  opened  to  the  Swiss  deputies, 
who  for  the  preceding  hour  had  been  kept  in  attendance  on 
the  outside  of  the  building,  without  receiving  the  slightest 
of  those  attentions  which  among  civilized  nations  are  uni- 
versally paid  to  the  representatives  of  a  foreign  state.  Indeed, 
their  very  appearance,  dressed  in  coarse  gray  frocks,  like 
mountain  hunters  or  shepherds,  in  the  midst  of  an  assembly 
blazing  with  divers-colored  garments,  gold  and  silver  lace, 
embroidery,  and  precious  stones,  served  to  confirm  the  idea 
that  they  could  only  have  come  hither  in  the  capacity  of  the 
most  humble  petitioners. 

Oxford,  however,  who  watched  closely  the  deportment  of 
his  late  fellow-travelers,  failed  not  to  observe  that  they  re- 
tained each  in  his  own  person  the  character  of  firmness  and 
indifference  which  formerly  distinguished  them.  Rudolph 
Donnerhugel  preserved  his  bold  and  haughty  look  ;  the  ban- 
neret, the  military  indifference  which  made  him  look  with 
apparent  apathy  on  all  around  him  ;  the  burgher  of  Soleure 
was  as  formal  and  important  as  ever  ;  nor  did  any  of  the 
three  show  themselves  affected  in  the  slightest  degree  by  the 
splendor  of  the  scene  around  them,  or  embarrassed  by  the 
consideration  of  their  own  comparative  inferiority  of  appoint- 
ments. But  the  noble  Landamman,  on  whom  Oxford  chiefly 
bent  his  attention,  seemed  overwhelmed  with  a  sense  of  the 
precarious  state  in  which  his  country  was  placed,  fearing, 
from  the  rude  and  unhonored  manner  in  which  they  were 
received,  that  war  was  unavoidable,  while,  at  the  same  time, 
like  a  good  patriot,  he  mourned  over  the  consequences  of 
ruin  to  the  freedom  of  his  country  by  defeat,  or  injury  to 
her  simplicity  and  virtuous  indifference  of  wealth  by  the 
introduction  of  foreign  luxuries  and  the  evils  attending  on 
conquest. 

Well  acquainted  with  the  opinions  of  Arnold  Biederman, 
Oxford  could  easily  explain  his  sadness,   while  his  comrade 

348 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  349 

Bonstetten,  less  capable  of  comprehending  his  friend's  feel- 
ings, looked  at  him  with  the  expression  which  may  be  seen 
in  the  countenance  of  a  faithful  dog,  when  the  creature  indi- 
cates sympathy  with  his  master's  melancholy,  though  unable 
to  ascertain  or  appreciate  its  cause.  A  look  of  wonder  now 
and  then  glided  around  the  splendid  assembly  on  the  part  of 
all  the  forlorn  group,  excepting  Donnerhugel  and  the  Lan- 
damman  ;  for  the  indomitable  pride  of  the  one  and  the  steady 
patriotism  of  the  other  could  not  for  even  an  instant  be 
diverted  by  external  objects  from  their  own  deep  and  stern 
reflections. 

After  a  silence  of  nearly  five  minutes,  the  Duke  spoke, 
with  the  haughty  and  harsh  manner  which  he  might  imagine 
belonged  to  his  place,  and  which  certainly  expressed  his 
character. 

"  Men  of  Berne,  of  Schwytz,  or  of  whatever  hamlet  and 
wilderness  you  may  represent,  know  that  we  had  not  honored 
you,  rebels  as  you  are  to  the  dominion  of  your  lawful  supe- 
riors, with  an  audience  in  our  own  presence,  but  for  the  in- 
tercession of  a  well-esteemed  friend, who  has  sojourned  among 
your  mountains  and  whom  you  may  know  by  the  name  of 
Philipson  an  Englishman,  following  the  trade  of  a  merchant 
and  charged  with  certain  valuable  matters  of  traffic  to  our 
court.  To  his  intercession  we  have  so  far  given  way,  that, 
instead  of  commanding  you,  according  to  your  demerits,  to 
the  gibbet  and  the  wheel  in  the  Place  de  Morimont,  we  have 
condescended  to  receive  you  into  our  own  presence,  sitting 
in  our  cour  pUniere,  to  hear  from  you  such  submission  as  you 
can  offer  for  your  outrageous  storm  of  our  town  of  La 
Ferette,  the  slaughter  of  many  of  our  liegemen,  and  the 
deliberate  murder  of  the  noble  knight,  Archibald  of  Hagen- 
bach,  executed  in  your  presence,  and  by  your  countenance 
and  device.  Speak,  if  you  can  say  aught  in  defense  of  your 
felony  and  treason,  either  to  deprecate  just  punishment  or 
crave  undeserved  mercy. ^' 

The  Landamman  seemed  about  to  answer ;  but  Rudolph 
Donnerhugel,  with  his  characteristic  boldness  and  hardihood, 
took  the  task  of  reply  on  himself.  He  confronted  the  proud 
Duke  with  an  eye  unappalled,  and  a  countenance  as  stern  as 
his  own. 

''  We  came  not  here,''  he  said,  ''to  compromise  our  own 
honor,  or  the  dignity  of  the  free  people  whom  we  represent, 
by  pleading  guilty  in  their  name  or  our  own  to  crimes  of 
which  we  are  innocent.  And  when  you  term  us  rebels,  you 
must  remember  that  a  long  train  of  victories,  whose  history 


850  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

is  written  in  the  noblest  blood  of  Austria,  has  restored  to  the 
confederacy  of  our  communities  the  freedom  of  which  an 
unjust  tyranny  in  vain  attempted  to  deprive  us.  While 
Austria  was  a  jnst  and  beneficent  mistress,  we  served  her  with 
our  lives  ;  when  she  became  oppressive  and  tyrannical,  we 
assumed  independence.  If  she  has  aught  yet  to  clkim  from 
us,  the  descendants  of  Tell,  Faust  [Furst],  and  Staiiffaucher 
>rill  be  as  ready  to  assert  their  liberties  as  their  fathers  were 
to  gain  them.  Your  Grace — if  such  be  your  title — has  no 
concern  with  any  dispute  betwixt  us  and  Austria.  For  your 
threats  of  gibbet  and  wheel,  we  are  here  defenseless  men, 
on  whom  you  may  work  your  pleasure  ;  but  we  know  how  to 
die,  and  our  countrymen  know  how  to  avenge  us." 

The  fiery  Duke  would  have  replied  by  commanding  the 
instant  arrest,  and  probably  the  immediate  execution,  of  the 
whole  deputation.  But  his  chancellor,  availing  himself  of 
the  privilege  of  his  office,  rose,  and,  doffing  his  cap  with  a 
deep  reverence  to  the  Duke,  requested  leave  to  reply  to  the 
misproud  young  man,  who  had,  he  said,  so  greatly  mistaken 
the  purpose  of  his  Highnesses  speech. 

Charles,  feeling  perhaps  at  the  moment  too  much  irritated 
to  form  a  calm  decision,  threw  himself  back  in  his  chair  of 
state,  and  with  an  impatient  and  angry  nod  gave  his  chan- 
cellor permission  to  speak. 

*'  Young  man,'*  said  that  high  officer,  ^'  you  have  mis- 
taken the  meaning  of  the  high  and  mighty  sovereign  in 
whose  presence  you  stand.  Whatever  be  the  lawful  rights 
of  Austria  over  the  revolted  villages  which  have  fiung  off 
their  allegiance  to  their  native  superior,  we  have  no  call  to 
enter  on  that  argument.  But  that  for  which  Burgundy  de- 
mands your  answer  is  wherefore,  coming  here  in  the  guise 
and  with  the  character  of  peaceful  envoys,  on  affairs  touch- 
ing your  own  communities  and  the  rights  of  the  Duke's  sub- 
jects, you  have  raised  war  in  our  peaceful  dominions,  stormed 
a  fortress,  massacred  its  garrison,  and  put  to  death  a  noble 
knight,  its  commander  ? — all  of  them  actions  contrary  to  the 
law  of  nations,  and  highly  deserving  of  the  punishment 
with  which  you  have  been  justly  threatened  but  with 
which  I  hope  our  gracious  sovereign  will  dispense,  if  you 
express  some  sufficient  reason  for  such  outrageous  insolence, 
with  an  offer  of  due  submission  to  his  Highness's  pleasure 
and  satisfactory  reparation  for  such  a  high  injury.'' 

"  You  are  a  priest,  grave  sir  ?  "  answered  Eudolph  Don- 
nerhugel,  addressing  the  Chancellor  of  Burgundy.  '^  If 
there  be  a  soldier  in  this  assembly  who  will  avouch  youf 


J 


**  *  I  set  at  all,'  said  the  daring  young  Swiss. 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIl^  851 

charge,  I  challenge  him  to  the  combat,  man  to  man.  We 
did  not  storm  the  garrison  of  La  Ferette  :  we  were  admitted 
into  the  gates  in  a  peaceful  manner,  and  were  there  instantly 
surrounded  by  the  soldiers  of  the  late  Archibald  de  Hagen- 
bach,  with  the  obvious  purpose  of  assaulting  and  murdering 
us  on  our  peaceful  mission.  I  promise  you  there  had  been 
news  of  more  men  dying  than  us.  But  an  uproar  broke  out 
among  the  inhabitants  of  the  town,  assisted,  I  believe,  by 
many  neighbors,  to  whom  the  insolence  and  oppression  of 
Archibald  de  Hagenbach  had  become  odious,  as  to  all  who 
were  with  in  his  reach.  We  rendered  them  no  assistance;  and, 
I  trust,  it  was  not  expected  that  we  should  interfere  in  the 
favor  of  men  who  had  stood  prepared  to  do  the  worst  against 
us.  But  not  a  pike  or  sword  belonging  to  us  or  our  attend- 
ants was  dipped  in  Burgundian  blood.  Archibald  de  Hagen- 
bach perished,  it  is  true,  on  a  scaffold,  and  I  saw  him  die 
with  pleasure,  under  a  sentence  pronounced  by  a  competent 
court,  such  as  is  recognized  in  Westphalia  and  its  depend- 
encies on  this  side  of  the  Rhine.  I  am  not  obliged  to  vindi- 
cate their  proceedings  ;  but  I  aver,  that  the  Duke  has  re- 
ceived full  proof  of  his  regular  sentence  ;  and,  in  fine,  that 
it  was  amply  deserved  by  oppression,  tyranny,  and  foul 
abuse  of  his  authority,  I  will  uphold  against  all  gainsayers, 
with  the  body  of  a  man.     There  lies  my  glove."" 

And,  with  an  action  suited  to  the  language  he  used,  the 
stern  Swiss  flung  his  right-hand  glove  on  the  floor  of  the 
hall.  In  the  spirit  of  the  age,  w4th  the  love  of  distinction 
in  arms  which  it  nourished,  and  perhaps  with  the  desire  of 
gaining  the  Duke^s  favor,  there  was  a  general  motion  among 
the  young  Burgundians  to  accept  the  challenge,  and  more 
than  six  or  eight  gloves  were  hastily  doffed  by  the  young 
knights  present,  those  who  were  more  remote  flinging  them 
over  the  heads  of  the  nearest,  and  each  proclaiming  his 
name  and  title  as  he  proffered  the  gage  of  combat. 

"  I  set  at  all,"  said  the  daring  young  Swiss,  gathering  the 
gauntlets  as  they  fell  clashing  around  him.  "  More,  gentle- 
men— more  !  a  glove  for  every  finger  !  come  on,  one  at  once 
— fair  lists,  equal  judges  of  the  field,  the  combat  on  foot, 
and  the  weapons  two-handed  swords,  and  I  will  not  budge 
for  a  score  of  you."" 

"  Hold,  gentlemen — on  your  allegiance,  hold  ! "  said  the 
Duke,  gratified  at  the  same  time  and  somewhat  appeased  by 
the  zeal  which  was  displayed  in  his  cause  ;  moved  by  the 
strain  of  reckless  bravery  evinced  by  the  challenger,  with  a 
hardihood  akin  to  his  own  ;  perhaps  also  not  unwilling  to 


852  WAVEBLET  NOVELS 

display,  in  the  view  of  his  cour  pUniere,  more  temperance 
than  he  had  been  at  first  capable  of.  '^  Hold,  I  command 
you  all.  Toison  d'Or,  gather  up  these  gauntlets,  and  return 
them  each  to  his  owner.  God  and  St.  George  forbid  that 
we  should  hazard  the  life  of  even  the  least  of  our  noble 
Burgundian  gentry  against  such  a  churl  as  this  Swiss  peas- 
ant, who  never  so  much  as  mounted  a  horse,  and  knows  not  a 
jot  of  knightly  courtesy  or  the  grace  of  chivalry.  Carry  your 
vulgar  brawls  elsewhere,  young  man,  and  know  that,  on  the 
present  occasion,  the  Place  Morimont  were  your  only  fitting 
lists,  and  the  hangman  your  meet  antagonist.  And  you, 
sirs,  his  companions,  whose  behavior  in  suffering  this  swag- 
gerer to  take  the  lead  amongst  you  seems  to  show  that  the 
laws  of  nature,  as  well  as  of  society,  are  inverted,  and  that 
■youth  is  preferred  to  age,  as  peasants  to  gentry — you  white- 
bearded  men,  I  say,  is  there  none  of  you  who  can  speak  your 
errand  in  such  language  as  it  becomes  a  sovereign  prince  to 
listen  to  ?  " 

'^  God  forbid  else,''  said  the  Landamman,  stepping  forward 
and  silencing  Eudolph  Donnerhugel,  who  was  commencing 
an  answer  of  defiance — ''God  forbid,''  he  said,  ^'  noble  Duke, 
that  we  should  not  be  able  to  speak  so  as  to  be  understood 
before  your  Highness,  since,  I  trust,  we  shall  speak  the  lan- 
guage of  truth,  peace,  and  justice.  Nay,  should  it  incline 
your  Highness  to  listen  to  us  the  more  favorably  for  our  hu- 
mility, I  am  willing  to  humble  myself  rather  than  you  should 
shun  to  hear  us.  For  my  own  part,  I  can  truly  say  that, 
though  I  have  lived,  and  by  free  choice  have  resolved  to  die, 
a  husbandman  and  a  hunter  on  the  Alps  of  the  Unterwald, 
I  may  claim  by  birth  the  hereditary  right  to  speak  before 
dukes  and  kings,  and  the  Emperor  himself.  There  is  no 
one,  my  Lord  Duke,  in  this  proud  assembly  who  derives  his 
descent  from  a  nobler  source  than  Geierstein." 

"  We  have  heard  of  you,"  said  the  Duke.  "  Men  call  you 
the  peasant  count.  Your  birth  is  your  shame — or  perhaps 
your  mother's,  if  your  father  had  happened  to  have  a  hand- 
some plowman,  the  fitting  father  of  one  who  has  become 
a  willing  serf." 

"  No  serf,  my  lord,"  answered  the  Landamman,  '^  but  a 
freeman,  who  will  neither  oppress  others  nor  be  himself 
tyrannized  over.  My  father  was  a  noble  lord,  my  mother  a 
most  virtuous  lady.  But  I  will  not  be  provoked  by  taunt  or 
scornful  jest  to  refrain  from  stating  with  calmness  what  my 
country  has  given  me  in  charge  to  say.  The  inhabitants  of 
the  bleak  and  inhospitable  regions  of  the  Alps  desire,  mighty 


ANNE  OF  GEIEBSTEIN  363 

4 

sir,  to  remain  at  peace  with  all  their  neighbors,  and  to  en- 
joy the  government  they  have  chosen,  as  best  fitted  to  their 
condition  and  habits,  leaving  all  other  states  and  countries 
to  their  free-will  in  the  same  respects.  Especially,  they  de- 
sire to  remain  at  peace  and  in  unity  with  the  princely  house 
of  Burgundy,  whose  dominions  approach  their  possessions 
on  so  many  points.  My  lord,  they  desire  it,  they  entreat  it, 
they  even  consent  to  pray  for  it.  We  have  been  termed 
stubborn,  intractable,  and  insolent  contemners  of  authority, 
and  headers  of  sedition  and  rebellion.  In  evidence  of  the 
contrary,  my  Lord  Duke,  I,  who  never  bent  a  knee  but  to 
Heaven,  feel  no  dishonor  in  kneeling  before  your  Highness, 
as  before  a  sovereign  prince  in  the  cour  pUniere  of  his  do- 
minions, where  he  has  a  right  to  exact  homage  from  his  sub- 
jects out  of  duty,  and  from  strangers  out  of  courtesy.  No 
vain  pride  of  mine,''  said  the  noble  old  man,  his  eyes  swell- 
ing with  tears,  as  he  knelt  on  one  knee,  ''  shall  prevent  me 
from  personal  humiliation,  when  peace — that  blessed  peace, 
so  dear  to  God,  so  inappreciably  valuable  to  man — is  in 
danger  of  being  broken  off.'" 

The  whole  assembly^  even  the  Duke  himself,  were  affected 
by  the  noble  and  stately  manner  in  which  the  brave  old  man 
made  a  genuflection,  which  was  obviously  dictated  by  neither 
meanness  nor  timidity.  "  Arise,  sir,"  said  Charles  ;  ^*  if 
we  have  said  aught  which  can  wound  your  private  feelings, 
we  retract  it  as  publicly  as  the  reproach  was  spoken,  and  sit 
prepared  to  hear  you  as  a  fair-meaning  envoy.'' 

'^  For  that,  my  noble  lord,  thanks  ;  and  I  shall  hold  it  a 
blessed  day  if  I  can  find  words  worthy  of  the  cause  I  have  to 
pleado  My  lord,  a  schedule  in  your  Highness's  hands  has 
stated  the  sense  of  many  injuries  received  at  the  hand  of 
your  Highness's  officers,  and  those  of  Eomont  Count  of  Sa- 
voy, your  strict  ally  and  adviser,  we  have  a  right  to  suppose, 
under  your  Highness's  countenance.  For  Count  Eomont, 
he  has  already  felt  with  whom  he  has  to  contend  ;  but  we 
have  as  yet  taken  no  measures  to  avenge  injuries,  affronts, 
interruptions  to  our  commerce,  from  those  who  have  availed 
themselves  of  your  Highness's  authority  to  intercept  our 
countrymen,  spoil  our  goods,  impress  their  persons,  and 
even,  in  some  instances,  take  their  lives.  The  affray  at  La 
Ferette — I  can  vouch  for  what  I  saw — had  no  origin  or  abet- 
tance  from  us  ;  nevertheless,  it  is  impossible  an  independent 
nation  can  suffer  the  repetition  of  such  injuries,  and  free  and 
independent  we  are  determined  to  remain,  or  to  die  in  de- 
fense of  our  rights.  What,,  then,  must  follow,  unless  your 
23 


354  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

• 
Highness  listens  to  the  terms  which  I  am  commissioned  to 
offer  ?  War — a  war  to  extermination  ;  for  so  long  as  one  of 
our  confederacy  can  wield  a  halberd,  so  long,  if  this  fatal 
strife  once  commences,  there  will  be  war  betwixt  your  power- 
ful realms  and  our  poor  and  barren  states.  And  what  can 
the  noble  Duke  of  Burgundy  gain  by  such  a  strife  ?  Is  it 
wealth  and  plunder  ?  Alas,  my  lord,  there  is  more  gold  and 
silver  on  the  very  bridle-bits  of  your  Highnesses  household 
troops  than  can  be  found  in  the  public  treasures  or  private 
hoards  of  our  whole  confederacy.  Is  it  fame  and  glory  you 
aspire  to  ?  There  is  little  honor  to  be  won  by  a  numerous 
army  over  a  few  scattered  bands,  by  men  clad  in  mail  over 
half-armed  husbandmen  and  shepherds — of  such  conquest 
small  were  the  glory.  But  if,  as  all  Christian  men  believe, 
and  as  it  is  the  constant  trust  of  my  countrymen,  from 
memory  of  the  times  of  our  fathers — if  the  Lord  of  Hosts 
should  cast  the  balance  in  behalf  of  the  fewer  numbers  and 
worse-armed  party,  I  leave  it  with  your  Highness  to  judge 
what  would,  in  that  event,  be  the  diminution  of  worship  and 
fame.  Is  it  extent  of  vassalage  and  dominion  your  Highness 
desires,  by  warring  with  your  mountain  neighbors  ?  Know 
that  you  may,  if  it  be  God's  will,  gain  our  barren  and  rugged 
mountains  ;  but,  like  our  ancestors  of  old,  we  will  seek  ref- 
uge in  wilder  and  more  distant  solitudes,  and  when  we  have 
resisted  to  the  last,  we  will  starve  in  the  icy  wastes  of  the 
glaciers.  Ay,  men,  women,  and  children,  we  will  be  frozen 
into  annihilation  together,  ere  one  free  Switzer  will  acknowl- 
edge a  foreign  master.'^ 

The  speech  of  the  Landamman  made  an  obvious  impres- 
sion on  the  assembly.  The  Duke  observed  it,  and  his  heredi- 
tary obstinacy  was  irritated  by  the  general  disposition  which 
he  saw  entertained  in  favor  of  the  ambassador.  This  evil 
principle  overcame  some  impression  which  the  address  of  the 
noble  Biederman  had  not  failed  to  make  upon  him.  He 
answered  with  a  lowering  brow,  interrupting  the  old  man  a? 
he  was  about  to  continue  his  speech — ''You  argue  falsely, 
sir  count,  or  sir  landamman,  or  by  whatever  name  you  call 
yourself,  if  you  think  we  war  on  you  from  any  hope  of  spoil; 
or  any  desire  of  glory.  We  know  as  well  as  you  can  tell  us 
that  there  is  neither  profit  nor  fame  to  be  achieved  by  con- 
quering you.  But  sovereigns,  to  whom  Heaven  has  given 
the  power,  must  root  out  a  band  of  robbers,  though  there  is 
dishonor  in  measuring  swords  with  them  ;  and  we  hunt  to 
death  a  herd  of  wolves,  though  their  flesh  is  carrion  and  tii^ir 
»kins  are  nought." 


ANNE  bF  GEIERSTEIN  355 

Th'/  Landamman  shook  his  gray  head,  and  replied,  with- 
out testifying  emotion,  and  even  with  something  approach- 
ing to  a  smile — '^  I  am  an  older  woodsman  than  you,  my 
Lord  Duke,  and,  it  may  be,  a  more  experienced  one.  The 
boldest,  the  hardiest  hunter  will  not  safely  drive  the  wolf  to 
his  den.  I  have  shown  your  Highness  the  poor  chance  of 
gain  and  the  great  risk  of  loss,  which  even  you,  powerful  as 
you  are,  must  incur  by  risking  a  war  with  determined  and 
desperate  men.  Let  me  now  tell  what  we  are  willing  to  do 
to  secure  a  sincere  and  lasting  peace  with  our  powerful 
neighbor  of  Burgundy.  Your  Grace  is  in  the  act  of  engross- 
ing Lorraine,  and  it  seems  probable,  under  so  vigorous  and 
enterprising  a  prince,  your  authority  may  be  extended  to  the 
shores  of  the  Mediterranean  ;  be  our  noble  friend  and  sincere 
ally,  and  our  mountains,  defended  by  warriors  familiar  with 
victory,  will  be  your  barriers  against  Germany  and  Italy. 
For  yonr  sake  we  will  admit  the  Count  of  Savoy  to  terms, 
and  restore  to  him  our  conquests,  on  such  conditions  as  your 
Highness  shall  yourself  judge  reasonable.  Of  past  subjects 
of  offense  on  the  part  of  your  lieutenants  and  governors  upon 
the  frontier  we  will  be  silent,  so  we  have  assurance  of  no  such 
aggressions  in  future.  Nay  more,  and  it  is  my  last  and 
proudest  offer,  we  will  send  three  thousand  of  our  youth  to 
assist  your  Highness  in  any  war  which  you  may  engage  in, 
whether  against  Louis  of  France  or  the  Emperor  of  Germany. 
They  are  a  different  set  of  men — proudly  and  truly  may  I 
state  it — from  the  scum  of  Germany  and  Italy,  who  form 
%emselves  into  mercenary  bands  of  soldiers.  And,  if  Heaven 
should  decide  your  Highness  to  accept  our  offer,  there  will 
be  one  corps  in  your  army  which  will  leave  their  carcasses  on 
the  field  ere  a  man  of  them  break  their  plighted  troth." 

A  swarthy,  but  tall  and  handsome,  man,  wearing  a  corslet 
richly  engraved  with  arabesque  work,  started  from  his  seat 
with  the  air  of  one  provoked  beyond  the  bounds  of  restraint. 
This  was  the  Count  de  Campo-basso,  commander  of  Charles's 
Italian  mercenaries,  who  possessed,  as  has  been  alluded  to, 
much  influence  over  the  Duke^s  mind,  chiefly  obtained  by 
accommodating  himself  to  his  master's  opinions  and  prej- 
udices, and  placing  before  the  Duke  specious  arguments  to 
justify  him  for  following  his  own  way. 

^'This  lofty  presence  must  excuse  me,'*  he  said,  "if  I 
speak  in  defense  of  my  honor,  and  those  of  my  bold  lances, 
who  have  followed  my  fortunes  from  Italy  to  serve  the  bravest 
prince  in  Christendom.  I  might,  indeed,  pass  over  without 
resentment  to  outrageous  language  of  this  gray-haired  churl, 


356  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

whose  words  cannot  affect  a  knight  and  a  nobleman  more 
than  the  yelling  of  a  peasant's  mastiff.  But  when  I  hear 
him  propose  to  associate  his  band  of  mutinous,  misgoverned 
ruffians  with  your  Highnesses  troops,  I  must  let  him  know 
that  there  is  not  a  horse-boy  in  my  ranks  who  would  fight  in 
Buch  fellowship.  No,  even  I  myself,  bound  by  a  thousand 
ties  of  gratitude,  could  not  submit  to  strive  abreast  with  such 
comrades.  I  would  fold  up  my  banners,  and  lead  five  thou- 
sand men  to  seek — not  a  nobler  master,  for  the  world  has 
none  such — but  wars  in  which  we  might  not  be  obliged  to 
blush  for  our  assistants.'' 

^'  Silence,  Campo-basso,"  said  the  Duke,  "  and  be  assured 
you  serve  a  prince  who  knows  your  worth  too  well  to  ex- 
change it  for  the  untried  and  untrustful  services  of  those 
whom  we  have  only  known  as  vexatious  and  malignant 
neighbors." 

Then  addressing  himself  to  Arnold  Biederman,  he  said 
coldly  and  sternly,  '^  Sir  Landamman,  we  have  heard  you 
fairly.  We  have  heard  you,  although  you  come  before  us 
with  hands  dyed  deep  in  the  blood  of  our  servant.  Sir  Archi- 
bald de  Hagenbach ;  for,  supposing  he  was  murdered  by  a 
villainous  association — which,  by  St.  George  !  shall  never, 
while  we  live  and  reign,  raise  its  pestilential  head  on  this 
side  of  the  Ehine — yet  it  is  not  the  less  undeniable  and  un~ 
denied,  that  you  stood  by  in  arms,  and  encouraged  the  deed 
the  assassins  performed  under  your  countenance.  Return 
to  your  mountains,  and  be  thankful  that  you  return  in  life. 
Tell  those  who  sent  you  that  I  will  be  presently  on  their 
frontiers.  A  deputation  of  your  most  notable  persons,  who 
meet  me  with  halters  round  their  necks,  torches  in  their  left 
hands,  in  their  right  their  swords  held  by  the  point,  may 
learn  on  what  conditions  we  will  grant  you  peace.'' 

"  Then  farewell  peace,  and  welcome  war,''  said  the  Land- 
amman ;  '^  and  be  its  plagues  and  curses  on  the  heads  of 
those  who  choose  blood  and  strife  rather  than  peace  and 
union  !  We  will  meet  you  on  our  frontiers  with  our  naked 
swords,  but  the  hilts,  not  their  points,  shall  be  in  our  grasp. 
Charles  of  Burgundy,  Flanders,  and  Lorraine,  Duke  of  seven 
[six]  dukedoms.  Count  of  seventeen  [fifteen]  earldoms.  Ibid 
you  defiance  ;  and  declare  war  against  you  in  the  name  of  the 
Confederated  Cantons,  and  such  others  as  shall  adhere  to 
them.     There,"  he  said,  ''  are  my  letters  of  defiance." 

The  herald  took  from  Arnold  Biederman  the  fatal 
denunciation. 

^'  Bead  it  not,  Toison  d'Or  ! "  said  the  haughty  Duke. 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  357 

''Let  the  executioner  drag  it  through  the  streets  at  his 
horse's  tail,  and  nail  it  to  the  gibbet,  to  show  in  what  account 
we  hold  the  paltry  scroll,  and  those  who  sent  it.  Away, 
sirs,''  speaking  to  the  Swiss,  ^'  trudge  back  to  your  wilder- 
nesses with  such  haste  as  your  feet  can  use.  When  we  next 
meet,  you  shall  better  know  whom  you  have  offended.  Get 
our  horses  ready  ;  the  council  is  broken  up.'^ 

The  maire  of  Dijon,  when  all  were  in  motion  to  leave  the 
hall,  again  approached  the  Duke,  and  timidly  expressed  some 
hopes  that  his  Highness  would  deign  to  partake  of  a  banquet 
which  the  magistracy  had  prepared,  in  expectation  he  might 
do  them  such  an  honor. 

'^  No,  by  St.  Greorge  of  Burgundy,  sir  maire"  said  Charles, 
with  one  of  the  withering  glances  by  which  he  was  wont  to 
express  indignation  mixed  with  contempt ;  ''  you  have  not 
pleased  us  so  well  with  our  breakfast  as  to  induce  us  to  trust 
our  dinner  to  the  loyalty  of  our  good  town  of  Dijon.'' 

So  saying,  he  rudely  turned  off  from  the  mortified  chief 
magistrate,  and,  mounting  his  horse,  rode  back  to  his  camp, 
conversing  earnestly  on  the  way  with  the  Count  of  Campo- 
basso. 

^'I  would  offer  you  dinner,  my  Lord  of  Oxford,"  said 
Colvin  to  that  nobleman,  when  he  alighted  at  his  tent,  ''  but 
I  foresee,  ere  you  could  swallow  a  mouthful,  you  will  be  sum- 
moned to  the  Duke's  presence  ;  for  it  is  our  Charles's  way, 
when  he  has  fixed  on  a  wrong  course,  to  wrangle  with  his 
friends  and  counselors,  in  order  to  prove  it  is  a  right  one. 
Marry,  he  always  makes  a  convert  of  yon  supple  Italian." 

Colvin's  augury  was  speedily  realized,  for  a  page  almost 
immediately  summoned  the  English  merchant,  Philipson,  to 
attend  the  Duke.  Without  waiting  an  instant,  Charles 
poured  forth  an  incoherent  tide  of  reproaches  against  the 
Estates  of  his  dukedom,  for  refusing  him  their  countenance 
in  so  slight  a  matter,  and  launched  out  in  explanations  of 
the  necessity  which  he  alleged  there  was  for  punishing  the 
audacity  of  the  Swiss.  ''  And  thou  too,  Oxford,"  he  con- 
cluded, ''  art  such  an  impatient  fool  as  to  wish  me  to  engage 
in  a  distant  war  with  England,  and  transport  forces  over  the 
sea,  when  I  have  such  insolent  mutineers  to  chastise  on  my 
own  frontiers  ?  " 

When  he  was  at  length  silent,  the  English  earl  laid  before 
him,  with  respectful  earnestness,  the  danger  that  appeared 
to  be  involved  in  engaging  with  a  people,  poor  indeed,  but 
universally  dreaded,  from  their  discipline  and  courage,  and 
that  under  the  eye  of  so  dangerous  a  rival  as  Louis  of  France, 


358  WAVERLET  NOVELS 

who  was  sure  to  support  the  Duke's  enemies  underhand,  if 
he  did  not  join  them  openly.  On  this  point  the  Duke's 
resolution  was  immovable.  ''  It  shall  never/'  he  srad,  "  be 
told  of  me,  that  I  uttered  threats  which  I  dared  not  execute. 
These  boors  have  declared  war  against  me,  and  they  shall 
learn  whose  wrath  it  is  that  they  have  wantonly  provoked  ; 
but  I  do  not,  therefore,  renounce  thy  scheme,  my  good 
Oxford.  If  thou  canst  procure  me  this  same  cession  of 
Provence,  and  induce  old  Eene  to  give  up  the  cause  of  his 
grandson,  Ferrand  of  Vaudemont,  in  Lorraine,  thou  wilt 
make  it  well  worth  my  while  to  send  thee  brave  aid  against 
my  brother  Blackburn,  who,  while  he  is  drinking  healths 
pottle-deep  in  France,  may  well  come  to  lose  his  lands  in 
England.  And  be  not  impatient  because  I  cannot  at  this 
very  instant  send  men  across  the  seas.  The  march  which  I 
am  making  towards  Neufchatel,  which  is,  I  think,  the  nearest 
point  where  I  shall  find  these  churls,  will  be  but  like  a  morn- 
ing's excursion.  I  trust  you  will  go  with  us,  old  companion. 
I  should  like  to  see  if  you  have  forgotten,  among  yonder 
mountains,  how  to  back  a  horse  and  lay  a  lance  in  rest." 

''I  will  wait  on  your  Highness,"  said  the  Earl,  *'^as  is  my 
duty,  for  my  motions  must  depend  on  your  pleasure.  But  I 
will  not  carry  arms,  especially  against  those  people  of  Hel- 
vetia, from  whom  I  have  experienced  hospitality,  unless  it 
be  for  my  own  personal  defense." 

'*  Well,"  replied  the  Duke,  *'  e'en  be  it  so  ;  we  shall  have 
in  you  an  excellent  judge,  to  tell  us  who  best  discharges  his 
devoir  against  the  mountain  clowns." 

At  this  point  in  the  conversation  there  was  a  knocking  at 
the  entrance  of  the  pavilion,  and  the  Chancellor  of  Burgundy 
presently  entered,  in  great  haste  and  anxiety.  *'News,  my 
lord — news  of  France  and  England,"  said  the  prelate,  and 
then,  observing  the  presence  of  a  stranger,  he  looked  at  the 
Duke  and  was  silent. 

'^  It  is  a  faithful  friend,  my  Lord  Bishop,"  said  the  Duke  ; 
*'  you  may  tell  your  news  before  him." 

"  It  will  soon  be  generally  known,"  said  the  chancellor-— 
''Louis  and  Edward  are  fully  accorded." 

Both  the  Duke  and  the  English  earl  started. 

*'I  expected  this,"  said  the  Duke,  ^'  but  not  so  soon." 

"  The  kings  have  met,"  answered  his  minister. 

"  How — in  battle  ?  "  said  Oxford,  forgetting  himself  in  his 
extreme  eagerness. 

The  chancellor  was  somewhat  surprised,  but,  as  the  Duke 
seemed  to  expect  him  to  give  an  answer,  he  replied,  *'  N  o. 


ANNE  OF  GEIER STEIN 


sir  stranger,  not  in  battle,  but  upon  appointment,  and  in  peace 
and  amity /^ 

"  The  sight  must  have  been  worth  seeing,"  said  the  Duke, 
"  when  the  old  fox  Louis  and  my  brother  Black — I  mean  my 
brother  Edward — met.    Where  held  they  their  rendezvous  ?  " 

*'0n  a  bridge  over  the  Seine,  at  Picquigny/' 

''I  would  thou  hadst  been  there,"  said  the  Duke,  looking 
to  Oxford,  ^'  with  a  good  ax  in  thy  hand,  to  strike  one  fair 
blow  for  England  and  another  for  Burgundy.  My  grand- 
father was  treacherously  slain  at  just  such  a  meeting,  at  the 
bridge  of  Montereau,  upon  the  Yonne." 

''To  prevent  a  similar  chance,"  said  the  chancellor,  '^a 
strong  barricade,  such  as  closes  the  cages  in  which  men 
keep  wild  beasts,  was  raised  in  the  midst  of  the  bridge,  and 
prevented  the  possibility  of  their  even  touching  each  other's 
hands." 

*'Ha — ha  !  By  St.  George,  that  smells  of  Louis's  craft 
and  caution  ;  for  the  Englishman,  to  give  him  his  due,  is  as 
little  acquainted  with  fear  as  with  policy.  But  what  terms 
have  they  made  ?  Where  do  the  English  army  winter  ? 
What  towns,  fortresses,  and  castles  are  surrendered  to  them, 
in  pledge  or  in  perpetuity  ?" 

"None,  my  liege,"  said  the  chancellor.  "The  English 
army  returns  into  England  as  fast  as  shipping  can  be  pro- 
cured to  transport  them  ;  and  Louis  will  accommodate  them 
with  every  sail  and  oar  in  his  dominions,  rather  than  they 
should  not  instantly  evacuate  France. '^ 

"  And  by  what  concessions  has  Louis  bought  a  peace  so 
necessary  to  his  affairs  ?  " 

"By  fair  words,"  said  the  chancellor,  "  by  liberal  presents, 
and  by  some  five  hundred  tuns  of  wine." 

"  Wine  !"  exclaimed  the  Duke.  "  Heardst  thou  ever  the 
like,  Signior  Philipson  ?  Why,  your  countrymen  are  little 
little  better  than  Esau,  who  sold  his  birthright  for  a  mess  of 
pottage.  Marry,  I  must  confess  I  never  saw  an  Englishman 
who  loved  a  dry-lipped  bargain." 

"  I  can  scarce  believe  this  news/'  said  tne  Earl  of  Oxford. 
"  If  this  Edward  were  content  to  cross  the  sea  with  fifty 
thousand  Englishmen  merely  to  return  again,  there  are  in 
his  camp  both  proud  nobles  and  haughty  commons  enough 
to  resist  his  disgraceful  purpose." 

"  The  money  of  Louis,"  said  the  statesman,  "  has  found 
noble  hands  willing  to  clutch  it.  The  wine  of  France  has 
flooded  every  throat  in  the  English  army;  the  riot  and 
uproar  was  unbounded  :  and  at  one  time  the  town  of  Amiensi 


360  WAVEELET  NOVELS 

where  Louis  himself  resided,  was  full  of  so  many  English 
archers,  all  of  them  intoxicated,  that  the  person  of  the  King 
of  France  was  almost  in  their  hands.  Their  sense  of  national 
honor  has  been  lost  in  the  universal  revel,  and  those  amongst 
them  who  would  be  more  dignified,  and  play  the  wise  politi- 
cians, say  that,  having  come  to  France  by  connivance  of  the 
Duke  of  Burgundy,  and  that  prince  having  failed  to  join 
them  with  his  forces,  they  have  done  well,  wisely,  and  gal- 
lantly, considering  the  season  of  the  year,  and  the  impos- 
sibility of  obtaining  quarters,  to  take  tribute  of  France,  and 
return  home  in  triumph." 

'^  And  leave  Louis,'^  said  Oxford,  ^'  at  undisturbed  freedom 
to  attack  Burgundy  with  all  his  forces  ?  " 

•^  Not  so,  friend  Philipson,"  said  the  Duke  Charles ; 
"  know,  that  there  is  a  truce  betwixt  Burgundy  and  France 
for  the  space  of  seven  years,  and  had  not  this  been  granted 
and  signed,  it  is  probable  that  we  might  have  found  some 
means  of  marring  the  treaty  betwixt  Edward  and  Louis, 
even  at  the  expense  of  affording  those  voracious  islanders 
beef  and  beer  during  the  winter  months.  Sir  chancellor, 
you  may  leave  us,  but  be  within  reach  of  a  hasty  summons." 

When  his  minister  left  the  pavilion,  the  Duke,  who  with 
his  rude  and  imperious  character  united  much  kindness,  if 
it  could  not  be  termed  generosity,  of  disposition,  came  up 
to  the  Lancastrian  lord,  who  stood  like  one  at  whose  feet  a 
thunderbolt  has  just  broken,  and  who  is  still  appalled  by  the 
terrors  of  the  shock. 

^*  My  poor  Oxford,"  he  said,  "  thou  art  stupefied  by  this 
news,  which  thou  canst  not  doubt  must  have  a  fatal  effect 
on  the  plan  which  thy  brave  bosom  cherishes  with  such 
devoted  fidelity.  I  would  for  thy  sake  I  could  have  detained 
the  English  a  little  longer  in  France  ;  but  had  I  attempted 
to  do  so,  there  were  an  end  of  my  truce  with  Louis,  and  of 
course  to  my  power  to  chastise  these  paltry  cantons,  or  send 
forth  an  expedition  to  England.  As  matters  stand,  give  me 
but  a  week  to  punish  these  mountaineers,  and  you  shall  have 
a  larger  force  than  your  modesty  has  requested  of  me  for 
your  enterprise  ;  and,  in  the  meanwhile,  I  will  take  care 
that  Blackburn  and  his  cousin-archers  have  no  assistance  of 
shipping  from  Flanders.  Tush,  man,  never  fear  it — thoa 
wilt  be  in  England  long  ere  they  ;  and,  once  more,  rely  on 
my  assistance — always,  thou  knowest,  the  cession  of  Provence 
being  executed,  as  in  reason.  Our  cousin  Margaret's  dia- 
monds we  must  keep  for  a  time  ;  and  perhaps  they  may  pass 
as  a  pledge,  with  some  of  our  own,  for  the  godly  purpose  of 


ANNE  OF  GEIEESTEIN  361 

setting  at  freedom  the  imprisoned  angels  of  our  Flemish 
usurers,  who  will  not  lend  even  to  their  sovereign,  unless  on 
good  current  security.  To  such  straits  has  the  disobedient 
avarice  of  our  Estates  for  the  moment  reduced  us/' 

"  Alas  !  my  lord,"  said  the  dejected  nobleman,  '^  I  were 
ungrateful  to  doubt  the  sincerity  of  your  good  intentions. 
But  who  can  presume  on  the  events  of  war,  especially  when 
time  presses  for  instant  decision  ?  You  are  pleased  to  trust 
me.  Let  your  Highness  extend  your  confidence  thus  far  :  I 
will  take  my  horse,  and  ride  after  the  Landamman,  if  he 
hath  already  set  forth.  I  have  little  doubt  to  make  such  an 
accommodation  with  him  that  you  may  be  secure  on  all  your 
south-eastern  frontiers.  You  may  then  with  security  work 
your  will  in  Lorraine  and  Provence. '^ 

^'  Do  not  speak  of  it,''  said  the  Duke,  sharply  ;  "  thou 
forget'st  thyself  and  me,  when  thou  supposest  that  a  prince 
who  has  pledged  his  word  to  his  people  can  recall  it  like  a 
merchant  chaffering  for  his  paltry  wares.  Go  to — we  will 
assist  you,  but  we  will  be  ourselves  judge  of  the  time  and 
manner.  Yet,  having  both  kind  will  to  our  distressed  cousin 
of  Anjou  and  being  your  good  friend,  we  will  not  linger  in 
the  matter.  Our  host  have  orders  to  break  up  this  evening 
and  direct  their  march  against  Neufchatel,  where  these  proud 
Swiss  shall  have  a  taste  of  the  fire  and  sword  which  they 
have  provoked.'' 

Oxford  sighed  deeply,  but  made  no  farther  remonstrance, 
in  which  he  acted  wisely,  since  it  was  likely  to  have  exasper- 
ated the  fiery  temper  of  the  sovereign  to  whom  it  was  ad- 
dressed, while  it  was  certain  that  it  would  not  in  the  slightest 
degree  alter  his  resolution. 

He  took  farewell  of  the  Duke,  and  returned  to  Colvin, 
whom  he  found  immersed  in  the  business  of  his  department, 
and  preparing  for  the  removal  of  the  artillery — an  operation 
which  the  clumsiness  of  the  ordnance  and  the  execrable 
state  of  the  roads  rendered  at  that  time  a  much  more 
troublesome  operation  than  at  present,  though  it  is  even  still 
one  of  the  most  laborious  movements  attending  the  march 
of  an  army.  The  master  of  the  ordnance  welcomed  Oxford 
with  much  glee,  and  congratulated  himself  on  the  distin- 
guished honor  of  enjoying  his  company  during  the  campaign, 
and  acquainted  him  that,  by  the  especial  command  of  the 
Duke,  he  had  made  fitting  preparations  for  his  accommoda- 
tion, suitable  to  the  disguised  character  which  he  meant  to 
maintain,  but  in  every  other  respect  as  convenient  as  a  camp 
could  admit  of. 


CHAPTER  XXIX 

A  mirthful  man  he  was — the  snows  of  age 

Fell,  but  they  did  not  chill  him.     Gaiety,  ' 

Even  in  life's  closing,  touch'd  his  teeming  brain 

With  such  wild  visions  as  the  setting  sun 

Raises  in  front  of  some  hoar  glacier 

Painting  the  bleak  ice  with  a  thousand  hues. 

Old  Play. 

Leaving  the  Earl  of  Oxford  in  attendance  on  the  stubborn 
Duke  of  Burgundy  during  an  expedition  which  the  one  rep- 
resented as  a  brief  excursion,  more  resembling  a  hunting- 
party  than  a  campaign,  and  which  the  other  considered  in  a 
much  graver  and  more  perilous  light,  we  return  to  Arthur 
de  Vere,  or  the  younger  Philipson,  as  he  continued  to  be 
called,  who  was  conducted  by  his  guide  with  fidelity  and 
success,  but  certainly  very  slowly,  upon  his  journey  into 
Provence. 

The  state  of  Lorraine,  overrun  by  the  Duke  of  Burgundy^s 
army,  and  infested  at  the  same  time  by  different  scattered 
bands,  who  took  the  field  or  held  out  the  castles,  as  they  al- 
leged, for  the  interest  of  Count  Ferrand  de  Vaudemont, 
rendered  journeying  so  dangerous,  that  it  was  often  neces- 
sary to  leave  the  main  road  and  to  take  circuitous  tracks,  in 
order  to  avoid  such  unfriendly  encounters  as  travelers  might 
otherwise  have  met  with. 

Arthur,  taught  by  sad  experience  to  distrust  strange 
guides,  found  himself,  nevertheless,  in  this  eventful  and 
perilous  journey,  disposed  to  rest  considerable  confidence  in 
his  present  conductor,  Thiebault,  a  Proven 9al  by  birth,  in- 
timately acquainted  with  the  roads  which  they  took,  and, 
as  far  as  he  could  judge,  disposed  to  discharge  his  office  with 
fidelity.  Prudence  alike,  and  the  habits  which  he  had  ac- 
quired in  traveling,  as  well  as  the  character  of  a  merchant 
which  he  still  sustained,  induced  him  to  wave  the  morque, 
or  haughty  superiority  of  a  knight  and  noble  towards  an  in- 
ferior personage,  especially  as  he  rightly  conjectured  that 
free  intercourse  with  this  man,  whose  acquirements  seemed 
of  a  superior  cast,  was  likely  to  render  him  a  judge  of  his 
opinions  and  disposition   towards  him.     In  return  for  his 


ANNE  OF  GEIEBSTEIN  363 

condescension,  he  obtained  a  good  deal  of  information  con- 
cerning the  province  which  he  was 'approaching. 

As  they  drew  near  the  boundaries  of  Provence,  the  com- 
munication of  Thiebault  became  more  fluent  and  interest- 
ing. He  could  not  only  tell  the  name  and  history  of  each 
romantic  castle  which  they  passed  in  their  devious  and 
doubtful  route,  but  had  at  his  command  the  chivalrous  his- 
tory of  the  noble  knights  and  barons  to  whom  they  now 
pertained,  or  had  belonged  in  earlier  days,  and  could  recount 
their  exploits  against  the  Saracens  by  repelling  their  attacks 
upon  Christendom,  or  their  efforts  to  recover  the  Holy  Sep- 
ulcher  from  pagan  hands.  In  the  course  of  such  narrations, 
Thiebault  was  led  to  speak  of  the  troubadours,  a  race  of  na- 
tive poets  of  Provengal  origin,  differing  widely  from  the 
minstrels  of  Normandy  and  the  adjacent  provinces  of  France, 
with  whose  tales  of  chivalry,  as  well  as  the  numerous  transla- 
tions of  their  works  into  Norman-French  and  English, 
Arthur,  like  most  of  the  noble  youth  of  his  country,  was 
intimately  acquainted  and  deeply  embued.  Thiebault 
boasted  that  his  grandsire,  of  humble  birth  indeed,  but  of 
distinguished  talent,  was  one  of  this  gifted  race,  whose  com- 
positions produced  so  great  an  effect  on  the  temper  and 
manners  of  their  age  and  country.  It  was,  however,  to  be 
regretted  that,  inculcating  as  the  prime  duty  of  life  a  fan- 
tastic spirit  of  gallantry,  which  sometimes  crossed  the  Pla- 
tonic bound  prescribed  to  it,  the  poetry  of  the  trouba- 
dours *  was  too  frequently  used  to  soften  and  seduce  the 
heart  and   corrupt  the  principles. 

Arthur's  attention  was  called  to  this  peculiarity  by  Thie- 
bault singing,  which  he  could  do  with  good  skill,  the  his- 
tory of  a  troubadour  named  William  Cabestaing,  who  loved, 
par  amours,  a  noble  and  beautiful  lady,  Margaret,  the  wife 
of  a  baron  called  Eaymond  de  Eoussillon.  The  jealous 
husband  obtained  proof  of  his  dishonor,  and  having  put 
Cabestaing  to  death  by  assassination,  he  took  his  heart  from 
his  bosom,  and,  causing  it  to  be  dressed  like  that  of  an  ani- 
mal, ordered  it  to  be  served  up  to  his  lady  ;  and  when  she 
had  eaten  of  the  horrible  mess,  told  her  of  what  her  banquet 
was  composed.  The  la,dy  replied  that,  since  she  had  been 
made  to  partake  of  food  so  precious,  no  coarser  morsel 
should  ever  after  cross  her  lips.  She  persisted  in  her  reso- 
lution, and  thus  starved  herself  to  death.  The  troubadour 
who  celebrated  this  tragic  history  had  displayed  in  his  com- 
position a  good  deal  of  poetic  art.  Glossing  over  the  erroi 
*  See  Note  8. 


364  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

of  the  lovers  as  the  fault  of  their  destiny,  dwelling  on  theii 
tragical  fate  with  considerable  pathos,  and  finally  execrating 
the  blind  fury  of  the  husband  with  the  full  fervor  of  poeti- 
cal indignation,  he  recorded,  with  vindictive  pleasure,  how 
every  bold  knight  and  true  lover  in  the  south  of  France  as- 
sembled to  besiege  the  baron's  castle,  stormed  it  by  main 
force,  left  not  one  stone  upon  another,  and  put  the  tyrant 
himself  to  an  ignominious  death.  Arthur  was  interested  in 
the  melancholy  tale,  which  even  beguiled  him  of  a  few  tears  ; 
but  as  he  thought  farther  on  its  purport,  he  dried  his  eyes, 
and  said,  with  some  sternness — ''  Thiebault,  sing  me  no 
more  such  lays.  I  have  heard  my  father  say  that  the  readi- 
est mode  to  corrupt  a  Christian  man  is  to  bestow  upon  vice 
the  pity  and  the  praise  which  are  due  only  to  virtue.  Your 
Baron  of  Roussillon  is  a  monster  of  cruelty  ;  but  your  unfor- 
tunate lovers  were  not  the  less  guilty.  It  is  by  giving  fair 
names  to  foul  actions  that  those  who  would  start  at  real 
vice  are  led  to  practise  its  lessons,  under  the  disguise  of 
virtue. '^ 

^'  I  would  you  knew,  signior,''  answered  Thiebault, 
"  that  this  La^  of  Cabestaing  and  the  Lady  Margaret  of 
Roussillon  is  reckoned  a  masterpiece  of  the  joyous  science. 
Eie,  sir,  you  are  too  young  to  be  so  strict  a  censor  of  morals. 
What  will  you  do  when  your  head  is  gray,  if  you  are  thus 
severe  when  it  is  scarcely  brown  ?  " 

''  A  head  which  listens  to  folly  in  youth  will  hardly  be 
honorable  in  old  age,''  answered  Arthur. 

Thiebault  had  no  mind  to  carry  the  dispute  farther. 

"  It  is  not  for  me  to  contend  with  your  worship.  I  only 
think,  with  every  true  son  of  chivalry  and  song,  that  a  knight 
without  a  mistress  is  like  the  sky  without  a  star." 

*'  Do  I  not  know  that  ? "  answered  Arthur  ;  '^  but  yet 
better  remain  in  darkness  than  be  guided  by  such  false 
lights  as  shower  down  vice  and  pestilence." 

''  Nay,  it  may  be  your  seignorie  is  right,"  answered  the 
guide.  *'  It  is  certain,  that  even  in  Provence  here  we  have 
lost  much  of  our  keen  judgment  on  matters  of  love — its 
difficulties,  its  intricacies,  and  its  errors,  since  the  trouba- 
dors  are  no  longer  regarded  as  usual  and  since  the  High  and 
Noble  Parliament  of  Love*  has  ceased  to  hold  its  sittings." 

'^But  in  these  latter  days,"  continued  the  Proven9al, 
**  kings,  dukes,  and  sovereigns,  instead  of  being  the  foremost 
and  most  faithful  vassals  of  the  court  of  Cupid,  are  them- 
selves the  slaves  of  selfishness  and  love  of  gain.  Instead  oi 
*  See  Note  9. 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  365 

winning  hearts  by  breaking  lances  in  the  lists,  they  are  break- 
ing the  hearts  of  their  impoverished  vassals  by  the  most 
cruel  exactions  ;  instead  of  attempting  to  deserve  the  smile 
and  favors  of  their  lady-loves,  they  are  meditating  how  to 
steal  castles,  towns,  and  provinces  from  their  neighbors. 
But  long  life  to  the  good  and  venerable  King  Rene  !  While 
he  has  an  acre  of  land  left,  his  residence  will  be  the  resort  of 
valiant  knights,  whose  only  aim  is  praise  in  arms,  of  true 
lovers  who  are  persecuted  by  fortune,  and  of  high-toned 
harpers,  who  know  how  to  celebrate  faith  and  valor /^ 

Arthur,  interested  in  learning  something  more  precise  than 
common  fame  had  taught  him  on  the  subject  of  this  prince, 
easily  induced  the  talkative  Proven9al  to  enlarge  upon  the 
virtues  of  his  old  sovereign's  character,  as  just,  joyous,  and 
debonair,  a  friend  to  the  most  noble  exercises  of  the  chase  and 
the  tilt-yard,  and  still  more  so  to  the  joyous  science  of  poetry 
and  music  ;  who  gave  away  more  revenue  than  he  received, 
in  largesses  to  knights-errant  and  itinerant  musicians,  with 
whom  his  petty  court  was  crowded,  as  one  of  the  very  few  in 
which  the  ancient  hospitality  was  still  maintained. 

Such  was  the  picture  which  Thiebault  drew  of  the  last 
minstrel  monarch ;  and  though  the  eulogium  was  exag- 
gerated, perhaps  the  facts  were  not  overcharged. 

Born  of  royal  parentage,  and  with  high  pretensions,  Ren6 
had  at  no  period  of  his  life  been  able  to  match  his  fortunes 
to  his  claims.  Of  the  kingdoms  to  which  he  asserted  right, 
nothing  remained  in  his  possession  but  the  country  of  Prov- 
ence itself,  a  fair  and  friendly  principality,  but  diminished 
by  the  many  claims  which  France  had  acquired  upon  portions 
of  it  by  advances  of  money  to  supply  the  personal  expenses 
of  its  master,  and  by  other  portions  which  Burgundy,  to 
whom  Rene  had  been  a  prisoner,  held  in  pledge  for  his 
ransom.  In  his  youth  he  engaged  in  more  than  one  military 
enterprise,  in  the  hope  of  attaining  some  part  of  the  territory 
of  which  he  was  styled  sovereign.  His  courage  is  not  im- 
peached, but  fortune  did  not  smile  on  his  military  adven- 
tures ;  and  he  seems  at  last  to  have  become  sensible  that  the 
power  of  admiring  and  celebrating  warlike  merit  is  very 
different  from  possessing  that  quality.  In  fact,  Rene  was  a 
prince  of  very  moderate  parts,  endowed  with  a  love  of  the 
fine  arts,  which  he  carried  to  extremity,  and  a  degree  of 
good-humor  which  never  permitted  him  to  repine  at  fortune, 
but  rendered  its  possessor  happy,  when  a  prince  of  keener 
feelings  would  have  died  of  despair.  This  insouciant,  light- 
tempered,  gay,  and  thoughtless  disposition  conducted  Ren6, 


366  WAVERLEY  NOVELS, 

free  from  all  the  passions  which  embitter  life,  and  often 
shorten  it,  to  a  hale  and  mirthful  old  age.  Even  domestic 
losses,  which  often  affect  those  who  are  proof  against  mere 
reverses  of  fortune,  made  no  deep  impression  on  the  feelings 
of  this  cheerful  old  monarch.  Most  of  his  children  had  died 
young  ;  Eene  took  it  not  to  heart.  His  daughter  Margaret's 
marriage  with  the  powerful  Henry  of  England  was  considered 
a  connection  much  above  the  fortunes  of  the  King  of  the  Trou- 
badours. But  in  the  issue,  instead  of  Rene  deriving  any 
splendor  from  the  match,  he  was  involved  in  the  misfortunes 
of  his  daughter,  and  repeatedly  obliged  to  impoverish  him- 
self to  supply  her  ransom.  Perhaps  in  his  private  soul  the 
old  king  did  not  think  these  losses  so  mortifying  as  the 
necessity  of  receiving  Margaret  into  his  court  and  family. 
On  fire  when  reflecting  on  the  losses  she  had  sustained, 
mourning  over  friends  slain  and  kingdoms  lost,  the  proudest 
and  most  passionate  of  princesses  was  ill  suited  to  dwell  with 
the  gayest  and  best-humored  of  sovereigns,  whose  pursuits 
she  contemned,  and  whose  lightness  of  temper,  for  finding 
comfort  in  such  trifles,  she  could  not  forgive.  The  discom- 
fort attached  to  her  presence  and  vindictive  recollections 
embarrassed  the  good-humored  old  monarch,  though  it  was 
unable  to  drive  him  beyond  his  equanimity. 

Another  distress  pressed  him  more  sorely.  Yolande,  a 
daughter  of  his  first  wife,  Isabella,  had  succeeded  to  his  claims 
upon  the  duchy  of  Lorraine,  and  transmitted  them  to  her 
son,  Ferrand  Count  of  Vaudemont,  a  young  man  of  courage 
and  spirit,  engaged  at  this  time  in  the  apparently  desperate 
undertaking  of  making  his  title  good  against  the  Duke  of 
Burgundy,  who,  with  little  right  but  great  power,  was  seiz- 
ing upon  and  overrunning  this  rich  duchy,  which  he  laid 
claim  to  as  a  male  fief.  And  to  conclude,  while  the  aged 
king  on  one  side  beheld  his  dethroned  daughter  in-  hopeless 
despair,  and  on  the  other  his  disinherited  grandson  in  vain 
attempting  to  recover  part  of  their  rights,  he  had  the  ad- 
ditional misfortune  to  know  that  his  nephew,  Louis  of  France, 
and  his  cousin,  the  Duke  of  Burgundy,  were  secretly  con- 
tending which  should  succeed  him  in  that  portion  of  Prov- 
ence which  he  still  continued  to  possess,  and  that  it  was 
only  jealousy  of  each  other  which  prevented  his  being  de- 
spoiled of  this  last  remnant  of  his  territory.  Yet  amid  all 
this  distress,  Ren6  feasted  and  received  guests,  danced,  sung, 
composed  poetry,  used  the  pencil  or  brush  with  no  small 
skill,  devised  and  conducted  festivals  and  processions,  and 
studying  to  promote,  as  far  as  possible,  the  immediate  mirth 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN 


367 


and  good-humor  of  his  subjects,  if  he  could  not  materially 
enlarge  their  more  permanent  prosperity,  was  never  mentioned 
by  them  excepting  as  Le  bon  Roi  Rene.^  a  distinction  con- 
ferred on  him  down  to  the  present  day,  and  due  to  him  cer- 
tainly by  the  qualities  of  his  heart,  if  not  by  those  of  his 
head. 

Whilst  Arthur  was  receiving  from  his  guide  a  full  account 
of  the  peculiarities  of  King  Kene,  they  entered  the  territor- 
ies of  that  merry  monarch.  It  was  late  in  the  autumn,  and 
about  the  period  when  the  south-eastern  counties  of  France 
rather  show  to  least  advantage.  The  foliage  of  the  olive-tree  is 
then  decayed  and  withered,  and  as  it  predominates  in  the  land- 
scape, and  resembles  the  scorched  complexion  of  the  soil 
itself,  an  ashen  and  arid  hue  is  given  to  the  whole.  Still, 
however,  there  were  scenes  in  the  hilly  and  pastoral  parts  of 
the  country  where  the  quantity  of  evergreens  relieved  the  eye 
even  in  this  dead  season. 

.  The  appearance  of  'the  country,  in  general,  had  much  in  it 
that  was  peculiar. 

The  travelers  perceived  at  every  turn  some  marks  of  the 
King's  singular  character.  Provence,  as  the  part  of  Gaul 
which  first  received  Koman  civilization,  and  as  having  been 
still  longer  the  residence  of  the  Grecian  colony  who  founded 
Marseilles,  is  more  full  of  the  splendid  relics  of  ancient  ar- 
chitecture than  any  other  country  in  Europe,  Italy  and 
Greece  excepted.  The  good  taste  of  the  King  Rene  had 
dictated  some  attempts  to  clear  out  and  restore  these  memor- 
ials of  antiquity.  Was  there  a  triumphal  arch  or  an  ancient 
temple — huts  and  hovels  were  cleared  away  from  its  vicinity, 
and  means  were  used  at  least  to  retard  the  approach  of  ruin. 
Was  there  a  marble  fountain,  which  superstition  had  dedi- 
cated to  some  sequestered  naiad — it  was  surrounded  by  olives, 
almond,  and  orange  trees  ;  its  cistern  was  repaired,  and 
taught  once  more  to  retain  its  crystal  treasures.  The  huge 
amphitheatres  and  gigantic  colonnades  experienced  the  same 
anxious  care,  attesting  that  the  noblest  specimen  of  the  fine 
arts  found  one  admirer  and  preserver  in  King  Rene,  even 
during  the  course  of  those  which  are  termed  the  dark  and 
barbarous  ages. 

A  change  of  manners  could  also  be  observed  in  passina: 
from  Burgundy  to  Lorraine,  where  society  relished  of  Ger- 
man bluntness,  into  the  pastoral  country  of  Provence,  where 
the  influence  of  a  fine  climate  and  melodious  language,  joined 
to  the  pursuits  of  the  romantic  old  monarch,  with  the  uni- 
versal taste  for  music  and  poetry,  had  introduced  a  civiliza- 


B68  WA  VEBLET  NOVELS 

tion  of  manners  which  approached  to  affectation.  The 
shepherd  literally  marched  abroad  in  the  morning,  piping 
his  flocks  forth  to  the  pasture  with  some  love  sonnet,  the 
composition  of  an  amorous  troubadour;  and  his  ^^ fleecy 
care  "  seemed  actually  to  be  under  the  influence  of  his  music, 
instead  of  being  ungraciously  insensible  to  its  melody,  as  is 
the  case  in  colder  climates.  Arthur  observed,  too,  that  the 
Provencal  sheep,  instead  of  being  driven  before  the  shepherd, 
regularly  followed  him,  and  did  not  disperse  to  feed  until  the 
swain,  by  turning  his  face  around  to  them,  remaining  station- 
ary, and  executing  variations  on  the  air  which  he  was  play- 
ing, seemed  to  remind  them  that  it  was  proper  to  do  so. 
While  in  motion,  his  huge  dog,  of  a  species  which  is  trained 
to  face  the  wolf,  and  who  is  respected  by  the  sheep  as  their 
guardian,  and  not  feared  as  their  tyrant,  followed  his  master 
with  his  ears  pricked,  like  the  chief  critic  and  prime  judge 
of  the  performance,  at  some  tones  of  which  he  seldom  failed 
to  intimate  disapprobation  ;  while  the  flock,  like  the  gener- 
ality of  an  audience,  followed  in  unanimous  though  silent 
applause.  At  the  hour  of  noon,  the  shepherd  had  sometimes 
acquired  an  augmentation  to  his  audience,  in  some  comely 
matron  or  blooming  maiden,  with  whom  he  had  rendezvoused 
by  such  a  fountain  as  we  have  described,  and  who  listened  to 
the  husband^s  or  lover^s  chalumeau,  or  mingled  her  voice 
with  his  in  the  duets  of  which  the  songs  of  the  troubadours 
have  left  so  many  examples.  In  the  cool  of  the  evening,  the 
dance  on  the  village  green,  or  the  concert  before  the  hamlet 
door,  the  little  repast  of  fruits,  cheese,  and  bread,  which  the 
traveler  was  readily  invited  to  share,  gave  new  charms  to  the 
illusion,  and  seemed  in  earnest  to  point  out  Provence  as  the 
Arcadia  of  France. 

But  the  greatest  singularity  was,  in  the  eyes  of  Arthur, 
the  total  absence  of  armed  men  and  soldiers  in  this  peaceful 
country.  In  England,  no  man  stirred  without  his  long- 
bow, sword,  and  buckler.  In  France,  the  hind  wore  ar- 
mor even  when  he  was  betwixt  the  stilts  of  his  plow. 
In  Germany,  you  could  not  look  along  a  mile  of  high- 
way, but  the  eye  was  encountered  by  clouds  of  dust,  out 
of  which  were  seen,  by  flts,  waving  feathers  and 
flashing  armor.  Even  in  Switzerland,  the  peasant,  if  he  had 
a  journey  to  make,  though  but  of  a  mile  or  two,  cared  not 
to  travel  without  his  halberd  and  two-handed  sword.  But  in 
Provence  all  seemed  quiet  and  peaceful,  as  if  the  music  of 
the  land  had  lulled  to  sleep  all  its  wrathful  passions.  Now 
and  then  a  mounted  cavalier  might  pass  them,  the  harp  at 


ANNE  OF  QEIEBSTEIN  369 

whose  saddle-bow,  or  carried  by  one  of  his  attendants,  at- 
tested the  character  of  a  troubadour,  which  was  affected  by 
men  of  all  ranks ;  and  then  only  a  short  sword  on  his  left 
thigh,  borne  for  show  rather  than  use,  was  a  necessary  and 
appropriate  part  of  his  equipment. 

*'  Peace,^^  said  Arthur,  as  he  looked  around  him,  '*  is  an 
inestimable  jewel ;  but  it  will  be  soon  snatched  from  those 
who  are  not  prepared  with  heart  and  hand  to  defend  it/' 

The  sight  of  the  ancient  and  interesting  town  of  Aix, 
where  King  Rene  held  his  court,  dispelled  reflections  of  a 
general  character,  and  recalled  to  the  young  Englishman  the 
peculiar  mission  on  which  he  was  engaged. 

He  then  required  to  know  from  the  Proven9al  Thiebaulfc, 
whether  his  instructions  were  to  leave  him,  now  that  he  had 
successfully  attained  the  end  of  his  journey. 

"  My  instructions,''  answered  Thiebault,  '^  are  to  remain 
in  Aix,  while  there  is  any  chance  of  your  seignorie's  con- 
tinuing there,  to  be  of  such  use  to  you  as  you  may  require, 
either  as  a  guide  or  an  attendant,  and  to  keep  these  men  in 
readiness  to  wait  upon  you  when  you  have  occasion  for  mes- 
sengers or  guards.  With  your  approbation,  I  will  see  them 
disposed  of  in  fitting  quarters,  and  receive  my  farther  in- 
structions from  your  seignorie  wherever  you  please  to  ap- 
point me.  I  propose  this  separation,  because  I  understand 
it  is  your  present  pleasure  to  be  private.*' 

"I  must  go  to  court,"  answered  Arthur,  '^ without  any 
delay.  Wait  for  me  in  half  an  hour  by  that  fountain  in  the 
street,  which  projects  into  the  air  such  a  magnificent  pillar 
of  water,  surrounded,  I  would  almost  swear,  by  a  vapor-like 
steam,  serving  as  a  shroud  to  the  jet  which  it  envelopes." 

"The  jet  is  so  surrounded,"  answered  the  Proven9al, 
*' because  it  is  supplied  by  a  hot  spring  rising  from  the 
bowels  of  the  earth,  and  the  touch  of  frost  on  this  autumn 
morning  makes  the  vapor  more  distinguishable  than  usual. 
But  if  it  is  good  King  Rene  whom  you  seek,  you  will  find  him 
at  this  time  walking  in  his  chimney.  Do  not  be  afraid  of 
approaching  him,  for  there  never  was  a  monarch  so  easy  of 
access,  especially  to  good-looking  strangers  like  your  sei- 
gnorie." 

'^But  his  ushers,"  said  Arthur,  ''will  not  admit  me  into 
his  hall." 

"  His  hall ! "  repeated  Thiebault.     "  Whose  hall  ?[' 

*'  Why,  King  Rene's,  I  apprehend.  If  he  is  walking  in  a 
chimney,  it  can  only  be  in  that  of  his  hall,  and  a  stately  one 
it  must  be  to  give  him  room  for  such  exercise." 


370  WA  VERLEY  NO VELS 

*'  Yon  mistake  my  meaning/'  said  the  guide,  laughing. 
"  What  we  call  King  Kene^s  chimney  is  the  narrow  parapef: 
yonder  ;  it  extends  between  these  two  towers,  has  an  exposure 
to  the  south,  and  is  sheltered  in  every  other  direction.  Yonder 
it  is  his  pleasure  to  walk  and  enjoy  the  beams  of  the  sun  on 
such  cool  mornings  as  the  present.  It  nurses,  he  says,  his 
poetical  vein.  If  you  approach  his  promenade  he  will  readily 
speak  to  you,  unless,  indeed,  he  is  in  the  very  act  of  a 
poetical  composition. '' 

Arthur  could  not  forbear  smiling  at  the  thoughts  of  a 
king,  eighty  years  of  age,  broken  down  with  misfortunes  and 
beset  with  dangers,  who  yet  amused  himself  with  walking  on 
an  open  parapet,  and  composing  poetry  in  presence  of  all 
such  of  his  loving  subjects  as  chose  to  look  on. 

"  If  you  will  walk  a  few  steps  this  way,*'  said  Thiebault, 
*'you  may  see  the  good  king,  and  judge  whether  or  not  you 
will  aocost  him  at  present.  I  will  dispose  of  the  people,  and 
await  your  orders  at  the  fountain  in  the  corso." 

Arthur  saw  no  objection  to  the  proposal  of  his  guide,  and 
was  not  unwilling  to  have  an  opportunity  of  seeing  some- 
thing of  the  good  King  Eene  before  he  was  introduced  to 
his  presence. 


CHAPTER  XXX 

Ay,  this  is  he  who  wears  the  wreath  of  bays 

Wove  by  Apollo  and  the  Sisters  nine, 

Which  Jove's  dread  lightning  scathes  not.    He  hath  doft 

The  cumbrous  helm  of  steel,  and  flung  aside 

The  yet  more  galling  diadem  of  gold  ; 

While,  with  a  leafy  circlet  round  his  brows, 

He  reigns  the  king  of  lovers  and  of  poets. 

A  CAUTIOUS  approach  to  the  chimney,  that  is,  the  favorite 
walk  of  the  King,  who  is  described  by  Shakspeare  as  bear- 
ing 

The  style  of  King  of  Naples, 
Of  both  the  Sicilies,  and  Jerusalem, 
Yet  not  so  wealthy  as  an  English  yeoman, 

gave  Arthur  the  perfect  survey  of  his  Majesty  in  person. 
He  saw  an  old  man,  with  locks  and  beard  which,  in  ampli- 
tude and  whiteness,  nearly  rivaled  those  of  the  envoy  from 
Schwytz,  but  with  a  fresh  and  ruddy  color  in  his  cheek,  and 
an  eye  of  great  vivacity.  His  dress  was  showy  to  a  degree 
almost  inconsistent  with  liis  years ;  and  his  step,  not  only 
firm  but  full  of  alertness  and  vivacity,  while  occupied  in 
traversing  the  short  and  sheltered  walk,  which  he  had  chosen 
rather  for  comfort  than  for  privacy,  showed  juvenile  vigor 
still  animating  an  aged  frame.  The  old  king  carried  his 
tablets  and  a  pencil  in  his  hand,  seeming  totally  abstracted 
in  his  own  thoughts,  and  indifferent  to  being  observed  by 
several  persons  from  the  public  street  beneath  his  elevated 
promenade. 

Of  these,  some,  from  their  dress  and  manner,  seemed 
themselves  troubadours ;  for  they  held  in  their  hands  re- 
becks, rotes,  small  portable  harps,  and  other  indications  of 
their  profession.  Such  appeared  to  be  stationary,  as  if  en- 
gaged in  observing  and  recording  their  remarks  on  the 
meditations  of  their  prince.  Other  passengers,  bent  on 
their  own  more  serious  affairs,  looked  up  to  the  King  as  to 
some  one  whom  they  were  accustomed  to  see  daily,  but  never 
passed  without  doffing  their  bonnets,  and  expressing,  by  a 

d71 


372  WAVEBLET  NOVELS 

snitable  obeisance,  a  respect  and  affection  towards  his  per- 
son which  appeared  to  make  up  in  cordiality  of  feeling  what 
it  wanted  in  deep  and  solemn  deference. 

Rene,  in  the  meanwhile,  was  apparently  unconscious  both 
of  the  gaze  of  such  as  stood  still  or  the  greeting  of  those 
who  passed  on,  his  mind  seeming  altogether  engrossed  with 
the  apparent  labor  of  some  arduous  task  in  poetry  or  music. 
He  walked  fast  or  slow  as  best  suited  the  progress  of  com- 
position. At  times  he  stopped  to  mark  hastily  down  on  his 
tablets  something  which  seemed  to  occur  to  him  as  deserv- 
ing of  preservation  ;  at  other  times  he  dashed  out  what  he 
had  written,  and  flung  down  the  pencil  as  if  in  a  sort  of  de- 
spair. On  these  occasions,  the  Sibylline  leaf  was  carefully 
picked  up  by  a  beautiful  page,  his  only  attendant,  who  rev- 
erently observed  the  first  suitable  opportunity  of  restoring 
it  again  to  his  royal  hand.  The  same  youth  bore  a  viol,  on 
which,  at  a  signal  from  his  master,  he  occasionally  struck  a 
few  musical  notes,  to  which  the  old  king  listened,  now  with 
a  soothed  and  satisfied  air,  now  with  a  discontented  and 
anxious  brow.  At  times  his  enthusiasm  rose  so  high  that 
he  even  hopped  and  skipped,  with  an  activity  which  his 
years  did  not  promise  ;  at  other  times  his  motions  were  ex- 
tremely slow,  and  occasionally  he  stood  still,  like  one  wrapped 
in  the  deepest  and  most  anxious  meditation.  When  he 
chanced  to  look  on  the  group  which  seemed  to  watch  his  mo- 
tions, and  who  ventured  even  to  salute  him  with  a  murmur 
of  applause,  it  was  only  to  distinguish  them  with  a  friendly 
and  good-humored  nod — a  salutation  with  which,  likewise, 
he  failed  not  to  reply  to  the  greeting  of  the  occasional  pas- 
sengers, when  his  earnest  attention  to  his  task,  whatever  it 
might  be,  permitted  him  to  observe  them. 

At  length  the  royal  eye  lighted  upon  Arthur,  whose  atti- 
tude of  silent  observation,  and  the  distinction  of  his  figure, 
pointed  him  out  as  a  stranger.  Rene  beckoned  to  his  page, 
who,  receiving  his  master^s  commands  in  a  whisper,  de- 
scended from  the  royal  chimney  to  the  broader  platform 
beneath,  which  was  open  to  general  resort.  The  youth, 
addressing  Arthur  with  much  courtesy,  informed  him  the 
King  desired  to  speak  with  him.  The  young  Englishman 
had  no  alternative  but  that  of  approaching,  though  ponder- 
ing much  in  his  own  mind  how  he  ought  to  comport  himself 
towards  such  a  singular  specimen  of  royalty. 

When  he  drew  near.  King  Ren6  addressed  him  in  a  tone 
of  courtesy  not  unmingled  with  dignity,  and  Arthur's  awe 
in  his  immediate  presence  was  greater  than  he  himself  could 


ANNE  OF  GEIEBSTEIN  373 

have  anxicipated  from  his  previous  conception  of  the  royal 
character. 

^'  You  are,  from  your  appearance,  fair  sir,"  said  King  Eene, 
'^  a  stranger  in  this  country.  By  what  name  must  we  call 
you,  and  to  what  business  are  we  to  ascribe  the  happiness  of 
seeing  you  at  our  court  ?  " 

Arthur  remained  a  moment  silent,  and  the  good  old  man, 
imputing  it  to  awe  and  timidity,  proceeded  in  an  encourag- 
ing tone. 

''  Modesty  in  youth  is  ever  commendable  :  you  are  doubt- 
less an  acolyte  in  the  noble  and  joyous  science  of  minstrelsy 
and  music,  drawn  hither  by  the  willing  welcome  which  we 
afford  to  the  professors  of  those  arts,  in  which — praise  be  to 
Our  Lady  and  the  saints  ! — we  have  ourself  been  deemed  a 
proficient." 

*'  I  do  not  aspire  to  the  honors  of  a  troubadour,"  answered 
Arthur. 

'^  I  believe  you,"  answered  the  King,  ^'  for  your  speech 
smacks  of  the  Northern,  or  Norman,  French,  such  as  is  spok- 
en in  England  and  other  unrefined  nations.  But  you  are  a 
minstrel,  perhaps,  from  these  ultramontane  parts.  Be  as- 
sured we  despise  not  their  efforts  ;  for  we  have  listened,  not 
without  pleasure  and  instruction,  to  many  of  their  bold  and 
wild  romaunts,  which,  though  rude  in  device  and  language, 
and,  therefore,  far  inferior  to  the  regulated  poetry  of  our 
troubadours,  have  yet  something  in  their  powerful  and  rough 
measure  which  occasionally  rouses  the  heart  like  the  sound 
of  a  trumpet." 

"  I  have  felt  the  truth  of  your  Grace's  observation,  when 
I  have  heard  the  songs  of  my  country,"  said  Arthur  ;  ^^but 
I  have  neither  skill  nor  audacity  to  imitate  what  I  admire. 
My  latest  residence  has  been  in  Italy." 

"'^^  You  are  perhaps,  then,  a  proficient  in  painting,"  said 
Eene — ''  sua.  art  which  applies  itself  to  the  eye  as  poetry 
and  music  do  to  the  ear,  and  is  scarce  less  in  esteem 
with  us.  If  you  are  skilful  in  the  art,  you  have  come  to  a 
monarch  who  loves  it,  and  the  fair  country  in  which  it  is 
practised." 

'^  In  simple  truth,  sire,  I  am  an  Englishman,  and  my  hand 
has  been  too  much  welked  and  hardened  by  practise  of  the 
bow,  the  lance,  and  the  sword  to  touch  the  harp,  or  even  the 
pencil." 

''  An  Englishman  ! "  said  Rene,  obviously  relaxing  in  the 
warmth  of  his  welcome  ;  ''  and  what  brings  you  here  ?  Eng- 
land and  I  have  long  had  little  friendship  together." 


374  WA VEBLEY  NOVELS 

'*  It  is  even  on  that  account  that  I  am  here/'  said  Arthur, 
''  I  come  to  pay  my  homage  to  your  Grace's  daughter,  the 
Princess  Margaret  of  Anjou,  whom  I  and  many  true  English- 
men regard  still  as  our  queen,  though  traitors  have  usurped 
her  title." 

'^  Alas,  good  youth,'*  said  Rene,  ''  I  must  grieve  for  you, 
while  I  respect  your  loyalty  and  faith.  Had  my  daughter 
Margaret  been  of  my  mind,  she  had  long  since  abandoned 
pretensions  which  have  drowned  in  seas  of  blood  the  noblest 
and  bravest  of  her  adherents.'' 

The  King  seemed  about  to  say  more,  but  checked  himself. 

"  Go  to  my  palace,"  he  said  ;  "  inquire  for  the  seneschal, 
Hugh  de  St.  Cyr,  he  will  give  thee  the  means  of  seeing  Mar- 
garet— that  is,  if  it  be  her  will  to  see  thee.  If  not,  good 
English  youth,  return  to  my  palace,  and  thou  shalt  have 
hospitable  entertainment ;  for  a  king  who  loves  minstrelsy, 
music,  and  painting  is  ever  most  sensible  to  the  claims  of  hon- 
or, virtue,  and  loyalty  ;  and  I  read  in  thy  looks  thou  art  pos- 
sessed of  these  qualities,  and  willingly  believe  thou  mayst,  in 
more  quiet  times,  aspire  to  share  the  honors  of  the  joyous 
science.  But  if  thou  has  a  heart  to  be  touched  by  the  sense 
of  beauty  and  fair  proportion,  it  will  leap  within  thee  at  the 
first  sight  of  my  palace,  the  stately  grace  of  which  may  be 
compared  to  the  faultless  form  of  some  high-bred  dame,  or 
the  artful,  yet  seemingly  simple,  modulations  of  such  a  tune 
as  we  have  been  now  composing." 

The  King  seemed  disposed  to  take  his  instrument  and  in- 
dulge the  youth  with  a  rehearsal  of  the  strain  he  had  just 
arranged  ;  but  Arthur  at  that  moment  experienced  the  pain- 
ful internal  feeling  of  that  peculiar  species  of  shame  which 
well-constructed  minds  feel  when  they  see  others  express  a 
great  assumption  of  importance,  with  the  confidence  that 
they  are  exciting  admiration,  when  in  fact  they  are  only  ex- 
posing themselves  to  ridicule.  Arthur,  in  short,  took  leave, 
^'  in  very  shame,"  of  the  King  of  Kaples,  both  the  Sicilies, 
and  Jerusalem  in  a  manner  somewhat  more  abrupt  than  cere- 
mony demanded.  The  King  looked  after  him  with  some 
wonder  at  this  want  of  breeding,  which,  however,  he  imputed 
to  his  visitor's  insular  education,  and  then  again  began  to 
twangle  his  viol. 

"  The  old  fool ! "  said  Arthur  ;  '^  his  daughter  is  dethroned, 
his  dominions  crumbling  to  pieces,  his  family  on  the  eve  of 
becoming  extinct,  his  grandson  driven  from  one  lurking-place 
to  another,  and  expelled  from  his  mother's  inheritance,  and 
he  can  find  amusement  in  these  fopperies  !     I  thought  him, 


ANNE  OF  GEIEBSTEIN  375 

with  his  long  white  beard,  like  Nicholas  Bonstetten  ;  but  the 
old  Swiss  is  a  Solomon  compared  with  him/' 

As  these  and  other  reflections,  highly  disparaging  to 
King  Rene,  passed  through  Arthur's  mind,  he  reached  the 
place  of  rendezvous,  and  found  Thiebault  beneath  the  steam- 
ing fountain,  forced  from  one  of  those  hot  springs  which  had 
been  the  delight  of  the  Romans  from  an  early  period.  Thie- 
bault, having  assured  his  master  that  his  retinue,  horse  and 
man,  were  so  disposed  as  to  be  ready  on  an  instant's  call, 
readily  undertook  to  guide  him  to  King  Rene's  palace,  which, 
from  its  singularity,  and  indeed  its  beauty  of  architecture, 
deserved  the  eulogium  which  the  old  monarch  had  bestowed 
upon  it.  The  front  consisted  of  three  towers  of  Roman  arch- 
itecture, two  of  them  being  placed  on  the  angles  of  the 
palace,  and  the  third,  which  served  the  purpose  of  a 
mausoleum,  forming  a  part  of  the  group,  though  somewhat 
detached  from  the  other  buildings.  This  last  was  a 
structure  of  beautiful  proportions.  The  lower  part  of  the 
edifice  was  square,  serving  as  a  sort  of  pedestal  to  the  upper 
part,  which  was  circular,  and  surrounded  by  columns  of  mas- 
sive granite.  The  other  two  towers  at  the  angles  of  the 
palace  were  round,  and  also  ornamented  with  pillars,  and 
with  a  double  row  of  windows.  In  front  of,  and  connected 
with,  these  Roman  remains,  to  which  a  date  has  been  as- 
signed as  early  as  the  5th  or  6th  century,  arose  the  ancient 
palace  of  the  Counts  of  Provence,  built  a  century  or  two  later, 
but  where  a  rich  Gothic  or  Moorish  front  contrasted,  and 
yet  harmonized,  with  the  more  regular  and  massive  architec- 
ture of  the  lords  of  the  world.  It  is  not  more  than  thirty  oi 
forty  years  since  this  very  curious  remnant  of  antique  art 
was  destroyed,  to  make  room  for  new  public  buildings,  which 
have  never  yet  been  erected. 

Arthur  really  experienced  some  sensation  of  the  kind  which 
the  old  king  had  prophesied,  and  stood  looking  with  wonder 
at  the  ever-open  gate  of  the  palace,  into  which  men  of  all 
kinds  seemed  to  enter  freely.  After  looking  around  for  a 
few  minutes,  the  young  Englishman  ascended  the  steps  of  a 
noble  portico,  and  asked  of  a  porter,  as  old  and  as  lazy  as  a 
great  man's  domestic  ought  to  be,  for  the  seneschal  named  to 
him  by  the  King.  The  corpulent  Janitor,  with  great  polite- 
ness, put  the  stranger  under  the  charge  of  a  page,  who  ush- 
ered him  to  a  chamber,  in  which  he  found  another  aged 
functionary  of  higher  rank,  with  a  comely  face,  a  clear, 
composed  eye,  and  a  brow  which,  having  never  been  knit 
into  gravity,  intimated  that  the  seneschal  of  Aix  was  a  pro- 


576  WA  VEELEY  NO  VEL8 

ficient  in  the  philosophy  of  his  royal  master.  He  recognized 
Arthur  the  moment  he  addressed  him. 

''  You  speak  northern  French,  fair  sir  ;  you  have  lighter 
hair  and  a  fairer  complexion  than  the  natives  of  this  country  ; 
you  ask  after  Queen  Margaret — by  all  these  marks  I  read  you 
English.  Her  Grace  of  England  is  at  this  moment  paying 
a  vow  at  the  monastery  of  Mont  St.  Victoire,  and  if  your 
name  be  Arthur  Philipson,  I  have  commission  to  forward 
you  to  her  presence  immediately — that  is,  as  soon  as  you  have 
tasted  of  the  royal  provision.'* 

The  young  man  would  have  remonstrated,  but  the  senes- 
chal left  him  no  leisure. 

''  Meat  and  mass,"  he  said,  *'  never  hindered  work  :  it  is 
perilous  to  youth  to  journey  too  far  on  an  empty  stomach  ; 
he  himself  would  take  a  mouthful  with  the  Queen's  guest, 
and  pledge  him  to  boot  in  a  flask  of  old  Hermitage.'' 

The  board  was  covered  with  an  alacrity  which  showed  that 
hospitality  was  familiarly  exercised  in  King  Eene's  dominions. 
Pasties,  dishes  of  game,  the  gallant  boar's  head,  and  other 
delicacies  were  placed  on  the  table,  and  the  seneschal  played 
the  merry  host,  frequently  apologizing  (unnecessarily)  for 
showing  an  indifferent  example,  as  it  was  his  duty  to  carve 
before  King  Eene,  and  the  good  king  was  never  pleased  un- 
less he  saw  him  feed  lustily  as  well  as  carve  featly. 

*'  But  for  you,  sir  guest,  eat  freely,  since  you  may  not  see 
food  again  till  sunset ;  for  the  good  queen  takes  her  misfor- 
tunes so  to  heart  that  sighs  are  her  food,  and  her  tears  a  bottle 
of  drink,  as  the  Psalmist  hath  it.  But  I  bethink  me  you  will 
need  steeds  for  yourself  and  your  equipage  to  reach  Mont  St. 
Victoire,  which  is  seven  miles  from  Aix." 

Arthur  intimated  that  he  had  a  guide  and  horses  in  attend- 
ance, and  begged  permission  to  take  his  adieu.  The  worthy 
seneschal,  his  fair  round  belly  graced  with  a  gold  chain,  ac- 
companied him  to  the  gate  with  a  step  which  a  gentle  fit  of 
the  gout  had  rendered  uncertain,  but  which,  he  assured 
Arthur,  would  vanish  before  three  days'  use  of  the  hot  springs. 
Thiebault  appeared  before  the  gate,  not  with  the  tired  steeds 
from  which  they  had  dismounted  an  hour  since,  but  with 
fresh  palfreys  from  the  stable  of  the  King. 

'^  They  are  yours  from  the  moment  you  have  put  foot  in 
stirrup,"  said  the  seneschal :  "the  good  King  Rene  never 
received  back  as  his  property  a  horse  which  he  had  lent  to  a 
guest  ;  and  that  is  perhaps  one  reason  why  his  Highness  and 
we  of  his  household  must  walk  often  a-foot." 

Here  the  seneschal  exchanged  greetings  with  his  young 


ANNE  OF  GEIEBSTEIN  877 

nsitor,  who  rode  forth  to  seek  Queen  Margaret's  place  of 
temporary  retirement  at  the  celebrated  monastery  of  St. 
Victoire.  He  demanded  of  his  guide  in  which  direction  it 
lay,  who  pointed  with  an  air  of  triumph  to  a  mountain  three 
thousand  feet  and  upwards  in  height,  which  arose  at  five  or 
six  miles'  distance  from  the  town,  and  which  its  bold  and 
rocky  summit  rendered  the  most  distinguished  object  of  the 
landscape.  Thiebault  spoke  of  it  with  unusual  glee  and 
energy,  so  much  so  as  to  lead  Arthur  to  conceive  that  his 
trusty  squire  had  not  neglected  to  avail  himself  of  the  lavish 
hospitality  of  Le  ton  Roi  Rene.  Thiebault,  however,  con- 
tinued to  expatiate  on  the  fame  of  the  mountain  and  mon- 
astery. They  derived  their  name,  he  said,  from  a  great 
victory  which  was  gained  by  a  Eoman  general  named  Caio 
Mario,  against  two  large  armies  of  Saracens  with  ultra- 
montane names  (the  Teutones  probably  and  Cimbri),  in 
gratitude  to  Heaven  for  which  victory  Caio  Mario  vowed  to 
build  a  monastery  on  the  mountain  for  the  service  of  the 
Virgin  Mary,  in  honor  of  whom  he  had  been  baptized. 
With  all  the  importance  of  a  local  connoisseur,  Thiebault 
proceeded  to  prove  his  general  assertion  by  specific  facts. 

^*  Yonder,''  he  said,  "  was  the  camp  of  the  Saracens,  from 
which,  when  the  battle  was  apparently  decided,  their  wives 
and  women  rushed,  with  horrible  screams,  dishevelled  hair, 
and  the  gestures  of  furies,  and  for  a  time  prevailed  in  stop- 
ping the  flight  of  the  men.''  He  pointed  out,  too,  the  river 
for  access  to  which,  cut  off  by  the  superior  generalship  of 
the  Eomans,  the  barbarians,  whom  he  called  Saracens, 
hazarded  the  action,  and  whose  streams  they  empurpled 
with  their  blood.  In  short,  he  mentioned  many  circum- 
stances which  showed  how  accurately  tradition  will  preserve 
the  particulars  of  ancient  events,  even  whilst  forgetting, 
misstating,  and  confounding  dates  and  persons. 

Perceiving  that  Arthur  lent  him  a  not  unwilling  ear — for 
it  may  be  supposed  that  the  education  of  a  youth  bred  up  in 
the  heat  of  civil  wars  was  not  well  qualified  to  criticize  his 
account  of  the  wars  of  a  distant  period — the  Proven9al, 
when  he  had  exhausted  this  topic,  drew  up  close  to  his  mas- 
ter's side,  and  asked,  in  a  suppressed  tone,  whether  he  knew, 
or  was  desirous  of  being  made  acquainted  with,  the  cause  of 
Margaret's  having  left  Aix,  to  establish  herself  in  the  mona- 
stery of  St.  Victoire. 

''  For  the  accomplishment  of  a  vow,"  answered  Arthur  ; 
"all  the  world  knows  it." 

*'  All  Aix  knows  the  contrary,"  said  Thiebault ;  '^  and   I 


378  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

can  tell  you  the  truth,  so  I  were  sure  it  would  not  offend 
your  seignorie.*' 

*'  The  truth  can  offend  no  reasonable  man,  so  it  be  expressed 
in  the  terms  of  which  Queen  Margaret  must  be  spolken  in 
the  presence  of  an  Englishman/' 

Thus  replied  Arthur,  willing  to  receive  what  information 
he  could  gather,  and  desirous,  at  the  same  time,  to  check 
the  petulance  of  his  attendant. 

"  I  have  nothing, ''  replied  his  follower,  "  to  state  in  dis- 
paragement of  the  gracious  queen,  whose  only  misfortune  is 
that,  like  her  royal  father,  she  has  more  titles  than  towns. 
Besides,  I  know  well  that  you  Englishmen,  though  you  speak 
wildly  of  your  sovereigns  yourselves,  will  not  permit  others 
to  fail  in  respect  to  them. 

**  Say  on,  then,''  answered  Arthur. 

''Your  seignorie  must  know,  then,'*  said  Thiebault, 
*'  that  the  good  King  Kene  has  been  much  disturbed  by  the 
deep  melancholy  which  afflicted  Queen  Margaret,  and  haa 
bent  himself  with  all  his  power  to  change  it  into  a  gayer 
humor.  He  made  entertainments  in  public  and  in  private  \ 
he  assembled  minstrels  and  troubadours,  whose  music  and 
poetry  might  have  drawn  smiles  from  one  on  his  death-bed. 
The  whole  country  resounded  with  mirth  and  glee,  and  the 
gracious  queen  could  not  stir  abroad  in  the  most  private 
manner,  but,  before  she  had  gone  a  hundred  paces,  she 
lighted  on  an  ambush,  consisting  of  some  pretty  pageant, 
or  festivous  mummery,  composed  often  by  the  good  king 
himself,  which  interrupted  her  solitude,  in  purpose  of  re- 
lieving her  heavy  thoughts  with  some  pleasant  pastime. 
But  the  Queen's  deep  melancholy  rejected  all  these  modes 
of  dispelling  it,  and  at  length  she  confined  herself  to  her 
own  apartments,  and  absolutely  refused  to  see  even  her  royal 
father,  because  he  generally  brought  into  her  presence  thos^ 
whose  productions  he  thought  likely  to  soothe  her  sorrow. 
Indeed,  she  seemed  to  hear  the  harpers  with  loathing,  and, 
excepting  one  wandering  Englishman,  who  sung  a  rude  and 
melancholy  ballad,  which  threw  her  into  a  flood  of  tears,  and 
to  whom  she  gave  a  chain  of  price,  she  never  seemed  to  look 
at  or  be  conscious  of  the  presence  of  any  one.  And  at 
length,  as  I  have  had  the  honor  to  tell  your  seignorie,  she 
refused  to  see  even  her  royal  father  unless  he  came  alone  ; 
and  that  he  found  no  heart  to  do." 

'*  I  wonder  not  at  it,"  said  the  young  man ;  *'  by  the 
white  swan,  I  am  rather  surprised  his  mummery  drove  her 
not  to  frenzy." 


ANNE  OF  GEIER STEIN  379 

"  Something  like  it  indeed  took  place,"  said  Thiebault ; 
*'  and  I  will  tell  your  seignorie  how  it  chanced.  You  must 
know  that  good  King  Rene,  unwilling  to  abandon  his  daugh- 
ter to  the  foul  fiend  of  melancholy,  bethought  him  of  mak- 
ing a  grand  effort.  You  must  know  further,  that  the  King, 
powerful  in  all  the  craft  of  troubadours  and  jongleurs,  is 
held  in  peculiar  esteem  for  conducting  mysteries,  and  other 
(»f  those  gamesome  and  delightful  sports  and  processions 
with  which  our  Holy  Church  permits  her  graver  ceremonies 
to  be  relieved  and  diversified,  to  the  cheering  of  the  hearts 
of  all  true  children  of  religion.  It  is  admitted  that  no  one 
has  ever  been  able  to  approach  his  excellence  in  the  arrange- 
ment of  the  Fete-Dieu  ;  and  the  tune  to  which  the  devils 
cudgel  King  Herod,  to  the  great  edification  of  all  Christian 
spectators,  is  of  our  good  king's  royal  composition.  He  hath 
danced  at  Tarasconne  in  the  ballet  of  St.  Martha  and  the 
Dragon,  and  was  accounted  in  his  own  person  the  only  actor 
competent  to  present  the  Tarrasque.  His  Highness  intro- 
duced also  a  new  ritual  into  the  consecration  of  the  Boy 
Bishop,  and  composed  an  entire  set  of  grotesque  music  for 
the  Festival  of  Asses.  In  short,  his  Grace's  strength  lies  in 
those  pleasing  and  becoming  festivities  which  strew  the 
path  of  edification  with  flowers,  and  send  men  dancing  and 
singing  on  their  way  to  Heaven. 

"  Now  the  good  King  Rene,  feeling  his  own  genius  for 
such  recreative  compositions,  resolved  to  exert  it  to  the 
utmost,  in  the  hope  that  he  might  thereby  relieve  the  melan- 
choly in  which  his  daughter  was  plunged,  and  which  infected 
all  that  approached  her.  It  chanced,  some  short  time  since, 
that  the  Queen  was  absent  for  certain  days,  I  know  not  where 
or  on  what  business,  but  it  gave  the  good  king  time  to  make 
his  preparations.  So,  when  his  daughter  returned,  he  with 
much  importunity  prevailed  on  her  to  make  part  of  a  reli- 
gious procession  to  St.  Sauveur,  the  principal  church  in  Aix. 
The  Queen,  innocent  of  what  was  intended,  decked  herself 
with  solemnity,  to  witness  and  partake  of  what  she  expected 
would  prove  a  work  of  grave  piety.  But  no  sooner  had  she 
appeared  on  the  esplanade  in  front  of  the  palace  than  more 
than  an  hundred  masks,  dressed  up  like  Turks,  Jews, 
Saracens,  Moors,  and  I  know  not  whom  besides,  crowded 
around  to  offer  her  their  homage,  in  the  character  of  the 
Queen  of  Sheba  ;  and  a  grotesque  piece  of  music  called  them 
to  arrange  themselves  for  a  ludicrous  ballet,  in  which  they 
addressed  the  Queen  in  the  most  entertaining  manner,  and 
with  the  most  extravagant  gestures.     The  Queen,  stunned 


380  WA  VEBLET  NO  VELS 

with  the  noise,  and  affronted  with  the  petulance  of  this 
unexpected  onset,  would  have  gone  back  into  the  palace  ;  but 
the  doors  had  been  shut  by  the  King's  order  so  soon  as  she  set 
forth,  and  her  retreat  in  that  direction  was  cut  off.  Find- 
ing herself  excluded  from  the  palace,  the  Queen  advanced 
to  the  front  of  the  fagade,  and  endeavored  by  signs  and 
words  to  appease  the  hubbub  ;  but  the  maskers,  who  had 
their  instructions,  only  answered  with  songs,  music,  and 
shouts/' 

''  I  would,''  said  Arthur,  '*  there  had  been  a  score  of  En- 
glish yeomen  in  presence,  with  their  quarter-staves,  to  teach 
the  bawling  villains  respect  for  one  that  has  worn  the  crown 
of  England  V 

"  All  the  noise  that  was  made  before  was  silence  and  soft 
music,"  continued  Thiebault,  "  till  that  when  the  good  king 
himself  appeared,  grotesquely  dressed  in  the  character  of 
King  Solomon " 

'^  To  whom,  of  all  princes,  he  has  the  least  resemblance 
"  said  Arthur. 

*'  With  such  capers  and  gesticulations  of  welcome  to  the 
Queen  of  Sheba  as,  I  am  assured  by  those  who  saw  it,  would 
have  brought  a  dead  man  alive  again,  or  killed  a  living  man 
with  laughing.  Among  other  properties,  he  had  in  his 
hand  a  truncheon,  somewhat  formed  like  a  fool's  bauble " 

*'  A  most  fit  scepter  for  such  a  sovereign "  said  Arthur. 

''Which  was  headed,"  continued  Thiebault,  ''by  a  model 
of  the  Jewish  Temple,  finely  gilded  and  curiously  cut  in  paste- 
board. He  managed  this  with  the  utmost  grace,  and  delighted 
every  spectator  by  his  gaiety  and  activity,  excepting  the  Queen, 
who,  the  more  he  skipped  and  capered,  seemed  to  be  the 
more  incensed,  until,  on  his  approaching  her  to  conduct  her 
to  the  procession,  she  seemed  roused  to  a  sort  of  frenzy, 
struck  the  truncheon  put  of  his  hand,  and  breaking  through 
the  crowd,  who  felt  as  if  a  tigress  had  leaped  amongst  then 
from  a  show^man's  cart,  rushed  into  the  royal  courtyard. 
Ere  the  order  of  the  scenic  representation,  which  her  violence 
had  interrupted,  could  be  restored,  the  Queen  again  issued 
forth,  mounted  and  attended  by  two  or  three  English  ca- 
valiers of  her  Majesty's  suite.  She  forced  her  way  through 
the  crowd,  without  regarding  either  their  safety  or  her  own, 
flew  like  a  hail-storm  along  the  streets,  and  never  drew  bridle 
till  she  was  as  far  up  this  same  Mont  St.  Victoire  as  the  road 
would  permit.  She  was  then  received  into  the  convent,  and 
has  since  remained  there  ;  and  a  vow  of  penance  is  the  pre- 
text to  cover  over  the  quarrel  betwixt  her  and  her  father." 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  381 

"  How  long  may  it  he/'  said  Arthur,  "  since  these  things 
chanced  ?" 

"It  is  but  three  days  since  Queen  Margaret  left  Aix  in 
the  manner  I  have  told  you.  But  we  are  come  as  far  up  the 
mountain  as  men  usually  ride.  See,  yonder  is  the  monastery 
rising  betwixt  two  huge  rocks,  which  form  the  very  top  of 
Mont  St,  Victoire.  There  is  no  more  open  ground  than  is 
afforded  by  the  cleft,  into  which  the  convent  of  St.  Mary 
of  Victory  is,  as  it  were,  niched ;  and  the  access  is  guarded 
by  the  most  dangerous  precipice.  To  ascend  the  mountain, 
you  must  keep  that  narrow  path,  which,  winding  and  turning 
among  the  cliffs,  leads  at  length  to  the  summit  of  the  hill, 
and  the  gate  of  the  monastery.''' 

•*^  And  what  becomes  of  you  and  the  horses  ?"  said  Arthur. 

*'  We  will  rest,"  said  Thiebault,  "  in  the  hospital  maintained 
by  the  good  fathers  at  the  bottom  of  the  mountain,  for  the 
accommodation  of  those  who  attend  on  pilgrims  ;  for  I 
promise  you  the  shrine  is  visited  by  many  who  come  from 
afar,  and  are  attended  both  by  man  and  horse.  Care  not  for 
me,  I  shall  be  first  under  cover  ;  but  there  muster  yonder  in 
the  west  some  threatening  clouds,  from  which  your  seignorie 
may  suffer  inconvenience,  unless  you  reach  the  convent  in 
time.  I  will  give  you  an  hour  to  do  the  feat,  and  will  say 
you  are  as  active  as  a  chamois  hunter  if  you  reach  it  within 
the  time.'^ 

Arthur  looked  around  him,  and  did  indeed  remark  a 
mustering  of  clouds  in  the  distant  west,  which  threatened 
soon  to  change  the  character  of  the  day,  which  had  hitherto 
been  brilliantly  clear,  and  so  serene  that  the  falling  of  a  leaf 
might  have  been  heard.  He  therefore  turned  him  to  the 
steep  and  rocky  path  which  ascended  the  mountain,  some- 
times by  scaling  almost  precipitous  rocks,  and  sometimes  by 
reaching  their  tops  by  a  more  circuitous  process.  It  winded 
through  thickets  of  wild  boxwood  and  other  low  aromatic 
shrubs,  which  afforded  some  pasture  for  the  mountain  goats, 
but  were  a  bitter  annoyance  to  the  traveler  who  had  to  press 
through  them.  Such  obstacles  were  so  frequent,  that  the 
full  hour  allowed  by  Thiebault  had  elapsed  before  he  stood 
on  the  summit  of  Mont  St.  Victoire,  and  in  front  of  the  sin- 
gular convent  of  the  same  name. 

We  have  already  said  that  the  crest  of  the  mountain,  con- 
sisting entirely  of  one  and  bare  and  solid  rock,  was  divided  by 
a  cleft  or  opening  into  two  heads  or  peaks,  between  which  the 
convent  was  built,  occupying  all  the  space  between  them. 
The  front  of  the  building  was  of  the  most  ancient  and  somber 


882  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

cast  of  the  old  Gothic,  or  rather,  as  it  has  been  termed,  the 
Saxon ;  and  in  that  respect  corresponded  with  the  savage  ex- 
terior of  the  naked  cliffs,  of  which  the  structure  seemed  to 
make  a  part,  and  by  which  it  was  entirely  surrounded,  ex- 
cepting a  small  open  space  of  more  level  ground,  where,  at 
the  expense  of  much  toil,  and  by  carrying  earth  up  the  hill, 
from  different  spots  where  they  could  collect  it  in  small 
quantities,  the  good  fathers  had  been  able  to  arrange  the  ac- 
commodations of  a  garden. 

A  bell  summoned  a  lay-brother,  the  porter,  of  this  sin- 
gularly situated  monastery,  to  whom  Arthur  announced  him- 
self as  an  English  merchant,  Philipson  by  name,  who  came 
to  pay  his  duty  to  Queen  Margaret.  The  porter,  with  much 
respect,  showed  the  stranger  into  the  convent,  and  ushered 
him  into  a  parlor,  which,  looking  towards  Aix,  commanded 
an  extensive  and  splendid  prospect  over  the  southern  and 
western  parts  of  Provence.  This  was  the  direction  in  which 
Arthur  had  approached  the  mountain  from  Aix ;  but  the 
circuitous  path  by  which  he  had  ascended  had  completely 
carried  him  round  the  hill.  The  western  side  of  the  monas- 
tery, to  which  the  parlor  looked,  commanded  the  noble  view 
we  have  mentioned  ;  and  a  species  of  balcony,  which  connect- 
ing the  two  twin  crags,  at  this  place  not  above  four  or  five 
yards  asunder,  ran  along  the  front  of  the  building,  and  ap- 
peared to  be  constructed  for  the  purpose  of  enjoying  it.  But 
on  stepping  from  one  of  the  windows  of  the  parlor  upon  this 
battlemented  bartizan,  Arthur  became  aware  that  the  wall 
on  which  the  parapet  rested  stretched  along  the  edge  of  a 
precipice,  which  sunk  sheer  down  five  hundred  feet  at  least 
from  the  foandations  of  the  convent.  Surprised  and  startled 
at  finding  himself  on  so  giddy  a  verge,  Arthur  turned 
his  eyes  from  the  gulf  beneath  him  to  admire  the  distant 
landscape,  partly  illumined,  with  ominous  luster,  by  the  now 
westerly  sun.  The  setting  beams  showed  in  dark  red  splen- 
dor a  vast  variety  of  hill  and  dale,  champaign  and  cultivated 
ground,  with  towns,  churches,  and  castles,  some  of  which 
rose  from  among  trees,  while  others  seemed  founded  on  rocky 
eminences  ;  others  again  lurked  by  the  side  of  streams  or 
lakes,  to  which  the  heat  and  draught  of  the  climate  naturally 
attracted  them. 

The  rest  of  the  landscape  presented  similar  objects  when 
the  weather  was  serene,  but  they  were  now  rendered  indis- 
tinct, or  altogether  obliterated,  by  the  sullen  shade  of  the 
approaching  clouds,  which  gradually  spread  over  great  part 
of  the  horizon,  and  threatened  altogether  to  eclipse  the  sun, 


ANNE  OF  GEIEBSTEIN  SSa 

though  the  lord  of  the  horizon  still  struggled  to  maintain 
his  influence,  and,  like  a  dying  hero,  seemed  most  glorious 
even  in  the  moment  of  defeat.  Wild  sounds,  like  groans 
and  howls,  formed  by  the  wind  in  the  numerous  caverns  of 
the  rocky  mountain,  added  to  the  terrors  of  the  scene,  and 
seemed  to  foretell  the  fury  of  some  distant  storm,  though 
the  air  in  general  was  even  unnaturally  calm  and  breathless. 
In  gazing  on  this  extraordinary  sc€^e^  Arthur  did  justice  to 
the  monks  who  had  chosen  this  wild  and  grotesque  situa- 
tion, from  which  they  could  witness  nature  in  her  wildest 
and  grandest  demonstrations,  and  compare  the  nothingness 
of  humanity  with  her  awful  convulsions. 

So  much  was  Arthur  awed  by  the  scene  before  him,  that 
he  had  almost  forgotten,  while  gazing  from  the  bartizan,  the 
important  business  which  had  brought  him  to  this  place, 
when  it  was  suddenly  recalled  by  finding  himself  in  the 
presence  of  Margaret  of  Anjou,  who,  not  seeing  him  in  the 
parlor  of  reception,  had  stept  upon  the  balcony,  that  she 
might  meet  with  him  the  sooner. 

The  Queen's  dress  was  black,  without  any  ornament  ex- 
cept a  gold  coronal  of  an  inch  in  breadth,  restraining  her 
long  black  tresses,  of  which  advancing  years,  and  misfor- 
tunes, had  partly  altered  the  hue.  There  was  placed  within 
the  circlet  a  black  plume  with  a  red  rose,  the  last  of  the 
season,  which  the  good  father  who  kept  the  garden  had 

g resented  to  her  that  morning,  as  the  badge  of  her  husband^s 
ouse.  Care,  fatigue,  and  sorrow  seemed  to  dwell  on  her 
brow  and  her  features.  To  another  messenger,  she  would 
in  all  probability  have  administered  a  sharp  rebuke  for  not 
being  alert  in  his  duty  to  receive  her  as  she  entered  ;  but 
Arthur's  age  and  appearance  corresponded  with  that  of  hei- 
loved  and  lost  son.  He  was  the  son  of  a  lady  whom  Mar- 
garet had  loved  with  almost  sisterly  affection,  and  the  pres- 
ence of  Arthur  continued  to  excite  in  the  dethroned  queen 
the  same  feelings  of  maternal  tenderness  which  had  beei? 
awakened  on  their  first  meeting  in  the  cathedral  of  Stras- 
burg.  She  raised  him  as  he  kneeled  at  her  feet,  spoke  to 
him  with  much  kindness,  and  encouraged  him  to  detail  at 
full  length  his  father's  message,  and  such  other  news  as  his 
brief  residence  at  Dijon  had  made  him  acquainted  with. 

^  She  demanded  which  way  Duke  Charles  had  moved  with 
his  army. 

"  As  I  was  given  to  understand  by  the  master  of  his  artil. 
ler^,"  said  Arthur,  '^  towards  the  Lake  of  Neufchatel,  ow 
i«rhich  side  he  proposes  his  first  attack  on  the  Swiss." 


884  VTA  VEBLEY  NO  VELS 

"  The  headstrong  fool ! "  said  Queen  Margaret,  ''  he  re- 
sembles the  poor  lunatic  who  went  to  the  summit  of  the 
mountain  that  he  might  meet  the  rain  half-way.  Does  thy 
father,  then,^^  continued  Margaret,  '^  advise  me  to  give  up 
the  last  remains  of  the  extensive  territories  once  the  do- 
minions of  our  royal  house,  and  for  some  thousand  crowns, 
and  the  paltry  aid  of  a  few  hundred  lances,  to  relinquish 
what  is  left  of  our  patrimony  to  our  proud  and  selfish  kins- 
man of  Burgundy,  who  extends  his  claim  to  our  all,  and 
affords  so  little  help,  or  even  promise  of  help,  in  return  ? '' 

^'  I  should  have  ill  discharged  my  father's  commission, '' 
said  Arthur,  ^^  if  I  had  left  your  Highness  to  think  that  he 
recommends  so  great  a  sacrifice.  He  feels  most  deeply  the 
Duke  of  Burgundy's  grasping  desire  of  dominion.  Never- 
theless, he  thinks  that  Provence  must,  on  King  Eene's 
death,  or  sooner,  fall  either  to  the  share  of  Duke  Charles  or 
to  Louis  of  France,  whatever  opposition  your  Highness  may 
make  to  such  a  destination  ;  ana  it  may  be  that  my  father, 
as  a  knight  and  a  soldier,  hopes  much  from  obtaining  the 
means  to  make  another  attempt  on  Britain.  But  the  de- 
cision must  rest  with  your  Highness.'' 

'*  Young  man,"  said  the  Queen,  ''  the  contemplation  of  a 
question  so  doubtful  almost  deprives  me  of  reason." 

As  she  spoke,  she  sunk  down  as  one  who  needs  rest  on  a 
stone  seat  placed  on  the  very  verge  of  the  balcony,  regard- 
less of  the  storm,  which  now  began  to  rise  with  dreadful 
gusts  of  wind,  the  course  of  which  being  intermitted  and 
altered  by  the  crags  round  which  they  howled,  it  seemed  as 
if  in  very  deed  Boreas,  and  Eurus,  and  Oaurus,  unchaining 
the  winds  from  every  quarter  of  heaven,  were  contending 
for  mastery  around  the  convent  of  Our  Lady  of  Victory. 
Amid  this  tumult,  and  amid  billows  of  mist  which  concealed 
the  bottom  of  the  precipice,  and  masses  of  clouds  which 
racked  fearfully  over  their  heads,  the  roar  of  the  descending 
waters  rather  resembled  the  fall  of  cataracts  than  the  rush- 
ing of  torrents  of  rain.  The  seat  on  which  Margaret  had 
placed  herself  was  in  a  considerable  degree  sheltered  from 
the  storm,  but  its  eddies,  varying  in  every  direction,  often 
tossed  aloft  her  disheveled  hair  ;  and  we  cannot  describe 
the  appearance  of  her  noble  and  beautiful,  yet  ghastly  and 
wasted,  features,  agitated  strongly  by  anxious  hesitation  and 
conflicting  thoughts,  unless  to  those  of  our  readers  who 
have  had  the  advantage  of  having  seen  our  inimitable  Sid- 
dons  in  such  a  character  as  this.  Arthur,  confounded  by 
anxiety  and  terror,  could  only  beseech  her  Majesty  to  retire 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  385 

before  the  fury  of  the  approaching  storm  into  the  interior 
of  the  convent. 

''  No/^  she  replied  with  firmness  ;  "  roofs  and  walls  have 
ears,  and  monks,  though  they  have  forsworn  the  world,  are 
not  the  less  curious  to  know  what  passes  beyond  their  cells. 
It  is  in  this  place  you  must  hear  what  I  have  to  say.  As  a 
soldier  you  should  scorn  a  blast  of  wind  or  a  shower  of  rain  ; 
and  to  me,  who  have  often  held  counsel  amidst  the  sound  of 
trumpets  and  clash  of  arms,  prompt  for  instant  fight,  the 
war  of  elements  is  an  unnoticed  trifle.  I  tell  thee,  young 
Arthur  Vere,  as  I  would  to  your  father — as  I  would  to  my 
son — if  indeed  Heaven  had  left  such  a  blessing  to  a  wretch 
forlorn " 

She  paused,  and  then  proceeded. 

'^  I  tell  thee,  as  I  would  have  told  my  beloved  Edward, 
that  Margaret,  whose  resolutions  were  once  firm  and  immov- 
able as  these  rocks  among  which  we  are  placed,  is  now  doubt- 
ful and  variable  as  the  clouds  which  are  drifting  around  us. 
I  told  your  father,  in  the  joy  of  meeting  once  more  a  subject 
of  such  inappreciable  loyalty,  of  the  sacrifices  I  would  make 
to  assure  the  assistance  of  Charles  of  Burgundy  to  so  gallant 
an  undertaking  as  that  proposed  to  him  by  the  faithful  Ox- 
ford. But  since  I  saw  him  I  have  had  cause  of  deep  refiec- 
tion.  I  met  my  aged  father  only  to  offend,  and,  I  say  it  with 
shame,  to  insult,  the  old  man  in  presence  of  his  people. 
Our  tempers  are  as  opposed  as  the  sunshine,  which  a  short 
space  since  gilded  a  serene  and  beautiful  landscape,  differs 
from  th'e  tempests  which  are  now  wasting  it.  I  spurned  with 
open  scorn  and  contempt  what  he,  in  his  mistaken  affection, 
had  devised  for  means  of  consolation,  and,  disgusted  with 
the  idle  follies  which  he  had  devised  for  curing  the  melancholy 
of  a  dethroned  queen,  a  widowed  spouse,  and,  alas  !  a  child- 
less mother,  I  retired  hither  from  the  noisy  and  idle  mirth, 
which  was  the  bitterest  aggravation  of  my  sorrows.  Such 
and  so  gentle  is  Eene's  temper,  that  even  my  unfilial  conduct 
will  not  diminish  my  influence  over  him  ;  and  if  your  father 
had  announced  that  the  Duke  of  Burgundy,  like  a  knight 
and  a  sovereign,  had  cordially  and  nobly  entered  into  the  plan 
of  the  faithful  Oxford,  I  could  have  found  it  in  my  heart  to 
obtain  the  cession  of  territory  his  cold  and  ambitious  policy 
requires,  in  order  to  ensure  the  assistance  which  he  now  post- 
pones to  afford  till  he  has  gratified  his  own  haughty  humor 
by  settling  needless  quarrels  with  his  unoffending  neighbors. 
Since  I  have  been  here,  and  calmness  and  solitude  have  given 
me  time  to  reflect,  I  have  thought  on  the  offenses  I  have 


886  WAVERLET  NOVELS 

given  the  old  man,  and  on  the  wrongs  I  was  about  to  do  him. 
My  father,  let  me  do  him  justice,  is  also  the  father  of  his 
people.  They  have  dwelt  under  their  vines  and  fig-trees,  in 
Ignoble  ease,  perhaps,  but  free  from  oppression  and  exaction, 
and  their  happiness  has  been  that  of  their  good  kiug.  Must  I 
change  all  this  ?  Must  laid  in  turning  over  these  contented 
people  to  a  fierce,  headlong,  arbitrary  prince  ?  May  I  not 
break  even  the  easy  and  thoughtless  heart  of  my  poor  old 
father,  should  I  succeed  in  urging  him  to  do  so  ?  These  are 
questions  which  I  shudder  even  to  ask  myself.  On  the  other 
hand,  to  disappoint  the  toils,  the  venturous  hopes  of  your 
father,  to  forego  the  only  opportunity  which  may  ever  again 
offer  itself  of  revenge  on  the  bloody  traitors  of  York,  and 
restoration  of  the  house  of  Lancaster  !  Arthur,  the  scene 
around  us  is  not  so  convulsed  by  the  fearful  tempest  and  the 
driving  clouds  as  my  mind  is  by  doubt  and  uncertainty.^' 

''Alas,''  replied  Arthur,  ''I  am  too  young  and  inexperi- 
enced to  be  your  Majesty's  adviser  in  a  case  so  arduous.  I 
would  my  father  had  been  in  presence  himself." 

"  I  know  what  he  would  have  said,"  replied  the  Queen ; 
'*  but  knowing  all,  I  despair  of  aid  from  human  counselors. 
I  have  sought  others,  but  they  also  are  deaf  to  my  entreaties. 
Yes,  Arthur,  Margaret's  misfortunes  have  rendered  her  su- 
perstitious. Know,  that  beneath  these  rocks,  and  under  the 
foundation  of  this  convent,  there  runs  a  cavern,  entering  by 
a  secret  and  defended  passage  a  little  to  the  westward  of  the 
summit,  and  running  through  the  mountain,  having  an 
opening  to  the  south,  from  which,  as  from  this  bartizan, 
you  can  view  the  landscape  so  lately  seen  from  this  balcony, 
or  the  strife  of  winds  and  confusion  of  clouds  which  we  now 
behold.  In  the  middle  of  this  cavernous  thoroughfare  is  a 
natural  pit,  or  perforation,  of  great  but  unknown  depth.  A 
stone  dropped  into  it  is  heard  to  dash  from  side  to  side, 
until  the  noise  of  its  descent,  thundering  from  cliff  to  cliff, 
dies  away  in  distant  and  faint  tinkling,  less  loud  than  that  of 
a  sheep's  bell  at  a  mile's  distance.  The  common  people,  in 
their  jargon,  called  this  fearful  gulf  Lou  Garagoule  ;  and  the 
traditions  of  the  monastery  annex  wild  and  fearful  recollec- 
tions to  a  place  in  itself  sufficiently  terrible.  Oracles,  it  is 
said  spoke  from  thence  in  pagan  days,  by  subterranean  voices, 
arising  from  the  abyss ;  and  from  these  the  Roman  general 
is  said  to  have  heard,  in  strange  and  uncouth  rhymes,  prom- 
ises of  the  victory  which  gives  name  to  this  mountain.  These 
oracles,  it  is  averred,  may  be  yet  consulted  after  performance 
of  strange  rites,  in  which  heathen  ceremonies  are  mixed  with 


ANNE  OF  GEIEBSTEIN  .^81 

Christian  acts  of  devotion.  The  abbots  of  Mont  St.  Victoire 
have  denounced  the  consultation  of  Lou  Garagoule,  and  the 
spirits  who  reside  there,  to  be  criminal.  But  as  the  sin  may 
be  expiated  by  presents  to  the  church,  by  masses,  and  pen- 
ances, the  door  is  sometimes  opened  by  the  complaisant  fathers 
to  those  whose  daring  curiosity  leads  them,  at  all  risks,  and 
by  whatever  means,  to  search  into  futurity.  Arthur,  I  have 
made  the  experiment,  and  am  even  now  returned  from  the 
gloomy  cavern,  in  which,  according  to  the  traditional  ritual, 
I  have  spent  six  hours  by  the  margin  of  the  gulf,  a  place  so 
dismal,  that  after  its  horrors  even  this  tempestuous  scene  is 
refreshing. '* 

The  Queen  stopped,  and  Arthur,  the  more  struck  with 
the  wild  tale  that  it  reminded  him  of  his  place  of  imprison- 
ment at  La  Ferette,  asked  anxiously  if  her  inquiries  had  ob- 
tained any  answer. 

" None  whatever/*  replied  the  unhappy  princess.  ''The 
demons  of  Garagoule,  if  there  be  such,  are  deaf  to  the  suit 
of  an  unfortunate  wretch  like  me,  to  whom  neither  friends 
nor  fiends  will  afford  counsel  or  assistance.  It  is  my  father's 
circumstances  which  prevent  my  instant  and  strong  resolu- 
tion. Were  my  own  claims  on  this  piping  and  paltry  nation 
of  troubadours  alone  interested,  I  could,  for  the  chance  of 
once  more  setting  my  foot  in  Merry  England,  as  easily  and 
willingly  resign  them  and  their  paltry  coronet  as  I  commit 
to  the  storm  this  idle  emblem  of  the  royal  rank  which  I 
have  lost." 

As  Margaret  spoke,  she  tore  from  her  hair  the  sable  feather 
and  rose  which  the  tempest  had  detached  from  the  circlet  in 
which  they  were  placed,  and  tossed  them  from  the  battle- 
ment with  a  gesture  of  wild  energy.  They  were  instantly 
whirled  off  in  a  bickering  eddy  of  the  agitated  clouds,  which 
swept  the  feather  far  distant  into  empty  space,  through 
which  the  eye  could  not  pursue  it.  But  while  that  of  Arthur 
involuntarily  strove  to  follow  its  course,  a  contrary  gust  of 
wind  caught  the  red  rose  and  drove  it  back  against  his 
breast,  so  that  it  was  easy  for  him  to  catch  hold  of  and  re- 
tain it. 

"Joy — joy,  and  good  fortune,  royal  mistress!"  he  said, 
returning  to  her  the  emblematic  flower  :  ''  the  tempest 
brings  back  the  badge  of  Lancaster  to  its  proper  owner.  *' 

''I  accept  the  omen,"  said  Margaret  ;  ''but  it  concerns 
yoarself,  noble  youth,  and  not  me.  The  feather,  which  is 
borne  away  to  waste  and  desolation,  is  Margaret's  emblem. 
My  eyes  will  never  see  the  restdration  of  the  line  of  Lan- 


388  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

caster.  But  you  will  live  to  behold  it,  and  to  aid  to  achieve 
it,  and  to  dye  our  red  rose  deeper  yet  in  the  blood  of  tyrants 
and  traitors.  My  thoughts  are  so  strangely  poised,  that  a 
feather  or  a  flower  may  turn  the  scale.     But  my  head  is  still 

fiddy  and  my  heart  sick.  To-morrow  you  shall  see  another 
[argaret,  and  till  then  adieu. ^' 

It  was  time  to  retire,  for  the  tempest  began  to  be  mingled 
with  fiercer  showers  of  rain.  When  they  re-entered  the 
parlor,  the  Queen  clapped  her  hands,  and  two  female 
attendants  entered. 

'^  Let  the  father  abbot  know,'*  she  said,  ''  that  it  is  our 
desire  that  this  young  gentleman  receive  for  this  night  such 
hospitality  as  befits  an  esteemed  friend  of  ours.  Till  to- 
morrow, young  sir,  farewell." 

With  a  countenance  which  betrayed  not  the  late  emotion 
of  her  mind,  and  with  a  stately  courtesy  that  would  have 
become  her  when  she  graced  the  halls  of  Windsor,  she  ex- 
tended her  hand,  which  the  youth  saluted  respectfully. 
After  her  leaving  the  parlor,  the  abbot  entered,  and  in  his 
attention  to  Arthur's  entertainment  and  accommodation  for 
the  evening  showed  his  anxiety  to  meet  and  obey  Queen 
Margaret's  wishes. 


J 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

Want  you  a  man 
Experienced  in  the  world  and  its  affairs? 
Here  he  is  for  your  purpose.     He's  a  monk. 
He  hath  forsworn  the  world  and  all  its  worth, 
The  rather  that  he  knows  it  passing  well, 
Special  the  worse  of  it,  for  he's  a  monk. 

Old  Play, 

While  the  dawn  of  the  morning  was  yet  gray,  Arthur  was 
awakened  by  a  loud  ringing  at  the  gate  of  the  monastery, 
and  presently  afterwards  the  porter  entered  the  cell  which 
had  been  alloted  to  him  for  his  lodgings,  to  tell  him  that,  if 
his  name  was  Arthur  Philipson,  a  brother  of  their  order  had 
brought  him  despatches  from  his  father.  The  youth  started 
up,  hastily  attired  himself,  and  was  introduced  in  the  par- 
lor to  a  Carmelite  monk,  being  of  the  same  order  with  the 
community  of  St.   Victoire. 

''  I  have  ridden  many  a  mile,  young  man,  to  present  you 
with  this  letter,^'  said  the  monk,  ^*  having  undertaken  to 
your  father  that  it  should  be  delivered  without  delay.  I 
came  to  Aix  last  night  during  the  storm,  and  learning  at  the 
palace  that  you  had  ridden  hither,  I  mounted  as  soon  as  the 
tempest  abated,  and  here  I  am." 

'*  I  am  beholden  to  you,  father,"  said  the  youth,  '^  and  if  I 
could  repay  your  pains  with  a  small  donative  to  your  con- 
vent  " 

"  By  no  means,"  answered  the  good  father  ;  ^'I  took  my 
personal  trouble  out  of  friendship  to  your  father,  and  mine 
own  errand  led  me  this  way.  The  expenses  of  my  long  jour- 
ney have  been  amply  provided  for.  But  open  your  packet, 
I  can  answer  your  questions  at  leisure. " 

The  young  man  accordingly  stepped  into  an  embrasure  of 
the  window,  and  read  as  follows  : — 


<t 


Son  Arthur — Touching  the  state  of  the  country,  in 
so  far  as  concerns  the  safety  of  traveling,  know  that  the  same 
is  precarious.  The  Duke  hath  taken  the  towns  of  Brie  and 
Granson,  and  put  to  death  five  hundred  men  whom  he  made 


390  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

prisoners  in  garrison  there.  But  the  Confederates  are  ap- 
proaching with  a  large  force,  and  God  will  judge  for  the 
right.  Howsoever  the  game  may  go,  these  are  sharp  wars, 
in  which  little  quarter  is  spoken  of  on  either  side,  and  there- 
fore there  is  no  safety  for  men  of  our  profession  till  some- 
thing decisive  shall  happen.  In  the  mean  time,  you  may 
assure  the  widowed  lady  that  our  correspondent  continues 
well  disposed  to  purchase  the  property  which  she  has  in 
hand  ;  but  will  scarce  be  able  to  pay  the  price  till  his  pres- 
ent pressing  affairs  shall  be  settled,  which  I  hope  will  be 
in  time  to  permit  us  to  embark  the  funds  in  the  profitable 
adventure  I  told  our  friend  of.  I  have  employed  a  friar, 
traveling  to  Provence,  to  carry  this  letter,  which  I  trust  will 
come  safe.     The  bearer  may  be  trusted. 

"  Your  affectionate  father, 

^'JoHi^^  Philipsok. 

Arthur  easily  comprehended  the  latter  part  of  the  epistle, 
and  rejoiced  he  had  received  it  at  so  critical  moment.  He 
questioned  the  Carmelite  on  the  amount  of  the  Duke's  army, 
which  the  monk  stated  to  amount  to  sixty  thousand  men, 
while  he  said  the  Confederates,  though  making  every  exer- 
tion, had  not  yet  been  able  to  assemble  the  third  part  of  that 
number.  The  young  Ferrand  de  Vaudemont  was  with 
their  army,  and  had  received,  it  was  thought,  some  secret 
assistance  from  France  ;  but  as  he  was  little  known  in  arms, 
and  had  few  followers,  the  empty  title  of  general  which  he 
bore  added  little  to  the  strength  of  the  Confederates.  Upon 
the  whole,  he  reported  that  every  chance  appeared  to  be  in 
favor  of  Charles,  and  Arthur,  who  looked  upon  his  success 
as  presenting  the  only  chance  in  favor  of  his  father's  enter- 
prise, was  not  a  little  pleased  to  find  it  ensured,  as  far  as 
depended  on  a  great  superiority  of  force.  He  had  no  leisure 
to  make  farther  inquiries,  for  the  Queen  at  that  moment  en- 
tered the  apartment,  and  the  Carmelite,  learning  her  quality 
withdrew  from  her  presence  in  deep  reverence. 

The  paleness  of  her  complexion  still  bespoke  the  fatigues 
of  the  day  preceding ;  but  as  she  graciously  bestowed  on 
Arthur  the  greetings  of  the  morning,  her  voice  was  firm,  her 
eye  clear,  and  her  countenance  steady.  ''  I  meet  you,''  she 
said,  "  not  as  I  left  you,  but  determined  in  my  purpose.  I 
am  satisfied  that,  if  Eene  does  not  voluntarily  yield  up  his 
throne  of  Provence,  by  some  step  like  that  which  we  pro- 
posed, he  will  be  hurled  from  it  by  violence,  in  which,  it 
may  be,  his  life  will  not  be  snared.     We  will  therefore,  to 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  39i 

work  with  all  speed.  The  worst  is  that  I  cannot  leave  this 
convent  till  I  have  made  the  necessary  penances  for  having 
visited  the  Garagoule,  without  performing  which  I  were  no 
Christian  woman.  When  you  return  to  Aix,  inquire  at  the 
palace  for  my  secretary,  with  whom  this  line  will  give  you 
credence.  I  have,  even  before  this  door  of  hope  opened  to 
me,  endeavored  to  form  an  estimate  of  King  Kene's  situation, 
and  collected  the  documents  for  that  purpose.  Tell  him  to 
send  me,  duly  sealed  and  under  fitting  charge,  the  small 
cabinet  hooped  with  silver.  Hours  of  penance  for  past  err- 
ors may  be  employed  to  prevent  others  ;  and,  from  the  con- 
tents of  that  cabinet,  I  shall  learn  whether  I  am,  in  this 
weighty  matter,  sacrificing  my  father's  interests  to  my  own 
half-desperate  hopes.  But  of  this  I  have  little  or  no  doubt. 
I  can  cause  the  deeds  of  resignation  and  transference  to  be 
drawn  up  here  under  my  own  direction,  and  arrange  the 
execution  of  them  when  I  return  to  Aix,  which  shall  be 
the  first  moment  after  my  penance  is  concluded. '* 

''  And  this  letter,  gracious  madam,''  said  Arthur,  "  will 
inform  you  what  events  are  approaching,  and  of  what  im- 
portance it  may  be  to  take  time  by  the  forelock.  Place  me 
but  in  possession  of  these  momentous  deeds,  and  I  will  travel 
night  and  day  till  I  reach  the  Duke's  camp.  I  shall  find  him 
most  likely  in  the  moment  of  victory,  and  with  his  heart  too 
much  open  to  refuse  a  boon  to  the  royal  kinswoman  who  is 
surrendering  to  him  all.  We  will,  we  must  in  such  an  hour 
obtain  princely  succors  ;  and  we  shall  soon  see  if  the  licen- 
tious Edward  of  York,  the  savage  Richard,  the  treacherous 
and  perjured  Clarence,  are  hereafter  to  be  lords  of  Merry 
England,  or  whether  they  must  give  place  to  a  more  rightful 
sovereign  and  better  man.  But  0  !  royal  madam,  all  de- 
pends on  haste." 

'^  True  ;  yet  a  few  days  may,  nay,  must,  cast  the  die  be- 
tween Charles  and  his  opponents  ;  and,  ere  making  so  great 
a  surrender,  it  were  as  well  to  be  assured  that  he  whom  we 
would  propitiate  is  in  capacity  to  assist  us.  All  the  events 
of  a  tragic  and  varied  life  have  led  me  to  see  there  is  no  such 
thing  as  an  inconsiderable  enemy.  I  will  make  haste,  how- 
ever, trusting  in  the  interim  we  may  have  good  news  from 
the  banks  of  the  lake  at  Neufchatel." 

*'  But  who  shall  be  employed  to  draw  these  most  impor- 
tant deeds  ?  "  said  the  young  man. 

Margaret  mused  ere  she  replied — "  The  father  guardian  is 
complaisant,  and  I  think  faithful ;  but  I  would  not  willingly 
repose  confidence  in  one  of  the  Proven9al  monks.     Stay,  let 


392  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

me  think  ;  your  father  says  the  Carmelite  who  brought  the 
letter  may  be  trusted — he  shall  do  the  turn.  He  is  3 
stranger,  and  will  be  silent  for  a  piece  of  money.  Farewellj 
Arthur  de  Vere.  You  will  be  treated  with  all  hospitalitj' 
by  my  father.  If  thou  dost  receive  farther  tidings,  thou 
wilt  let  me  know  them  ;  or,  should  I  have  instructions  to 
send,  thou  wilt  hear  from  me.     So,  ienedicite." 

Arthur  proceeded  to  wind  down  the  mountain  at  a  much, 
quicker  pace  than  he  had  ascended  on  the  day  before.  The 
weather  was  now  gloriously  serene,  and  the  beauties  of 
vegetation,  in  a  country  where  it  never  totally  slumbers, 
were  at  once  delicious  and  refreshing.  His  thoughts 
wandered  from  the  crags  of  Mont  St.  Victoire  to  the  cliff 
of  the  canton  of  Unterwalden,  and  fancy  recalled  the 
moments  when  his  walks  through  such  scenery  were  not  soli- 
tary, but  when  there  was  a  form  by  his  side  whose  simple 
beauty  was  engraved  on  his  memory.  Such  thoughts  were 
of  a  preoccupying  nature,  and  I  grieve  to  say  that  they  en- 
tirely drowned  the  recollection  of  the  mysterious  caution 
given  him  by  his  father,  intimating  that  Arthur  might  not 
be  able  to  comprehend  such  letters  as  he  should  receive  from 
him  till  they  were  warmed  before  a  fire. 

The  first  thing  which  reminded  him  of  this  singular  caution 
was  the  seeing  a  chafing-dish  of  charcoal  in  the  kitchen  of 
the  hostelry  at  the  bottom  of  the  mountain,  where  he  found 
Thiebault  and  his  horses.  This  was  the  first  fire  which  he 
had  seen  since  receiving  his  father's  letter,  and  it  reminded 
him  not  unnaturally  of  what  the  Earl  had  recommended. 
Great  was  his  surprise  to  see  that,  after  exposing  the  paper 
to  the  fire  as  if  to  dry  it,  a  word  emerged  in  an  important 
passage  of  the  letter,  and  the  concluding  words  now  read — 
*^  The  bearer  may  wo^  be  trusted.^*  Well-nigh  choked  with 
shame  and  vexation,  Arthur  could  think  of  no  other  remedy 
than  instantly  to  return  to  the  convent  and  acquaint  the 
Queen  with  this  discovery,  which  he  hoped  still  to  convey  to 
her  in  time  to  prevent  any  risk  being  incurred  by  the  Car- 
melite's treachery. 

Incensed  at  himself,  and  eager  to  redeem  his  fault,  he 
bent  his  manly  breast  against  the  steep  hill,  which  was  prob- 
ably never  scaled  in  so  short  time  as  by  the  young  heir  of 
De  Vere  ;  for,  within  forty  minutes  from  his  commencing 
the  ascent,  he  stood  breathless  and  panting  in  the  presence 
of  Queen  Margaret,  who  was  alike  surprised  at  his  appear- 
ance and  his  exhausted  condition. 

* '  Trust  not  the  Carmelite  ! "  he  exclaimed.     "  You  ar© 


J 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  393 

betrayed,  noble  Queen,  and  it  is  by  my  negligence.  Here  is 
my  dagger  ;  bid  me  strike  it  into  my  heart  ! " 

Margaret  demanded  and  obtained  a  more  special  expla- 
nation, and  when  it  was  given,  she  said,  ^^  It  is  an  unhappy 
chance  ;  but  your  father^s  instructions  ought  to  have  been 
more  distinct.  I  have  told  yonder  Carmelite  the  purpose  of 
the  contracts,  and  engaged  with  him  to  draw  them.  He 
has  but  now  left  me  to  serve  at  the  choir.  Tnere  is  no  with- 
drawing the  confidence  I  have  unhappily  placed  ;  but  I  can 
easily  prevail  with  the  father  guardian  to  prevent  the  monk 
from  leaving  the  convent  till  we  are  indifferent  to  his  secrecy. 
It  is  our  best  chance  to  secure  it,  and  we  will  take  care  that 
what  inconvenience  he  sustains  by  his  detention  shall  be  well 
recompensed.  Meanwhile,  rest  thou,  good  Arthur,  and  undo 
the  throat  of  thy  mantle.  Poor  youth,  thou  art  wellnigh 
exhausted  with  thy  haste. ^' 

Arthur  obeyed,  and  sat  down  on  a  seat  in  the  parlor  ;  for 
the  speed  which  he  had  exerted  rendered  him  almost  inca- 
pable of  standing. 

"  If  I  could  but  see,^^  he  said,  '^  the  false  monk,  I  would 
find  a  way  to  charm  him  to  secrecy  ! " 

''  Better  leave  him  to  me,'^  said  the  Queen ;  '^  and  in  a 
word,  I  forbid  you  to  meddle  with  him.  The  coif  can  treat 
better  with  the  cowl  than  the  casque  can  do.  Say  no  more 
of  him.  I  joy  to  see  you  wear  around  your  neck  the  holy 
relic  I  bestowed  on  you  ;  but  what  Moorish  charmlet  is  that 
you  wear  beside  it  ?  Alas  !  I  need  not  ask.  Your  height- 
ened color,  almost  as  deep  as  when  you  entered  a  quarter 
of  an  hour  hence  [since],  confesses  a  true-love  token.  Alas  ! 
poor  boy,  hast  thou  not  only  such  a  share  of  thy  country's 
woes  to  bear,  but  also  thine  own  load  of  affliction,  not  the 
less  poignant  now  that  future  time  will  show  thee  how 
fantastic  it  is  ?  Margaret  of  Anjou  could  once  have  aided 
wherever  thy  affections  were  placed  ;  but  now  she  can  only 
contribute  to  the  misery  of  her  friends,  not  to  their  happiness. 
But  this  lady  of  the  charm,  Arthur,  is  she  fair — is  she  wise 
and  virtuous — is  she  of  noble  birth — and  does  she  love  ?'^ 
She  perused  his  countenance  with  the  glance  of  an  eagle, 
and  continued,  ^' To  all  thou  wouldst  answer  'Yes,'  if 
shamefacedness  permitted  thee.  Love  her  then  in  turn,  my 
gallant  boy,  for  love  is  the  parent  of  brave  actions.  Go,  my 
noble  youth  ;  high-born  and  loyal,  valorous  and  virtuous, 
enamored  and  youthful,  to  what  mayst  thou  not  rise  ? 
The  chivalry  of  ancient  Europe  only  lives  in  a  bosom  like 
thine.     Go  •  and  let  the  praises  of  a  queen  fire  thy  bosom  with 


394  WA  VEELEY  NO  VEL8 

the  love  of  honor  and  achievement.  In  three  days  we  meet 
atAix/' 

Arthur,  highly  gratified  with  the  Queen's  condescension^ 
once  more  left  her  presence. 

Returning  down  the  mountain  with  a  speed  very  different 
from  that  which  he  had  used  in  the  ascent,  he  again  found 
his  Proven9al  squire,  who  had  remained  in  much  surprise  at 
witnessing  the  confusion  in  which  his  master  had  left  the 
inn,  almost  immediately  after  he  had  entered  it  without  any 
apparent  haste  or  agitation.  A.rthur  explained  his  hasty 
return  by  alleging  he  had  forgot  his  purse  at  the  convent. 
"  Nay,  in  that  case,''  said  Thiebault,  ^^  considering  what 
you  left  and  where  you  left  it,  I  do  not  wonder  at  your 
speed,  though.  Our  Lady  save  me,  as  I  never  saw  living 
creature,  save  a  goat  with  a  wolf  at  his  heels,  make  his 
way  over  crag  and  briers  with  half  such  rapidity  as  you 
did." 

They  reached  Aix  after  about  an  hour's  riding,  and  Arthur 
lost  no  time  in  waiting  upon  the  good  King  Rene,  who  gave 
him  a  kind  reception,  both  in  respect  of  the  letter  from  the 
Duke  of  Burgundy  and  in  consideration  of  his  being  an 
Englishman,  the  avowed  subject  of  the  unfortunate  Mar- 
garet. The  placable  monarch  soon  forgave  his  young  guest 
the  want  of  complaisance  with  which  he  had  eschewed  to 
listen  to  his  compositions ;  and  Arthur  speedily  found  that 
to  apologize  for  his  want  of  breeding  in  that  particular  was 
likely  to  lead  to  a  great  deal  more  rehearsing  than  he  could 
find  patience  to  tolerate.  He  could  only  avoid  the  old  king's 
extreme  desire  to  recite  his  own  poems  and  perform  his  own 
music  by  engaging  him  in  speaking  of  his  daughter  Margaret. 
Arthur  had  been  sometimes  induced  to  doubt  the  influence 
which  the  Queen  boasted  herself  to  possess  over  her  aged 
father  ;  but,  on  being  acquainted  with  him  personally,  he 
became  convinced  that  her  powerful  understanding  and  violent 
passions  inspired  the  feeble-minded  and  passive  king  with  a 
mixture  of  pride,  affection,  and  fear,  which  united  to  give 
her  the  most  ample  authority  over  him. 

Although  she  had  parted  with  him  but  a  day  or  two  since, 
and  in  a  manner  so  ungracious  on  her  side,  Rene  was  as  much 
overjoyed  at  hearing  of  the  probability  of  her  speedy  return 
as  the  fondest  father  could  have  been  at  the  prospect  of 
being  reunited  to  the  most  dutiful  child,  whom  he  had  not 
seen  for  years.  The  old  king  was  impatient  as  a  boy  for  the 
day  of  her  arrival,  and,  still  strangely  unenlightened  on  the 
difference  of  her  taste  ^f rom  his  own,  he  was  with  difficulty 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  .  395 

induced  to  lay  aside  a  project  of  meeting  her  in  the  character 
of  old  Palemon — 

The  prince  of  shepherds,  and  their  pride — 

at  the  head  of  an  Arcadian  procession  of  nymphs  and 
Bwains,  to  inspire  whose  choral  dances  and  songs  every 
pipe  and  tambourine  in  the  country  was  to  be  placed  in 
requisition.  Even  the  old  seneschal,  however,  intimated 
his  disapprobation  of  this  species  of  joyeuse  entree  j  so  that 
Bene  suffered  himself  at  length  to  be  persuaded  that  the 
Queen  was  too  much  occupied  by  the  religious  impressions 
to  which  she  had  been  of  late  exposed  to  receive  any  agreeable 
sensation  from  sights  or  sounds  of  levity.  The  King  gave 
way  to  reasons  which  he  could  not  sympathize  with  ;  and 
thus  Margaret  escaped  the  shock  of  welcome,  which  would 
perhaps  have  driven  her  in  her  impatience  back  to  the 
mountain  of  St.  Victoire,  and  the  sable  cavern  of  Lou 
Garagoule. 

During  the  time  of  her  absence,  the  days  of  the  court  of 
Provence  were  employed  in  sports  and  rejoicings  of  every 
description — tilting  at  the  barrier  with  blunted  spears,  riding 
at  the  ring,  parties  for  hare-hunting  and  falconry,  frequented 
by  the  youth  of  both  sexes,  in  the  company  of  whom  the 
King  delighted,  while  the  evenings  were  consumed  in  dancing 
and  music. 

Arthur  could  not  but  be  sensible  that  not  long  since  all 
this  would  have  made  him  perfectly  happy  ;  but  the  last 
months  of  his  existence  had  developed  his  understanding  and 
passions.  He  was  now  initiated  in  the  actual  business  of 
human  life,  and  looked  on  its  amusements  with  an  air  of 
something  like  contempt  ;  so  that  among  the  young  and  gay 
noblesse  who  composed  this  merry  court  he  acquired  the  title 
of  the  youthful  philosopher,  which  was  not  bestowed  upon 
him,  it  may  be  supposed,  as  inferring  anything  of  peculiar 
compliment. 

On  the  fourth  day  news  were  received,  by  an  express  mes- 
senger, that  Queen  Margaret  would  enter  Aix  before  the 
hour  of  noon,  to  resume  her  residence  in  her  father's  palace. 
The  good  King  Eene  seemed,  as  it  drew  nigh,  to  fear  the 
interview  with  his  daughter  as  much  as  he  had  previously 
desired  it,  and  contrived  to  make  all  around  him  partake  of 
his  fidgety  anxiety.  He  tormented  his  steward  and  cooks  to 
recollect  what  dishes  they  had  ever  observed  her  to  taste  of 
with  approbation  ;  he  pressed  the  musicians  to  remembei 
the  tunes  which  she  approved,  and  when  one  of  them  boldly 


896  .  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

replied  he  had  never  known  her  Majesty  endure  any  strain 
with  patience,  the  old  monarch  threatened  to  turn  him  out 
of  his  service  for  slandering  the  taste  of  his  daughter.  The 
banquet  was  ordered  to  be  served  at  half-past  eleven,  as  if 
accelerating  it  would  have  had  the  least  eflect  upon  hurrying 
the  arrival  of  the  expected  guests  ;  and  the  old  king,  with 
his  napkin  over  his  arm,  traversed  the  hall  from  window  to 
window,  wearying  every  one  with  questions  whether  they 
saw  anything  of  the  Queen  of  England.  Exactly  as  the  bells 
tolled  noon,  the  Queen,  with  a  very  small  retinue,  chiefly 
English,  and  in  mourning  habits  like  herself,  rode  into  the 
town  of  Aix.  King  Eene,  at  the  head  of  his  court,  failed 
not  to  descend  from  the  front  of  his  stately  palace  and  move 
along  the  street  to  meet  his  daughter.  Lofty,  proud,  and 
jealous  of  incurring  ridicule,  Margaret  was  not  pleased  with 
this  public  greeting  in  the  market-place.  But  she  was  de- 
sirous at  present  to  make  amends  for  her  late  petulance,  and 
therefore  she  descended  from  her  palfrey  ;  and  although 
something  shocked  at  seeing  Eene  equipped  with  a  napkin, 
she  humbled  herself  to  bend  the  knee  to  him,  asking  at  once 
his  blessing  and  forgiveness. 

"  Thou  hast — thou  hast  my  blessing,  my  suffering  dove,'' 
said  the  simple  king  to  the  proudest  and  most  impatient 
princess  that  ever  wept  for  a  lost  crown.  ^'  And  for  thy 
pardon,  how  canst  thou  ask  it,  who  never  didst  me  an  offense 
since  God  made  me  father  to  so  gracious  a  child  ?  Eise — I 
say  rise  ;  may,  it  is  for  me  to  ask  thy  pardon.  True,  I  said 
in  my  ignorance,  and  thought  within  myself,  that  my  heart 
had  indited  a  goodly  thing  ;  but  it  vexed  thee.  It  is  there- 
fore for  me  to  crave  pardon.''  And  down  sunk  good  King 
Eene  upon  both  knees  ;  and  the  people,  who  are  usually 
captivated  with  anything  resembling  the  trick  of  the  scene, 
applauded  with  much  noise,  and  some  smothered  laughter, 
a  situation  in  which  the  royal  daughter  and  her  parent 
seemed  about  to  rehearse  the  scene  of  the  Eoman  Charity. 

Margaret,  sensitively  alive  to  shame,  and  fully  aware  that 
her  present  position  was  sufficiently  ludicrous  in  its  publicity 
at  least,  signed  sharply  to  Arthur,  whom  she  saw  in  the 
King's  suite,  to  come  to  her  ;  and,  using  his  arm  to  rise,  she 
muttered  to  him  aside,  and  in  English — '^  To  what  saint  shall 
I  vow  myself,  that  I  may  preserve  patience  when  I  so  much 
need  it?" 

''For  pity's  sake,  royal  madam,  recall  your  firmness  of 
mind  and  composure,"  whispered  her  esquire,  who  felt  at  the 
moment  more  embarrassed  than  honored  by  his  distinguished 


I 


ANNE  OF  GEIEB STEIN  397 

office,  for  he  could  feel  that  the  Queen  actually  trembled 
with  vexation  and  impatience. 

They  at  length  resumed  their  route  to  the  palace,  the 
father  and  daughter  arm  in  arm — a  posture  most  agreeable 
to  Margaret,  who  could  bring  herself  to  endure  her  father^s 
effusions  of  tenderness,  and  the  general  tone  of  his  conversa- 
tion, so  that  he  was  not  overheard  by  others.  In  the  same 
manner,  she  bore  with  laudable  patience  the  teasing  atten- 
tions which  he  addressed  to  her  at  table,  noticed  some  of  his 
particular  courtiers,  inquired  after  others,  led  the  way  to  his 
favorite  subjects  of  conversation  on  poetry,  painting,  and 
music,  till  the  good  king  was  as  much  delighted  with  the 
unwonted  civilities  of  his  daughter  as  ever  was  lover  with 
the  favorable  confessions  of  his  mistress,  when,  after  years 
of  warm  courtship,  the  ice  of  her  bosom  is  at  length  thawed. 
It  cost  the  haughty  Margaret  an  effort  to  bend  herself  to  play 
this  part.  Her  pride  rebuked  her  for  stooping  to  flatter  her 
father's  foibles  in  order  to  bring  him  over  to  the  resignation 
of  his  dominions ;  yet,  having  undertaken  to  do  so,  and  so 
much  having  been  already  hazarded  upon  this  sole  remaining 
chance  of  success  in  an  attack  upon  England,  she  saw,  or 
was  willing  to  see,  no  alternative. 

Betwixt  the  banquet  and  the  ball  by  which  it  was  to  be 
followed,  the  Queen  sought  an  opportunity  of  speaking  to 
Arthur. 

''  Bad  news,  my  sage  counselor, '*  she  said.  '^  The  Car- 
melite never  returned  to  the  convent  after  the  service  was 
over.  Having  learned  that  you  had  come  back  in  great  haste, 
he  had,  I  suppose,  concluded  he  might  stand  in  suspicion,  so 
he  left  the  convent  of  Mont  St.  Victoire.^' 

^^We  must  hasten  the  measures  which  your  Majesty  has 
resolved  to  adopt,^^  answered  Arthur. 

''  I  will  speak  with  my  father  to-morrow.  Meanwhile,  you 
must  enjoy  the  pleasures  of  the  evening,  for  to  you  they  may 
be  pleasures.  Young  lady  of  Boisgelin,  I  give  you  this 
cavalier  to  be  your  partner  for  the  evening." 

The  black-eyed  and  pretty  Proven9ale  courtesied  with  due 
decorum,  and  glanced  at  the  handsome  young  Englishman 
with  an  eye  of  approbation  ;  but,  whether  afraid  of  his  char- 
acter as  a  philosopher  or  his  doubtful  rank,  added  the  saving 
clause — "  If  mxy  mother  approves." 

'*  Your  mother,  damsel,  will  scarce,  I  think,  disapprove 
of  any  partner  whom  you  receive  from  the  hands  of  Mar- 
garet of  Anjou.  Happy  privilege  of  youth,"  she  added  with 
a  sigh,  as  the  youthful  couple  went  off  to  take  their  place  Id 


398  WA  VEBLEY  NOVELS 

the  bransle,  "  which  can  snatch  a  flower  even  on  the  rough- 
est road  ! '' 

Arthur  acquitted  himself  so  well  during  the  evening,  that 
perhaps  the  young  countess  was  only  sorry  that  so  gay  and 
handsome  a  gallant  limited  his  compliments  and  attentions 
within  the  cold  bounds  of  that  courtesy  enjoined  by  the  rules 
of  ceremony. 


CHAPTER  XXXII 

For  I  have  given  here  my  full  consent, 
To  undeck  the  pompous  body  of  a  king, 
Make  glory  base,  and  sovereignty  a  slave, 
Proud  Majesty  a  subject,  state  a  peasant. 

Richard  II, 

The  next  day  opened  a  grave  scene.  King  Rene  had  not 
forgotten  to  arrange  the  pleasures  of  the  day,  when,  to  his 
horror  and  discomfiture,  Margaret  demanded  an  interview 
upon  serious  business.  If  there  was  a  proposition  in  the 
world  which  Rene  from  his  soul  detested,  it  was  any  that 
related  to  the  very  name  of  business. 

"  What  was  it  that  his  child  wanted  ?"  he  said.  "  Was  it 
money  ?  He  would  give  her  whatever  ready  sums  he  had, 
though  he  owned  his  exchequer  was  somewhat  bare  ;  yet  he 
had  received  his  income  for  the  season.  It  was  ten  thousand 
crowns.  How  much  should  he  desire  to  be  paid  to  her — the 
half,  three  parts,  or  the  whole  ?    All  was  at  her  command.'^ 

'^Alas,  my  dear  father,^' said  Margaret,  ''it  is  not  my 
affairs,  but  your  own,  on  which  I  desire  to  speak  with  you.'' 

"  If  the  affairs  are  mine,''  said  Rene,  ''  I  am  surely  mas- 
ter to  put  them  off  to  another  day — to  some  rainy,  dull  day, 
fit  for  no  better  purpose.  See,  my  love,  the  hawking-party 
are  all  on  their  steeds  and  ready,  the  horses  are  neighing  and 
pawing,  the  gallants  and  maidens  mounted,  and  ready  with 
hawk  on  fist,  the  spaniels  struggling  in  the  leash.  It  were 
a  sin,  with  wind  and  weather  to  friend,  to  lose  so  lovely  a 
morning." 

"  Let  them  ride  their  way/*  said  Queen  Margaret,  *^  and 
find  their  sport ;  for  the  matter  I  have  to  speak  concerning 
involves  honor  and  rank,  life  and  means  of  living." 

*'  Nay,  but  I  have  to  hear  and  judge  between  Calezon 
and  John  of  Acqua  Mortis,  the  two  most  celebrated  trouba- 
dours." 

^•'  Postpone  their  cause  till  to-morrow,'*  said  Margaret, 
**  and  dedicate  an  hour  or  two  to  more  important  affairs." 

*' If  you  are  peremptory,"  replied  King  Ren§,  "you  are 
aware,  my  child,  I  cannot  say  you  nay. " 

And  with  reluctance  he  gave  orders  for  the  hawkers  to  go 


400  WAVERLET  NOVELS 

on  and  follow  tlieir  sport,  as  he  could  not  attend  them  that 
day. 

The  old  king  then  suffered  himself,  like  an  unwilling  grey- 
hound withheld  from  the  chase,  to  be  led  into  a  separate 
apartment.  To  insure  privacy,  Margaret  stationed  her  sec- 
retary Mordaunt,  with  Arthur,  in  an  ante-chamber,  giving 
them  orders  to  prevent  all  intrusion. 

^'  Nay,  for  myself,  Margaret,^'  said  the  good-natured  old 
man,  ^'  since  it  must  be,  I  consent  to  be  put  au  secret ;  but 
why  keep  old  Mordaunt  from  taking  a  walk  in  this  beautiful 
morning,  and  why  prevent  young  Arthur  from  going  forth 
with  the  rest  ?  I  promise  you,  though  they  term  him  a 
philosopher,  yet  he  showed  as  light  a  pair  of  heels  last  night 
with  the  young  Countess  de  Boisgelin,  as  any  gallant  in 
Provence.^' 

'^  They  are  come  from  a  country,''  said  Margaret,  ^'in 
which  pien  are  trained  from  infancy  to  prefer  their  duty  to 
their  pleasure.'* 

The  poor  king,  led  into  the  council-closet,  saw  with  inter- 
nal shuddering  the  fatal  cabinet  of  ebony,  bound  with  silver, 
which  had  never  been  opened  but  to  overwhelm  him  with 
weariness,  and  dolefully  calculated  how  many  yawns  he  must 
strangle  ere  he  sustained  the  consideration  of  its  contents. 
They  proved,  however,  when  laid  before  him,  of  a  kind  that 
excited  even  his  interest,  though  painfully. 

His  daughter  presented  him  with  a  short  and  clear  view 
of  the  debts  which  were  secured  on  his  dominions,  and  for 
which  they  were  mortgaged  in  various  pieces  and  parcels. 
She  then  showed  him,  by  another  schedule,  the  large  claims 
of  which  payment  was  instantly  demanded,  to  discharge 
which  no  funds  could  be  found  or  assigned.  The  King  de- 
fended himself  like  others  in  his  forlorn  situation.  To  every 
claim  of  six,  seven,  or  eight  thousand  ducats,  he  replied  by 
the  assertion  that  he  had  ten  thousand  crowns  in  his  chan- 
cery, and  showed  some  reluctance  to  be  convinced,  till  re- 
peatedly urged  upon  him,  that  the  same  sum  could  not  be 
adequate  to  the  discharge  of  thirty  times  the  amount. 

'*  Then,"  said  the  King,  somewhat  impatiently,  '^  why  not 
pay  off  those  who  are  most  pressing,  and  let  the  others  wait 
till  the  receipts  come  round  ?  " 

''  It  is  a  practise  which  has  been  too  often  resorted  to," 
replied  the  Queen,  "  and  it  is  but  a  part  of  honesty  to  pay 
creditors  who  have  advanced  their  all  in  your  Grace's 
service." 

"  But  are  we  not,"  said  Rene,  "  king  of  both  the  Sicilies, 


ANNE  OF  GEIEBSTEIN,  401 

Naples,  Arragon,  and  Jerusalem  ?  And  why  is  the  monarch 
of  such  fair  kingdoms  to  be  pushed  to  the  wall,  like  a  bank- 
rupt yeoman,  for  a  few  bags  of  paltry  crowns  ?  '^ 

'*  You  are  indeed  monarch  of  these  kingdoms,^'  said 
Margaret ;  "  but  is  it  necessary  to  remind  your  Majesty  that 
it  is  but  as  I  am  Queen  of  England,  in  which  I  have  not  an 
acre  of  land,  and  cannot  command  a  penny  of  revenue  ? 
You  have  no  dominions  which  are  a  source  of  revenue,  save 
those  which  you  see  in  this  scroll,  with  an  exact  list  of  the 
income  they  afford.  It  is  totally  inadequate,  you  see,  to 
maintain  your  state  and  to  pay  the  large  engagements  in- 
curred to  former  creditors/' 

'^  It  is  cruel  to  press  me  to  the  wall  thus,''  said  the  poor 
king.  ^'  What  can  I  do  ?  If  I  am  poor,  I  cannot  help  it. 
I  am  sure  I  would  pay  the  debts  you  talk  of,  if  I  knew  the 
way.'' 

"  Koyal  father,  I  will  show  it  you.  Resign  your  useless 
and  unavailing  dignity,  which,  with  the  pretensions  attend- 
ing it,  serves  but  to  make  your  miseries  ridiculous.  Resign 
your  rights  as  a  sovereign,  and  the  income  which  cannot  be 
stretched  out  to  the  empty  excesses  of  a  beggarly  court  will 
enable  you  to  enjoy,  in  ease  and  opulence,  all  the  pleasures 
you  most  delight  in  as  a  private  baron. " 

''  Margaret,  you  speak  folly,"  answered  Rene,  somewhat 
sternly.  '^  A  king  and  his  people  are  bound  by  ties  which 
neither  can  sever  without  guilt.  My  subjects  are  my  flock  ; 
I  am  their  shepherd.  They  are  assigned  to  my  governance 
by  Heaven,  and  I  dare  not  renounce  the  charge  of  protect- 
ing them." 

''  Were  you  in  condition  to  do  so,"  answered  the  Queen, 
"  Margaret  would  bid  you  fight  to  the  death.  But  don  your 
harness,  long  disused,  mount  your  war-steed,  cry  '  Rene 
for  Provence  !'  and  see  if  a  hundred  men  will  gather  round 
your  standard.  Your  fortresses  are  in  the  hands  of  strangers ; 
army  you  have  none  ;  your  vassals  may  have  good-will,  but 
they  lack  all  military  skill  and  soldierlike  discipline.  You 
stand  but  the  mere  skeleton  of  monarchy,  which  France  or 
Burgundy  may  prostrate  on  the  earth,  whichever  first  puts 
forth  his  arm  to  throw  it  down." 

The  tears  trickled  fast  down  the  old  king's  cheeks  when 
this  unflattering  prospect  was  set  before  him,  and  he  could 
not  forbear  owning  his  total  want  of  power  to  defend  him- 
self and  his  dominions,  and  admitting  that  he  had  often 
thought  of  the  necessity  of  compounding  for  his  resignation 
with  one  of  his  powerful  neighbors. 
26 


40t  WA VERLEY  NOVELS 

*^  It  was  tliy  interest,  Margaret,  harsh  and  severe  as  you 
are,  which  prevented  my  entering,  before  now,  into  measures 
most  painful  to  my  feelings,  but  perhaps  best  calculated  for 
my  advantage.  But  I  had  hoped  it  would  hold  on  for  my 
day  ;  and  thou,  my  child,  with  the  talents  Heaven  has  given 
thee,  wouldst,  I  thought,  have  found  remedy  for  distresses 
which  I  cannot  escape  otherwise  than  by  shunning  the 
thoughts  of  them." 

"  If  it  is  in  earnest  you  speak  of  my  interest,"  said  Mar- 
garet, "know,  that  your  resigning  Provence  will  satisfy  the 
nearest,  and  almost  the  only,  wish  that  my  bosom  can  form  ; 
but,  so  judge  me  Heaven,  as  it  is  on  your  account,  gracious 
sire,  as  well  as  mine,  that  I  advise  your  compliance." 

"  Say  no  more  on^t,  child  ;  give  me  the  parchment  of 
resignation  and  I  will  sign  it.  I  see  thou  hast  it  ready 
drawn  ;  let  us  sign  it,  and  then  we  will  overtake  the  hawkers. 
We  must  suffer  wo,  but  there  is  little  need  to  sit  down  and 
weep  for  it." 

'^  Do  yon  not  ask,"  said  Margaret,  surprised  at  his  apathy, 
"  to  whom  you  cede  your  dominions  ?" 

"  What  boots  it,"  answered  the  King,  "  since  they  must 
be  no  more  my  own  ?  It  must  be  either  to  Charles  of  Bur- 
gundy or  my  nephew  Louis — both  powerful  and  politic 
princes.  God  send  my  poor  people  may  have  no  cause  to 
wish  their  old  man  back  again,  whose  only  pleasure  was  to 
see  them  happy  and  mirthful." 

"  It  is  to  Burgundy  you  resign  Provence,"  said  Margaret. 

"  I  would  have  preferred  him,"  answered  Een6  :  "  he  is 
fierce,  but  not  malignant.  One  word  more — are  my  subjects' 
privileges  and  immunities  fully  secured  ?  " 

"  Amply,"  replied  the  Queen  ;  "  and  your  own  wants  of 
all  kinds  honorably  provided  for.  I  would  not  leave  the 
stipulations  in  your  favor  in  blank,  though  I  might  perhaps 
have  trusted  Charles  of  Burgundy  where  money  alone  is 
concerned." 

*'  I  ask  not  for  myself ;  with  my  viol  and  my  pencil, 
Rene  the  troubadour  will  be  as  happy  as  ever  was  Rene  the 
king." 

So  saying,  with  practical  philosophy  he  whistled  the 
burden  of  his  last  composed  ariette,  and  signed  away  the 
rest  of  his  royal  possessions  without  pulling  off  his  glove  or 
even  reading  the  instrument. 

"  What  is  this  ?  "  he  said,  looking  at  another  and  separate 
parchment  of  much  briefer  contents.  ^'  Must  my  kinsman 
Charles  have  both  the  Sicilies,  Catalonia,  Naples,  and  Jeru- 


ANNE  OF  GEIEBSTEIN  403 

salem,  as  well  as  the  poor  remainder  of  Provence  ?  Methinks, 
in  decency,  some  greater  extent  of  parchment  should  have 
been  allowed  to  so  ample  a  cession/' 

*'  That  deed/'  said  Margaret,  "  only  disowns  and  relin- 
quishes all  countenance  of  Ferrand  de  Yau  demon t's  rash 
attempt  on  Lorraine,  and  renounces  all  quarrel  on  that  ac- 
count against  Charles  of  Burgundy/' 

For  once  Margaret  miscalculated  the  tractability  of  her 
father's  temper.  Rene  positively  started,  colored,  and  stam- 
mered with  passion,  as  he  interrupted  her — "  only  disown — 
only  relinquish — only  renounce  the  cause  of  my  grandchild, 
the  son  of  my  dear  Yolande — his  rightful  claims  on  his 
mother^s  inheritance  !  Margaret,  I  am  ashamed  for  thee. 
Thy  pride  is  an  excuse  for  thy  evil  temper  ;  but  what  is 
pride  worth  which  can  stoop  to  commit  an  act  of  dishonor- 
able meanness  ?  To  desert,  nay,  disown,  my  own  flesh  and 
blood,  because  the  youth  is  a  bold  knight  under  shield  and 
disposed  to  battle  for  his  right — I  were  worthy  that  harp 
and  horn  rung  out  shame  on  me,  should  I  listen  to  thee." 

Mari2[aret  was  overcome  in  some  measure  by  the  old  man's 
unexpected  opposition.  She  endeavored,  however,  to  show 
that  there  was  no  occasion,  in  point  of  honor,  why  Rene 
should  engage  in  the  cause  of  a  wild  adventurer,  whose  right, 
be  it  good,  be  it  bad,  was  only  upheld  by  some  petty  and 
underhand  supplies  of  money  from  France,  and  the  counte- 
nance of  a  few  of  the  restless  banditti  who  inhabit  the 
borders;  of  all  nations.  But,  ere  Rene  could  answer,  voices, 
raised  to  an  unusual  pitch,  were  heard  in  the  ante-cham- 
ber, the  door  of  which  was  flung  open  by  an  armed  knight, 
covered  with  dust,  who  exhibited  all  the  marks  of  a  long 
journey. 

'*  Here  I  am,"  he  said,  "  father  of  my  mother — behold  your 
grandson — Ferrand  de  Vaudemont  ;  the  son  of  your  lost 
Yolarxde  kneels  at  your  feet,  and  implores  a  blessing  on  him 
and  his  enterprise." 

''Thou  hast  it,"  replied  Rene,  ''  and  may  it  prosper  with 
theC/  gallant  youth,  image  of  thy  sainted  mother — my  bless- 
ings- my  prayers,  my  hopes,  go  with  you  ! " 

'^  And  you,  fair  aunt  of  England,"  said  the  young  knight, 
addressing  Margaret — ''  you  who  are  yourself  dispossessed 
by  traitors,  will  you  not  own  the  cause  of  a  kinsman  who  is 
struggling  for  his  inheritance  ?  " 

'*  I  wish  all  good  to  your  person,  fair  nephew,"  answered 
th«  Queen  of  England,  ''  although  your  features  are  strange 
t(^  •AC.     But  to  advise  this  old  man  to  adopt  your  cause. 


404  WAVEELEY  NOVELS 

when  it  is  desperate  in  the  eyes  of  all  wise  men,  were  impi- 
ous madness/^ 

'^  Is  my  cause,  then,  so  desperate  ?  "  said  Ferrand  ;  for- 
give me  if  I  was  not  aware  of  it.  And  does  my  aunt  Margaret 
say  this,  whose  strength  of  mind  supported  Lancaster  so 
long,  after  the  spirits  of  her  warriors  had  been  quelled  by 
defeat  ?  What — forgive  me,  for  my  cause  must  be  pleaded 
— what  would  you  have  said  had  my  mother  Yolande  been 
capable  to  advise  her  father  to  disown  your  own  Edward, 
had  God  permitted  him  to  reach  Provence  in  safety  ?  " 

''  Edward,"  said  Margaret,  weeping  as  she  spoke,  ^'  was 
incapable  of  desiring  his  friends  to  espouse  a  quarrel  that 
was  irremediable.  His,  too,  was  a  cause  for  which  mighty 
princes  and  peers  laid  lance  in  rest." 

'^  Yet  Heaven  blessed  it  not "  said  Vaudemont. 

'•Thine,"  continued  Margaret,  "is  but  embraced  by  the 
robber  nobJes  of  Germany,  the  upstart  burghers  of  the 
Ehine  cities,  the  paltry  and  clownish  confederates  of  the 
cantons." 

"  But  Heaven  has  Messed  it,''  replied  Vaudemont.  '*  Know, 
proud  woman,  that  I  come  to  interrupt  your  treacherous  in- 
trigues— no  petty  adventurer,  subsisting  and  maintaining 
warfare  by  sleight  rather  than  force,  but  a  conqueror  from  a 
bloody  field  of  battle,  in  which  Heaven  has  tamed  the  pride 
of  the  tyrant  of  Burgundy." 

''It  is  false  ! "  said  the  Queen,  starting.  "  I  believe  it 
not." 

"  It  is  true,"  said  De  Vaudemont,  "  as  true  as  Heaven  is 
above  us.  It  is  four  days  since  I  left  the  field  of  Granson, 
heaped  with  Burgundy^s  mercenaries  ;  his  wealth,  his  jewels, 
his  plate,  his  magnificent  decorations,  the  prize  of  the  poor 
Swiss,  who  scarce  can  tell  their  value.  Know  you  this. 
Queen  Margaret  ?  "  continued  the  young  soldier,  showing 
the  well-known  jewel  which  decorated  the  Duke's  order  of 
the  Golden  Fleece  ;  "  think  you  not  the  lion  was  closely 
hunted  when  he  left  such  trophies  as  these  behind  him  ?  " 

Margaret  looked  with  dazzled  eyes  and  bewildered  thoughts 
upon  a  token  which  confirmed  the  Duke's  defeat,  and  the  ex- 
tinction of  her  last  hopes.  Her  father,  on  the  contrary, 
was  struck  with  the  heroism  of  the  young  warrior — a  quality 
which  except  as  it  existed  in  his  daughter  Margaret,  had,  he 
feared,  taken  leave  of  his  family.  Admiring  in  his  heart 
the  youth  who  exposed  himself  to  danger  for  the  meed  of 
praise  almost  as  much  as  he  did  the  poets  by  whom  the  war- 
rior's fame  is  rendered  immortal,  he  hugged  his  grandson  to 


ANNE  OF  GEIEESTEIN  405 

his  bosom,  bidding  him  ''  gird  on  his  sword  in  strength," 
and  assuring  him,  if  money  could  advance  his  affairs,  he, 
King  Rene,  could  command  ten  thousand  crowns,  any  part, 
or  the  whole,  of  which  was  at  Ferraud^s  command  ;  thus 
giving  proof  of  what  had  been  said  of  him,  that  his  head  was 
incapable  of  containing  two  ideas  at  the  same  time. 

We  return  to  Arthur,  who,  with  the  Queen  of  England's 
secretary,  Mordaunt,  had  been  not  a  little  surprised  by  the 
entrance  of  the  Count  de  Vaudemont,  calling  himself  Duke 
of  Lorraine,  into  the  ante-room,  in  which  they  kept  a  kind 
of  guard,  followed  by  a  tall  strong  Swiss,  with  a  huge  hal- 
berd over  his  shoulder.  The  prince  naming  himself,  Arthur 
did  not  think  it  becoming  to  oppose  his  entrance  to  the  pres- 
ence of  his  grandfather  and  aunt,  especially  as  it  was  obvious 
that  his  opposition  must  have  created  an  affray.  In  the 
huge  staring  halberdier,  who  had  sense  enough  to  remain  in 
the  ante-room,  Arthur  was  not  a  little  surprised  to  recognize 
Sigismund  Biederman,  who,  after  staring  wildly  at  him  for 
a  moment,  like  a  dog  which  suddenly  recognizes  a  favorite, 
rushed  up  to  the  young  Englishman  with  a  wild  cry  of  glad- 
ness, and  in  hurried  accents  told  him  how  happy  he  was  to 
meet  with  him,  and  that  he  had  matters  of  importance  to 
tell  him.  It  was  at  no  time  easy  for  Sigismund  to  arrange 
his  ideas,  and  now  they  were  altogether  confused  by  the 
triumphant  joy  which  he  expressed  for  the  recent  victory  of 
his  countrymen  over  the  Duke  of  Burgundy ;  and  it  was 
with  wonder  that  Arthur  heard  his  confused  and  rude,  but 
faithful,  tale. 

"  Look  you.  King  Arthur,  the  Duke  had  come  up  with 
his  huge  army  as  far  as  Granson,  which  is  near  the  outlet  of 
the  great  lake  of  Neufchatel.  There  were  five  or  six  hun- 
dred Confederates  in  the  place,  and  they  held  it  till  provis- 
ions failed,  and  then  you  know  they  were  forced  to  give 
it  over.  But,  though  hunger  is  hard  to  bear,  they  had  bet- 
ter have  borne  it  a  day  or  two  longer,  for  the  butcher  Charles 
hung  them  all  up  by  the  neck,  upon  trees  round  the  place  ; 
and  there  was  no  swallowing  for  them,  you  know,  after  such 
usage  as  that.  Meanwhile,  all  was  busy  on  our  hills,  and 
every  man  that  had  a  sword  or  lance  accoutered  himself  with 
it.  We  met  at  Neufchatel,  and  some  Germans  joined  us 
with  the  noble  Duke  of  Lorraine.  Ah,  King  Arthur,  there 
is  a  leader  !  we  aU  think  him  second  but  to  Rudolph  of 
Donnerhugel.  You  saw  him  even  now — it  was  he  that  went 
into  that  room  ;  and  you  saw  him  before — it  is  he  that  was 
the  Blue  Knight  of  Bdle  ;  but  we  called  him  Laurenz  then. 


406  WAVEBLET  NOVELS 

for  Rndolpli  said  his  presence  among  us  must  not  be  known 
to  our  father,  and  I  did  not  know  myself  at  that  time  who 
he  really  was.  Well,  when  we  came  to  Neufchatel  we  were  a 
goodly  company  :  we  were  fifteen  thousand  stout  Confeder- 
ates, and  of  others,  Germans  and  Lorraine  men,  I  will  war- 
rant you  five  thousand  more.  We  heard  that  the  Burgundian 
was  sixty  thousand  in  the  field  ;  but  we  heard,  at  the  same 
time,  that  Charles  had  hung  up  our  brethren  like  dogs,  and 
the  man  was  not  among  us — among  the  Confederates,  I  mean 
— who  would  stay  to  count  heads,  when  the  question  was  te 
avenge  them.  I  would  you  could  have  heard  the  roar  of  fif- 
teen thousand  Swiss  demanding  to  be  led  against  the  butcher 
of  their  brethren  !  My  father  himself,  who,  you  know,  is  usu- 
ally so  eager  for  peace,  now  gave  the  first  voice  for  battle  ; 
so,  in  the  gray  of  the  morning,  we  descended  the  lake  towards 
Granson,  with  tears  in  our  eyes  and  weapons  in  our  hands, 
determined  to  have  death  or  vengeance.  We  came  to  a  sort 
of  strait,  between  Vauxmoreux  and  the  lake ;  there  were 
horse  on  the  level  ground  between  the  mountain  and  the  lake, 
and  a  large  body  of  infantry  on  the  side  of  the  hill.  The 
Duke  of  Lorraine  and  his  followers  engaged  the  horse,  while 
we  climbed  the  hill  to  dispossess  the  infantry.  It  was  with  us 
the  affair  of  a  moment.  Every  man  of  us  was  at  home  among 
the  crags,  and  Charleses  men  were  stuck  among  them  as  thou 
wert,  Arthur,  when  thou  didst  first  come  to  Geierstein.  But 
there  were  no  kind  maidens  to  lend  them  their  hands  to  help 
them  down.  No — no,  there  were  pikes,  clubs,  and  halberds, 
many  a  one,  to  dash  and  thrust  them  from  places  where  they 
could  hardly  keep  their  feet  had  there  been  no  one  to  disturb 
them.  So  the  horsemen,  pushed  by  the  Lorrainers,  and  see- 
ing us  upon  their  fianks,  fled  as  fast  as  their  horses  could  carry 
them.  Then  we  drew  together  again  on  a  fair  field,  which  is 
buon  campagna,  as  the  Italian  says,  where  the  hills  retire  from 
the  lake.  But  lo  you,  we  had  scarce  arrayed  our  ranks,  when 
we  heard  such  a  din  and  clash  of  instruments,  such  a  trample 
of  their  great  horses,  such  a  shouting  and  crying  of  men,  as 
if  all  the  soldiers,  and  all  the  minstrels,  in  France  and  Ger- 
many, were  striving  which  should  make  the  loudest  noise. 
Then  there  was  a  huge  cloud  of  dust  approaching  us,  and 
we  began  to  see  we  must  do  or  die,  for  this  was  Charles  and 
his  whole  army  come  to  support  his  vanguard.  A  blast  from 
the  mountain  dispersed  the  dust,  for  they  had  halted  to  pre- 
pare for  battle.  0,  good  Arthur,  you  would  have  given  ten 
years  of  life  but  to  have  seen  the  sight  !  There  were  thou- 
sands of  horse  all  in  complete  array,  glancing  against  the 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  407 

sun,  and  hundreds  of  knights  with  crowns  of  gold  and  silver 
on  their  helments,  and  thick  masses  of  spears  on  foot,  and 
cannon,  as  they  call  them.  I  did  not  know  what  things 
they  were  which  they  drew  on  heavily  with  bullocks  and 
placed  before  their  army,  but  I  knew  more  of  them  before 
the  morning  was  over.  Well,  we  were  ordered  to  draw  up 
in  a  hollow  square,  as  we  are  taught  at  exercise,  and  before 
we  pushed  forwards,  we  were  commanded,  as  is  the  godly 
rule  and  guise  of  our  warfare,  to  kneel  down  and  pray  to 
God,  Our  Lady,  and  the  blessed  saints  ;  and  we  afterwards 
learned  that  Charles,  in  his  arrogance,  thought  we  asked  for 
mercy.  Ha  !  ha  !  ha  !  a  proper  jest.  If  my  father  once  knelt 
to  him,  it  was  for  the  sake  of  Christian  blood  and  godly 
peace  ;  but  on  the  field  of  battle,  Arnold  Biederman  would 
not  have  knelt  to  him  and  his  whole  chivalry,  though  he  had 
stood  alone  with  his  sons  on  that  field.  Well,  but  Charles, 
supposing  we  asked  grace,  was  determined  to  show  us  that 
we  had  asked  it  at  a  graceless  face,  for  he  cried,  '  Fire  my 
cannon  on  the  coward  slaves  ;  it  is  all  the  mercy  they  have 
to  expect  from  me  !*  Bang — bang — bang — off  went  the 
things  I  told  you  of,  like  thunder  and  lightning ;  and  some 
mischief  they  did,  but  the  less  that  we  were  kneeling,  and 
the  saints  doubtless  gave  the  huge  balls  a  hoist  over  the 
heads  of  those  who  were  asking  grace  from  them,  but  from 
no  mortal  creatures.  So  we  had  the  signal  to  rise  and  rush 
on,  and  I  promise  you  there  were  no  sluggards.  Every  man 
felt  ten  men's  strength.  My  halberd  is  no  child's  toy — if  you 
have  forgotten  it,  there  it  is — and  yet  it  trembled  in  my 
grasp  as  if  it  had  been  a  willow  wand  to  drive  cows  with. 
On  we  went,  when  suddenly  the  cannon  were  silent,  and  the 
earth  shook  with  another  and  continued  growl  and  battering, 
like  thunder  under  ground.  It  was  the  men-at-arms  rush- 
ing to  charge  us.  But  our  leaders  knew  their  trade,  and  had 
seen  such  a  sight  before  ;  it  was,  '  Halt,  halt — kneel  down  in 
the  front — stoop  in  the  second  rank — close  shoulder  to 
shoulder  like  brethren — lean  all  spears  forward  and  receive 
them  like  an  iron  wall  ! '  On  they  rushed,  and  there  was  a 
rending  of  lances  that  would  have  served  the  Unterwalden 
old  women  with  splinters  of  firewood  for  a  twelvemonth. 
Down  went  armed  horses — down  went  accoutered  knight — 
down  went  banner  and  bannerman — down  went  peaked  boot 
and  crowned  helmet,  and  of  those  who  fell  not  a  man  escaped 
with  life.  So  they  drew  off  in  confusion,  and  were  getting 
in  order  to  charge  again,  when  the  noble  Duke  Ferrand  and 
his  horsemen  dashed  at  them  in  their  own  way,  and  we  moved 


408  WA  VERLEY  NO  VELS 

onward  to  support  him.  Thus  on  we  pressed,  and  the  foot 
hardly  waited  for  us,  seeing  their  cavalry  so  handled.  Then 
if  you  had  seen  the  dust  and  heard  the  blows  !  The  noise  of 
a  hundred  thousand  thrashers,  the  flight  of  the  chaff  which 
they  drive  about,  would  be  but  a  type  of  it.  On  my  word,  I 
almost  thought  it  shame  to  dash  about  my  halberd,  the  rout 
was  so  helplessly  piteous.  Hundreds  were  slain  unresisting, 
and  the  whole  army  was  in  complete  flight.'^ 

*'  My  father — my  father  !  "  exclaimed  Arthur  ;  '^  in  such 
a  route,  what  can  have  become  of  him  ?" 

"He  escaped  safely, ^■'  said  the  Swiss  —  "fled  with 
Charles." 

"It  must  have  been  a  bloody  field  ere  he  fled,"  replied  the 
Englishman. 

"  Nay,"  answered  Sigismund,  "he  took  no  part  in  the 
fight,  but  merely  remained  by  Charles  ;  and  prisoners  said 
it  was  well  for  us,  for  that  he  is  a  man  of  great  counsel  and 
action  in  the  wars.  And  as  to  flying,  a  man  in  such  a  mat- 
ter must  go  back  if  he  cannot  press  forward,  and  there  is  no 
shame  in  it,  especially  if  you  be  not  engaged  in  your  own 
person." 

As  he  spoke  thus,  their  conversation  was  interrupted  b}^ 
Mordaunt,  with  "  Hush — hush,  the  King  and  Queen  come 
forth." 

"  What  am  I  to  do  ?  "  said  Sigismund,  in  some  alarm. 
"  I  care  not  for  the  Duke  of  Lorraine  ;  but  what  am  I  to  do 
when  kings  and  queens  enter  ?  " 

"  Do  nothing  but  rise,  unbonnet  yourself,  and  be  silent." 

Sigismund  did  as  he  was  directed. 

King  Rene  came  forth  arm  in  arm  with  his  grandson  ;  and 
Margaret  followed,  with  deep  disappointment  and  vexation 
on  her  brow.  She  signed  to  Arthur  as  she  passed,  and  said 
to  him — "  Make  thyself  master  of  the  truth  of  this  most  un- 
expected news,  and  bring  the  particulars  to  me.  Mordaunt 
will  introduce  thee." 

She  then  cast  a  look  on  the  young  Swiss,  and  replied 
courteously  to  his  awkward  salutation.  The  royal  party 
then  left  the  room,  Ren6  bent  on  carrying  his  grandson  to 
the  sporting-party,  which  had  been  interrupted,  and  Mar- 
garet to  seek  the  solitude  of  her  private  apartment,  and 
await  the  confirmation  of  what  she  regarded  as  evil  tidings. 

They  were  no  sooner  passed,  than  Sigismund  observed— 
"  And  so  that  is  a  king  and  queen  !  Peste  !  the  King  looks 
somewhat  like  old  Jacomo,  the  violer,  that  used  to  scrape  on 
the  fiddle  to  us  when  he  came  to  Geierstein  in  his  rounds. 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  409 

But  the  Queen  is  a  stately  creature.  The  chief  cow  of  the 
herd,  who  carries  the  bouquets  and  garlands,  and  leads  the 
rest  to  the  chalet,  has  not  a  statelier  pace.  And  how  deftly 
you  approached  her  and  spoke  to  her  !  I  could  not  have 
done  it  with  so  much  grace.  But  it  is  like  that  you  have 
served  apprentice  to  the  court  trade  ? '' 

'^  Leave  that  for  the  present,  good  Sigismund,^'  answered 
Arthur,  ''  and  tell  me  more  of  this  battle." 

^'  By  St.  Mary,  but  I  must  have  some  victuals  and  drink 
first,"  said  Sigismund,  ''  if  your  credit  in  this  fine  place 
reaches  so  far." 

'^  Doubt  it  not,  Sigismund,"  said  Arthur  ;  and,  by  the  in« 
tervention  of  Mordaunt,  he  easily  procured,  in  a  more  retired 
apartment,  a  collation  and  wine,  to  which  the  young  Bieder- 
man  did  great  honor,  smacking  his  lips  with  much  gusto 
after  the  delicious  wines,  to  which,  in  spite  of  his  father^s 
ascetic  precepts,  his  palate  was  beginning  to  be  consider- 
ably formed  and  habituated.  When  he  found  himself  alone 
with  a  flask  of  cote  roti  and  a  biscuit,  and  his  friend  Arthur, 
he  was  easily  led  to  continue  his  tale  of  conquest. 

"  Well — where  was  I  ?  Oh,  where  w^e  broke  their  infantry 
— -vvell — they  never  rallied,  and  fell  into  greater  confusion 
at  every  step — and  we  might  have  slaughtered  one  half  of 
them,  had  we  not  stopped  to  examine  Charles's  camp.  Mercy 
on  us,  Arthur,  what  a  sight  was  there  !  Every  pavilion  was 
full  of  rich  clothes,  splendid  armor,  and  great  dishes  and 
flagons,  which  some  men  said  were  of  silver ;  but  I  knew 
there  was  not  so  much  silver  in  the  world,  and  was  sure  they 
must  be  of  pewter,  rarely  burnished.  Here  there  were  hosts 
of  laced  lackeys,  and  grooms,  and  pages,  and  as  many  at- 
tendants as  there  were  soldiers  in  the  army  ;  and  thousands, 
for  what  I  knew,  of  pretty  maidens.  By  the  same  token, 
both  menials  and  maidens  placed  themselves  at  the  disposal 
of  the  victors  ;  but  I  promise  you  that  my  father  was  right 
severe  on  any  who  would  abuse  the  rights  of  war.  But  some 
of  our  young  men  did  not  mind  him,  till  he  taught  them 
obedience  with  the  staff  of  his  halberd.  Well,  Arthur,  there 
was  fine  plundering,  for  the  Germans  and  French  that  were 
with  us  rifled  everything,  and  some  of  our  men  followed  the 
example — it  is  very  catching.  So  I  got  into  Charles's  own 
pavilion,  where  Eudolph  and  some  of  his  people  were  trying 
to  keep  out  every  one,  that  he  might  have  the  spoiling  of  it 
himself,  I  think ;  but  neither  he  nor  any  Bernese  of  them 
all  dared  lay  truncheon  over  my  pate  ;  so  I  entered,  and  saw 
them  putting  piles  of  pewter-trenchers,  so  clean  as  to  look 


410  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

like  silver,  into  chests  and  trunks.  I  pressed  through  them 
into  the  inner  place,  and  there  was  Charleses  pallet-bed — I 
I  will  do  him  justice,  it  was  the  only  hard  one  in  his  camp 
— and  there  were  fine  sparkling  stones  and  pebbles  lying 
about  among  gauntlets,  boots,  vambraces,  and  such-like  gear. 
So  I  thought  of  your  father  and  you,  and  looked  for  some- 
thing, when  what  should  I  see  but  my  old  friend  here  (here 
he  drew  Queen  Margaret's  necklace  from  his  bosom),  which 
I  knew,  because  you  remember  I  recovered  it  from  the 
scliarfgerichter  at  Brisach.  '  Oho  !  you  pretty  sparklers,' 
said  1,  ^you  shall  be  Burgundian  no  longer,  but  go  back  ^to 
my  honest  English  friends,'  and  therefore " 

•'It  is  of  immense  value,''  said  Arthur,  "and  belongs  not 
to  my  father  or  to  me,  but  to  the  queen  you  saw  but  now." 

"And  she  will  become  it  rarely,"  answered  Sigismund. 
"Were  she  but  a  score,  or  a  score  and  a  half,  years  younger, 
she  were  a  gallant  wife  for  a  Swiss  landholder.  I  would 
warrant  her  to  keep  his  household  in  high  order." 

"  She  will  reward  thee  liberally  for  recovering  her  prop- 
erty," said  Arthur,  scarce  suppressing  a  smile  at  the  idea 
of  the  proud  Margaret  becoming  the  housewife  of  a  Swiss 
shepherd. 

"  How — reward  !"  said  the  Swiss.  "Bethink  thee  I  am 
Sigismund  Biederman,  the  son  of  the  Landamman  of  Unter- 
walden.  I  am  not  a  base  lanzknecht,  to  be  paid  for  cour- 
tesy with  piastres.  Let  her  grant  me  a  kind  word  of  thanks, 
or  the  matter  of  a  kiss,  and  I  am  well  contented." 

"  A  kiss  of  her  hand,  perhaps,"  said  Arthur,  again  smil- 
ing at  his  friend's  simplicity. 

"Umph,  the  hand  !  Well,  it  may  do  for  a  queen  of  some 
fifty  years  and  odd,  but  would  be  poor  homage  to  a  Queen  of 
May." 

Archur  here  brought  back  the  youth  to  the  subject  of  his 
battle,  and  learned  that  the  slaughter  of  the  Duke's  forces 
in  the  flight  had  been  in  no  degree  equal  to  the  importance 
of  the  action. 

"Many  rode  off  on  horseback,"  said  Sigismund;  "and 
our  German  reiters  flew  on  the  spoil,  when  they  should  have 
followed  the  chase.  And  besides,  to  speak  the  truth, 
Charles's  camp  delayed  our  very  selves  in  the  pursuit ;  but 
had  we  gone  half  a  mile  further,  and  seen  our  friends  hang- 
ing on  trees,  not  a  Confederate  would  have  stopped  from  the 
chase  while  he  had  limbs  to  carry  him  in  pursuit." 

"  And  what  has  become  of  the  Duke  ?" 

"  Charles  has  retreated  into  Burgundy,  like  a  boar  who 


ANNE  OF  GEIEBSTEIN  411 

has  felt  the  tonch  of  the  spear,  and  is  more  enraged  than 
hurt ;  but  is,  they  say,  sad  and  sulky.  Others  report  that 
he  has  collected  all  his  scattered  army,  and  immense  forces 
besides,  and  has  screwed  his  subjects  to  give  him  money,  so 
that  we  may  expect  another  brush.  But  all  Switzerland 
will  join  us  after  such  a  victory/^ 

"  And  my  father  is  with  him  ^"  said  Arthur. 

*'  Truly  he  is,  and  has  in  a  right  godly  manner  tried  to 
set  afoot  a  treaty  of  peace  with  my  own  father.  But  it  will 
scarce  succeed.  Charles  is  as  mad  as  ever  ;  and  our  people 
are  right  proud  of  our  victory,  and  so  they  well  may. 
Nevertheless,  my  father  forever  preaches  that  such  victories, 
and  such  heaps  of  wealth,  will  change  our  ancient  man- 
ners, and  that  the  plowman  will  leave  his  labor  to  turn 
soldier.  He  says  much  about  it  ;  but  why  money,  choice 
meat  and  wine,  and  fine  clothing  should  do  so  much  harm, 
I  cannot  bring  my  poor  brains  to  see.  And  many  better 
heads  than  mine  are  as  much  puzzled.  Here's  to  you,  friend 
Arthur.     This  is  choice  liquor.'^ 

*'  And  what  brings  you  and  your  general.  Prince  Ferrand, 
post  to  Nancy  [Aix]  ?  "  said  the  young  Englishman. 

*'  Faith,  you  are  yourself  the  cause  of  our  journey. '* 

''I  the  cause?"  said  Arthur.  *^' Why,  how  could  that 
be?" 

''  Why,  it  is  said  you  and  Queen  Margaret  are  urging  this 
old  fiddling  King  Kene  to  yield  uj)  his  territories  to  Charles, 
and  to  disown  Ferrand  in  his  claim  upon  Lorraine.  And 
the  Duke  of  Lorraine  sent  a  man  that  you  know  well — that 
is,  you  do  not  know  Mm,  but  you  know  some  of  his  family, 
and  he  knows  more  of  you  than  you  wot — to  put  a  spoke  in 
your  wheel,  and  prevent  your  getting  for  Charles  the  county 
of  Provence,  or  preventing  Ferrand  being  troubled  or  trav- 
ersed in  his  natural  rights  over  Lorraine." 

''  On  my  word,  Sigismund,  I  cannot  comprehend  you," 
said  Arthur. 

*'  Well,"  replied  the  Swiss,  "  my  lot  is  a  hard  one.  All 
our  house  say  that  I  can  comprehend  nothing,  and  I  shall 
be  next  told  t?iat  nobody  can  comprehend  me.  Well,  in 
plain  language,  I  mean  my  uncle.  Count  Albert,  as  he  calls 
himself,  of  Geierstein — my  father's  brother." 

"Anne  of  Geierstein's  father  ! "  echoed  Arthur. 

"  Ay,  truly  ;  I  thought  we  should  find  some  mark  to  make 
you  know  him  by." 

"  But  I  never  saw  him." 

"  Ay,   but  you  have  though.     An  able  man  he  is,  and 


412  WA  VERLEY  NO VELS 

knows  more  of  every  man's  business  than  the  man  does  him- 
self. Oh  !  it  was  not  for  nothing  that  he  married  the 
daughter  of  a  salamander  ! " 

"Pshaw,  Sigismund,  how  can  you  believe  that  non- 
sense ?  "  answered  Arthur. 

"'  Rudolph  told  me  you  were  as  much  bewildered  as  I  was 
that  night  at  Graffslust/'  answered  the  Swiss. 

"  If  I  were  so,  I  was  the  greater  ass  for  my  pains,"  an- 
swered Arthur. 

''  Well,  but  this  uncle  of  mine  has  got  some  of  the  old 
conjuring  books  from  the  library  at  Arnheim,  and  they  say 
he  can  pass  from  place  to  place  with  more  than  mortal  speed  ; 
and  that  he  is  helped  in  his  designs  by  mightier  counselors 
than  mere  men.  Always,  however,  though  so  able  and 
highly  endowed,  his  gifts,  whether  coming  from  a  lawful  or 
unlawful  quarter,  bring  him  no  abiding  advantage.  He  is 
eternally  plunged  into  strife  and  danger.'' 

'^  I  know  few  particulars  of  his  life,"  said  Arthur,  dis- 
guising as  much  as  he  could  his  anxiety  to  hear  more  of 
him  ;  "  but  I  have  heard  that  he  left  Switzerland  to  join 
the  Emperor." 

"  True,"  answered  the  young  Swiss,  "  and  married  the 
young  Baroness  of  Arnheim  ;  but  afterwards  he  incurred  my 
namesake's  imperial  displeasure,  and  not  less  that  of  the 
Duke  of  Austria.  They  say  you  cannot  live  in  Rome  and 
strive  with  the  Pope  ;  so  my  uncle  thought  it  best  to  cross 
the  Rhine,  and  betake  himself  to  Charles's  court,  who  will- 
ingly received  noblemen  from  all  countries,  so  that  they 
had  good  sounding  names,  with  the  title  of  count,  marquis, 
baron,  or  such-like,  to  march  in  front  of  them.  So  my 
uncle  was  most  kindly  received  ;  but  within  this  year  or 
two  all  this  friendship  has  been  broken  up.  Uncle  Albert 
obtained  a  great  lead  in  some  mysterious  societies,  of  which 
Charles  disapproved,  and  set  so  hard  at  my  poor  uncle, 
that  he  was  fain  to  take  orders  and  shave  his  hair,  rather 
than  lose  his  head.  But,  though  he  cut  off  his  hair,  his 
brain  remains  as  busy  as  ever  ;  and  although  the  Duke  suf- 
fered him  to  beat  large,  yet  he  found  him  so  often  in  his 
way,  that  all  men  believed  he  waited  but  an  excuse  for  seiz- 
ing upon  him  and  putting  him  to  death.  But  my  uncle 
persists  that  he  fears  not  Charles  ;  and  that,  duke  as  he  is, 
Charles  has  more  occasion  to  be  afraid  of  him.  And  so  you 
saw  how  boldly  be  played  his  part  at  La  Ferette." 

*'  By  St.  George  of  Windsor,''  exclaimed  Arthur,  '*  the 
black  priest  of  St.  Paul's  1*' 


ANNE  OF  GEIEESTEIN  413 

'*  Oh  ho  !  you  understand  me  now.  Well,  he  took  it  upon 
him  that  Charles  would  not  dare  to  punish  him  for  his  share 
in  De  Hagenbach's  death ;  and  no  more  did  he,  although 
uncle  Albert  sat  and  voted  in  the  Estates  of  Burgundy,  and 
stirred  them  up  all  he  could  to  refuse  giving  Charles  the 
money  he  asked  of  them.  But  when  the  Swiss  war  broke 
out,  uncle  Albert  became  assured  his  being  a  clergyman 
would  be  no  longer  his  protection,  and  that  the  Duke  in- 
tended to  have  him  accused  of  corresponding  with  his  brother 
and  countrymen  ;  and  so  he  appeared  suddenly  in  Ferrand^'s 
camp  at  Neufchatel,  and  sent  a  message  to  Charles  that  he 
renounced  his  allegiance,  and  bid  him  defiance.^' 

"  A  singular  story  of  an  active  and  versatile  man,"  said 
the  young  Englishman. 

*'  Oh,  you  may  seek  the  world  for  a  man  like  uncle 
Albert.  Then  he  knows  everything ;  and  he  told  Duke 
Ferrand  what  you  were  about  here,  and  offered  to  go  and 
bring  more  certain  information  ;  ay,  though  he  left  the  Swiss 
camp  but  five  or  six  days  before  the  battle,  and  the  distance 
between  Aries*  and  Neufchatel  be  four  hundred  miles  com- 
plete, yet  he  met  him  on  his  return,  when  Duke  Ferrand, 
with  me  to  show  him  the  way,  was  hastening  hitherward, 
having  set  off  from  the  very  field  of  battle." 

"  Met  him  ! "  said  Arthur.  ''  Met  whom  ?  Met  the  black 
priest  of  St.  Paul's?" 

''Ay,  I  mean  so,"  replied  Sigismund ;  "but  he  was 
habited  as  a  Carmelite  monk." 

"  A  Carmelite  ! "  said  Arthur,  a  sudden  light  flashing  on 
him  ;  ''  and  I  was  so  blind  as  to  recommend  his  services  to 
the  Queen  !  I  remember  well  that  he  kept  his  face  much 
concealed  in  his  cowl ;  and  I,  foolish  beast,  to  fall  so  grossly 
into  the  snare  !  And  yet  perhaps  it  is  as  well  the  transac- 
tion was  interrupted,  since  I  fear,  if  carried  successfully 
through,  all  must  have  been  disconcerted  by  this  astounding 
defeat." 

Their  conversation  had  thus  far  proceeded,  when  Mor- 
daunt,  appearing,  summoned  Arthur  to  his  royal  mistress's 
apartment.  In  that  gay  palace,  a  gloomy  room,  whose  win- 
dows looked  upon  some  part  of  the  ruins  of  the  Eoman 
edifice,  but  excluded  every  other  object,  save  broken  walls 
and  tottering  columns,  was  the  retreat  which  Margaret  had 
chosen  for  her  own.     She  received  Albert  [Arthur]  with  a 

*  [Should  be  Aix ;  the  true  distance  from  Neuf chatel  to  Aix  is 
about  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles.] 


414  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

kindness  more  touching  that  it  was  the  inmate  of  so  proud 
and  fiery  a  disposition — of  a  heart  assailed  with  many  woes, 
and  feeling  them  severely. 

"  Alas,  poor  Arthur  ! "  she  said,  '^  thy  life  begins  where 
thy  father^s  threatens  to  end,  in  useless  labor  to  save  a  sink- 
ing vessel.  The  rushing  leak  pours  in  its  waters  faster  than 
human  force  can  lighten  or  discharge.  All — all  goes  wrong 
when  our  unhappy  cause  becomes  connected  with  it. 
Strength  becomes  weakness,  wisdom  folly,  and  valor  coward- 
ice. The  Duke  of  Burgundy,  hitherto  victorious  in  all  his 
bold  undertakings,  has  but  to  entertain  the  momentary 
thought  of  yielding  succor  to  Lancaster,  and  behold  his 
sword  is  broken  by  a  peasant's  flail ;  and  his  disciplined 
army,  held  to  be  the  finest  in  the  world,  flies  like  chaff  be- 
fore the  wind  ;  while  their  spoils  are  divided  by  renegade 
German  hirelings  and  barbarous  Alpine  shepherds  !  What 
more  hast  thou  learned  of  this  strange  tale  ? '' 

'^  Little,  madam,  but  what  you  have  heard.  The  worst 
additions  are,  that  the  battle  was  shamefully  cowardlike, 
and  completely  lost,  with  every  advantage  to  have  won  it ; 
the  best,  that  the  Burgundian  army  has  been  rather  dispersed 
than  destroyed,  and  that  the  Duke  himself  has  escaped,  and 
is  rallying  his  forces  in  Upper  Burgundy." 

*'  To  sustain  a  new  defeat,  or  engage  in  a  protracted  and 
doubtful  contest,  fatal  to  his  reputation  as  defeat  itself. 
Where  is  thy  father  ?  " 

"  With  the  Duke,  madam,  as  I  have  been  informed, ^^  re- 
plied Arthur. 

'^  Hie  to  him,  and  say  I  charge  him  to  look  after  his  own 
safety,  and  care  no  farther  for  my  interests.  This  last  blow 
has  sunk  mo :  I  am  without  an  ally,  without  a  friend,  with- 
out treasure '* 

'^Not  so,  madam,"  replied  Arthur.  '^  One  piece  of  good 
fortune  has  brought  back  to  your  Grace  this  inestimable 
relic  of  your  fortunes. ''  And  producing  the  precious  neck- 
lace, he  gave  the  history  of  its  recovery. 

''I  rejoice  at  the  chance  which  has  restored  these 
diamonds,"  said  the  Queen,  "  that  in  point  of  gratitude,  at 
least,  I  may  not  be  utterly  bankrupt.  Carry  them  to  your 
father ;  tell  him  my  schemes  are  over,  and  my  heart,  which 
so  long  clung  to  hope,  is  broken  at  last.  Tell  him  the 
trinkets  are  his  own,  and  to  his  own  use  let  him  apply  them. 
They  will  but  poorly  repay  the  noble  earldom  of  Oxford,  lost 
in  the  cause  of  her  who  sends  them." 

''  Royal  madam,"  said  the  youth,  ''  be  assured  my  fathei 


ANNE  OF  GEIEB STEIN  415 

would  sooner  live  by  service  as  a  schwarzreiter  than  become 
a  burden  on  your  misfortunes." 

"  He  never  yet  disobeyed  command  of  mine/'  said  Mar- 
garet ;  ^^  and  this  is  the  last  I  will  lay  upon  him.  If  he  is 
too  rich  or  too  proud  to  benefit  by  his  queen's  behest,  he  will 
find  enough  of  poor  Lancastrians  who  have  fewer  means  or 
fewer  scruples."" 

"  There  is  yet  a  circumstance  I  have  to  communicate/* 
said  Arthur,  and  recounted  the  history  of  Albert  of  Geier- 
stein,  and  the  disguise  of  a  Carmelite  monk. 

'^  Are  you  such  a  fool/'  answered  the  Queen,  "  as  to  sup- 
pose this  man  has  any  supernatural  powers  to  aid  him  in  his 
ambitious  projects  and  his  hasty  journeys  ?  " 

"  No,  madam  ;  but  it  is  whispered  that  the  Count  Albert 
of  Geierstein,  or  this  black  priest  of  St.  Paul's,  is  a  chief 
amongst  the  secret  societies  of  Germany,  which  even  princes 
dread  whilst  they  hate  them  ;  for  the  man  that  can  command 
a  hundred  daggers  must  be  feared  even  by  those  who  rule 
thousands  of  swords." 

*'  Can  this  person,"  said  the  Queen,  "  being  now  a  church- 
man, retain  authority  amongst  those  who  deal  in  life  and 
death  ?     It  is  contrary  to  the  canons." 

"It  would  seem  so,  royal  madam  ;  but  everything  in  these 
dark  institutions  differs  from  what  is  practised  in  the  light 
of  day.  Prelates  are  often  heads  of  a  Vehmique  bench,  and 
the  Archbishop  of  Cologne  exercises  the  dreadful  office  of 
their  chief,  as  Duke  of  Westphalia,  the  principal  region  in 
which  these  societies  flourish.*  Such  privileges  attach  to 
the  secret  influence  of  the  chiefs  of  this  dark  association  as 
may  well  seem  supernatural  to  those  who  are  unapprised  of 
circumstances  of  which  men  shun  to  speak  in  plain  terms." 

"Let  him  be  wizard  or  assassin,"  said  the  Queen,  "I 
thank  him  for  having  contributed  to  interrupt  my  plan  of 
the  old  man's  cession  of  Provence,  which,  as  events  stand, 
would  have  stripped  Eene  of  his  dominions,  without  further- 
ing our  plan  of  invading  England.  Once  more,  be  stirring 
with  the  dawn,  and  bend  thy  way  back  to  thy  father,  and 
charge  him  to  care  for  himself  and  think  no  more  of  me. 
Bretagne,  where  the  heir  of  Lancaster  resides,  will  be  the 
safest  place  of  refuge  for  its  bravest  followers.  Along  the 
Rhine,  the  Invisible  Tribunal,  it  would  seem,  haunts  both 
shores,  and  to  be  innocent  of  ill  is  no  security  ;  even  here 
the  proposed  treaty  with  Burgundy  may  take  air,  and  the 

*See  Head  of  the  Vehmic  Tribunals.     NotelOc 


416  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

Proven9aux  carry  daggers  as  well  as  crooks  and  pipes.  Bui 
I  hear  the  horses  fast  returning  from  the  hawking-party,  and 
the  silly  old  man,  forgetting  all  the  eventful  proceedings  of 
the  day,  whistling  as  he  ascends  the  steps.  Well,  we  will 
soon  part,  and  my  removal  will  be,  I  think,  a  relief  to  him. 
Prepare  for  banquet  and  ball,  for  noise  and  nonsense — above 
all,  to  bid  adieu  to  Aix  with  morning  dawn." 

Thus  dismissed  from  the  Queen^s  presence,  Arthur's  first 
care  was  to  summon  Thiebault  to  have  all  things  in  readi- 
ness for  his  departure  ;  his  next  to  prepare  himself  for  the 
pleasures  of  the  evening,  not  perhaps  so  heavily  affected  by 
the  failure  of  his  negotiation  as  to  be  incapable  of  consola- 
tion in  such  a  scene ;  for  the  truth  was,  that  his  mind 
secretly  revolted  at  the  thoughts  of  the  simple  old  king 
being  despoiled  of  his  dominions  to  further  an  invasion  of 
England,  in  which,  whatever  interest  he  might  have  in  his 
daughter's  rights,  there  was  little  chance  of  success. 

If  such  feelings  were  censurable,  they  had  their  punish- 
ment. Although  few  knew  how  completely  the  arrival  of 
the  Duke  of  Lorraine,  and  the  intelligence  he  brought  with 
him,  had  disconcerted  the  plans  of  Queen  Margaret,  it  was 
well  known  there  had  been  little  love  betwixt  the  Queen  and 
his  mother  Yolande  ;  and  the  young  prince  found  himself  at 
the  head  of  a  numerous  party  in  the  court  of  his  grand- 
father, who  disliked  his  aunt's  haughty  manners,  and  were 
wearied  by  the  unceasing  melancholy  of  her  looks  and  con- 
versation, and  her  undisguised  contempt  of  the  frivolities 
which  passed  around  her.  Ferrand,  besides,  was  young, 
handsome,  a  victor  just  arrived  from  a  field  of  battle,  fought 
gloriously,  and  gained  against  all  chances  to  the  contrary. 
That  he  was  a  general  favorite,  and  excluded  Arthur  Philip- 
son,  as  an  adherent  of  the  unpopular  Queen,  from  the  notice 
her  influence  had  on  a  former  evening  procured  him,  was 
only  a  natural  consequence  of  their  relative  condition.  But 
what  somewhat  hurt  Arthur's  feelings  was  to  see  his  friend 
Sigismund  the  Simple,  as  his  brethren  called  him,  shining 
with  the  reflected  glory  of  the  Duke  Ferrand  of  Lorraine, 
who  introduced  to  all  the  ladies  present  the  gallant  young 
Swiss  as  Count  Sigismund  of  Geierstein.  His  care  had  pro- 
cured for  his  follower  a  dress  rather  more  suitable  for  such 
a  scene  than  the  country  attire  of  the  count,  otherwise 
Sigismund  Biederman. 

For  a  certain  time,  whatever  of  novelty  is  introduced  into 
society  is  pleasing,  though  it  has  nothing  else  to  recommend 
it.    The  Swiss  were  little  known  personally  out  of  their  own 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  411 

country,  but  they  were  much  talked  of ;  it  was  a  recom- 
mendation to  be  of  that  country.  Sigismund's  manners 
were  blunt — a  mixture  of  awkwardness  and  rudeness,  which 
was  termed  frankness  during  the  moment  of  his  favor.  He 
spoke  bad  French  and  worse  Italian  ;  it  gave  naivete  to  all 
he  said.  His  limbs  were  too  bulky  to  be  elegant ;  his  danc- 
ing, for  Count  Sigismund  failed' not  to  dance,  was  the  bound- 
ing and  gamboling  of  a  young  elephant ;  yet  they  were  pre- 
ferred to  the  handsome  proportions  and  courtly  movements 
of  the  youthful  Englishman,  even  by  the  black-eyed  coun- 
tess, in  whose  good  graces  Arthur  had  made  some  progress 
on  the  preceding  evening.  Arthur,  thus  thrown  into  the 
shade,  felt  as  Mr.  Pepys  afterwards  did  when  he  tore  his 
camlet  cloak  :  the  damage  was  not  great,  but  it  troubled 
him. 

Nevertheless,  the  passing  evening  brought  him  some  re- 
venge. There  are  some  works  of  art  the  defects  of  which 
are  not  seen  till  they  are  injudiciously  placed  in  too  strong  a 
light,  and  such  was  the  case  with  Sigismund  the  Simple. 
The  quick-witted  though  fantastic  Proven9aux  soon  found 
out  the  heaviness  of  his  intellect  and  the  extent  of  his  good- 
nature, and  amused  themselves  at  his  expense  by  ironical 
compliments  and  well-veiled  raillery.  It  is  probable  they 
would  have  been  less  delicate  on  the  subject  had  not  the 
Swiss  brought  into  the  dancing-room  along  with  him  his 
eternal  halberd,  the  size,  and  weight,  and  thickness  of  which 
boded  little  good  to  any  one  whom  the  owner  might  detect 
in  the  act  of  making  merry  at  his  expense.  But  Sigismund 
did  no  further  mischief  that  night,  except  that,  in  achiev- 
ing a  superb  entrechat,  he  alighted  with  his  whole  weight  on 
the  miniature  foot  of  his  pretty  partner,  which  he  wellnigh 
crushed  to  pieces. 

Arthur  had  hitherto  avoided  looking  towards  Queen  Mar- 
garet during  the  course  of  the  evening,  lest  he  should  dis- 
turb her  thoughts  from  the  channel  in  which  they  were 
rolling,  by  seeming  to  lay  a  claim  on  her  protection.  But 
there  was  something  so  whimsical  in  the  awkward  physiog- 
nomy of  the  maladroit  Swiss,  that  he  could  not  help  glanc- 
ing an  eye  to  the  alcove  where  the  Queen's  chair  of  state 
was  placed,  to  see  if  she  observed  him.  The  very  first  view 
was  such  as  to  rivet  his  attention.  Margaret^s  head  was  re- 
clined on  the  chair,  her  eyes  scarcely  open,  her  features 
drawn  up  and  pinched,  her  hands  closed  with  effort.  The 
English  lady  of  honor  who  stood  behind  her,  old,  deaf,  and 
dim-sighted,  had  not  discovered  anything  in  her  mistress's 

27 


I 


418  WAV EBLEY  NOVELS 

position  more  than  the  abstracted  and  indifferent  attitude 
with  which  the  Queen  was  wont  to  be  present  in  body  and 
absent  in  mind  during  the  festivities  of  the  Proven9al  court. 
But  when  Arthur,  greatly  alarmed,  came  behind  the  seat  to 
press  her  attention  to  her  mistress,  she  exclaimed,  after  a 
minute's  investigation,  ''^Mother  of  Heaven,  the  Queen  is 
dead  ! "  And  it  was  so.  It  seemed  that  the  last  fiber  of 
life  in  that  fiery  and  ambitious  mind  had,  as  she  herself 
prophesied,  given  way  at  the  same  time  with  the  last  thread 
of  political  hope. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII 

Toll,  toll  the  bell  I 

Greatness  is  o'er, 

The  heart  has  broke, 

To  ache  no  more ; 
An  unsubstantial  pageant  all  1 
Drop  o'er  the  scene  the  funeral  pall. 

Old  Poem, 

The  commotion  and  shrieks  of  fear  and  amazement  which 
were  excited  among  the  ladies  of  the  court  by  an  event  so 
singular  and  shocking  had  begun  to  abate,  and  the  sighs, 
more  serious  though  less  intrusive,  of  the  few  English  at- 
tendants of  the  deceased  queen  began  to  be  heard,  together 
with  the  groans  of  old  King  Rene,  whose  emotions  were  as 
acute  as  they  were  short-lived.  The  leeches  had  held  a  busy 
but  unavailing  consultation,  and  the  body  that  was  once  a 
queen's  was  delivered  to  the  priest  of  St.  Sauveur,  that 
beautiful  church  in  which  the  spoils  of  pagan  temples  hav( 
contributed  to  fill  up  the  magnificence  of  the  Christian  edi- 
fice. The  stately  pile  was  duly  lighted  up,  and  the  funeral 
provided  with  such  splendor  as  Aix  could  supply.  The 
Queen's  papers  being  examined,  it  was  found  that  Margaret, 
by  disposing  of  jewels  and  living  at  small  expense,  had  real- 
ized the  means  of  making  a  decent  provision  for  life  for  her 
very  few  English  attendants.  Her  diamond  necklace,  de- 
scribed  in  her  last  will  as  in  the  hands  of  an  English  merch- 
ant named  John  Philipson,  or  his  son,  or  the  price  thereof, 
if  bj  them  sold  or  pledged,  she  left  to  the  said  John  Philip- 
son  and  his  son  Arthur  Philipson,  with  a  view  to  the  prose- 
cution of  the  design  which  they  had  been  destined  to  ad- 
vance, or,  if  that  should  prove  impossible,  to  their  own  use 
and  profit.  The  charge  of  her  funeral  rites  was  wholly  en- 
trusted to  Arthur,  called  Philipson,  with  a  request  that  they 
should  be  conducted  entirely  after  the  forms  observed  in 
England.  This  trust  was  expressed  in  an  addition  to  her 
will,  signed  the  very  day  on  which  she  died. 

Arthur  lost  no  time  in  despatching  Thiebault  express  to 
his  father  with  a  letter,  explaining,  in  such  terms  as  he 
knew  would  be  understood,  the  tenor  of  all  that  happened 

419 


420  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

since  lie  came  to  Aix,  and  above  all,  the  death  of  Queen 
Margaret. 

Finally,  he  requested  directions  for  his  motions,  since  the 
necessary  delay  occupied  by  the  obsequies  of  a  person  of  such 
eminent  rank  must  detain  him  at  Aix  till  he  should  receive 
them. 

The  old  king  sustained  the  shock  of  his  daughter's  death 
so  easily,  that  on  the  second  day  after  the  event  he  was  en- 
gaged in  arranging  a  pompous  procession  for  the  funeral, 
and  composing  an  elegy,  to  be  sung  to  a  tune  also  of  his 
own  composing,  in  honor  of  the  deceased  queen,  who  was 
likened  to  the  goddesses  of  heathen  mythology,  and  to 
Judith,  Deborah,  and  all  the  other  holy  women,  not  to  men- 
tion the  saints  of  the  Christian  dispensation.  It  cannot  be 
concealed  that,  when  the  first  burst  of  grief  was  over.  King 
Rene  could  not  help  feeling  that  Margaret's  death  cut  a 
political  knot  which  he  might  have  otherwise  found  it  diffi- 
cult to  untie,  and  permitted  him  to  take  open  part  with  his 
grandson,  so  far  indeed  as  to  afford  him  a  considerable  share 
of  the  contents  of  the  Provengal  treasury,  which  amounted 
to  no  larger  sum  than  ten  thousand  crowns.  Ferrand,  hav- 
ing received  the  blessing  of  his  grandfather  in  a  form  which 
his  affairs  rendered  most  important  to  him,  returned  to  the 
resolutes  whom  he  commanded  ;  and  with  him,  after  a  most 
loving  farewell  to  Arthur,  went  the  stout  but  simple  minded 
young  Swiss,  Sigismund  Biederman. 

The  little  court  of  Aix  were  left  to  their  mourning.  King 
Rene,  for  whom  ceremonial  and  show,  whether  of  a  joyful 
or  melancholy  character,  was  always  matter  of  importance, 
would  willingly  have  bestowed  on  solemnizing  the  obsequies 
of  his  daughter  Margaret  what  remained  of  his  revenue,  but 
was  prevented  from  doing  so,  partly  by  remonstrances  from 
his  ministers,  partly  by  the  obstacles  opposed  by  the  young 
Englishman,  who,  acting  upon  the  presumed  will  of  the 
dead,  interfered  to  prevent  any  such  fantastic  exhibitions 
being  produced  at  the  obsequies  of  the  Queen  as  had  dis- 
gusted her  during  her  life. 

The  funeral,  therefore,  after  many  days  had  been  spent 
in  public  prayers  and  acts  of  devotion,  was  solemnized  with 
the  mournful  magnificence  due  to  the  birth  of  the  deceased, 
and  with  which  the  Church  of  Rome  so  well  knows  how  to 
affect  at  once  the  eye,  ear,  and  feelings. 

Amid  the  various  nobles  who  assisted  on  the  solemn  occa- 
sion, there  was  one  who  arrived  just  as  the  tolling  of  the 
great  bells  of  St.  Sauveur  had  announced  that  the  procession 


ANNE  OF  GEIER8TEIN  421 

was  already  on  its  way  to  the  cathedral.  The  stranger  hast- 
ily exchanged  his  traveling-dress  for  a  suit  of  deep  mourning, 
which  was  made  after  the  fashion  proper  to  England.  So 
attired,  he  repaired  to  the  cathedral,  where  the  noble  mien 
of  the  cavalier  imposed  such  respects  on  the  attendants,  that 
he  was  permitted  to  approach  close  to  the  side  of  the  bier  ; 
and  it  was  across  the  coffin  of  the  queen  for  whom  he  had 
acted  and  suffered  so  much  that  the  gallant  Earl  of  Oxford 
exchanged  a  melancholy  glance  with  his  son.  The  assistants, 
especially  the  English  servants  of  Margaret,  gazed  on  them 
both  with  respect  and  wonder,  and  the  elder  cavalier,  in  par- 
ticular, seemed  to  them  no  unapt  representative  of  the  faith- 
ful subjects  of  England,  paying  their  last  duty  at  the  tomb 
of  her  who  had  so  long  swayed  the  scepter,  if  not  faultlessly, 
yet  always  with  a  bold  and  resolved  hand. 

The  last  sound  of  the  solemn  dirge  had  died  away,  and 
almost  all  the  funeral  attendants  had  retired,  when  the 
father  and  son  still  lingered  in  mournful  silence  beside  the 
remains  of  their  sovereign.  The  clergy  at  length  approached 
and  intimated  they  were  about  to  conclude  the  last  duties, 
by  removing  the  body  which  had  been  lately  occupied  and 
animated  by  so  haughty  and  restless  a  spirit  to  the  dust, 
darkness,  and  silence  of  the  vault,  where  the  long-descended 
Counts  of  Provence  awaited  dissolution.  Six  priests  raised 
the  bier  on  their  shoulders,  others  bore  huge  waxen  torches 
before  and  behind  the  body,  as  they  carried  it  down  a  pri- 
vate staircase  which  yawned  in  the  floor  to  admit  their  de- 
scent. The  last  notes  of  the  requiem,  in  which  the  church- 
men joined,  had  died  away  along  the  high  and  fretted  arches 
of  the  cathedral,  the  last  flash  of  light  which  arose  from  the 
mouth  of  the  vault  had  glimmered  and  disappeared,  when 
the  Earl  of  Oxford,  taking  his  son  by  the  arm,  led  him  in 
silence  forth  into  a  small  cloistered  court  behind  the  build- 
ing, where  they  found  themselves  alone.  They  were  silent 
for  a  few  minutes,  for  both,  and  particularly  the  father, 
were  deeply  affected.     At  length  the  Earl  spoke. 

"  And  this,  then,  is  her  end,^'  said  he.  '^  Here,  royal 
lady,  all  that  we  have  planned  and  pledged  life  upon  falls 
to  pieces  with  thy  dissolution  !  The  heart  of  resolution,  the 
head  of  policy  is  gone  ;  and  what  avails  it  that  the  limbs  of 
the  enterprise  still  have  motion  and  life  ?  Alas,  Margaret 
of  Anjou  !  may  Heaven  reward  thy  virtues,  and  absolve  thee 
from  the  consequence  of  thine  errors  !  Both  belonged  to  thy 
station,  and  if  thou  didst  hoist  too  high  a  sail  in  prosperity, 
never  lived  there  princess  who  defied  more  proudly  the  storms 


422  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

of  adversity,  or  bore  up  against  them  with  such  dauntless 
nobility  of  determination.  With  this  event  the  drama  has 
closed,  and  our  parts,  my  son,  are  ended/' 

^'  We  bear  arms,  then,  against  the  infidels,  my  lord  ?  " 
said  Arthur,  with  a  sigh  that  was,  however,  hardly  audible. 

^'  Not,"  answered  the  Earl,  "  until  I  learn  that  Henry  of 
Richmond,  the  undoubted  heir  of  the  house  of  Lancaster, 
has  no  occasion  for  my  services.  In  these  jewels  of  which 
you  wrote  me,  so  strangely  lost  and  recovered,  I  may  be 
able  to  supply  him  with  resources  more  needful  than  either 
your  services  or  mine.  But  I  return  no  more  to  the  camp 
of  the  Duke  of  Burgundy  ;  for  in  him  there  is  no  help.'* 

"  Can  it  be  possible  that  the  power  of  so  great  a  sovereign 
has  been  overthrown  in  one  fatal  battle  ?  "  said  Arthur. 

''  By  no  means,''  replied  his  father.  *'  The  loss  at  Granson 
was  very  great ;  but  to  the  strength  of  Burgundy  it  is  but  a 
scratch  on  the  shoulders  of  a  giant.  It  is  the  spirit  of 
Charles  himself  his  wisdom,  at  least,  and  his  foresight, 
which  have  given  way  under  the  mortification  of  a  defeat  by 
such  as  he  accounted  inconsiderable  enemies,  and  expected 
to  have  trampled  down  with  a  few  squadrons  of  his  men-at- 
arms.  Then  his  temper  is  become  forward,  peevish,  and 
arbitrary,  devoted  to  those  who  flatter  and,  as  there  is  too 
much  reason  to  believe,  betray  him,  and  suspicious  of  those 
counselors  who  give  him  wholesome  advice.  Even  I  have 
had  my  share  of  distrust.  Thou  knowest  I  refused  to  bear 
arms  against  our  late  hosts  the  Swiss,  and  he  saw  in  that  no 
reason  for  rejecting  my  attendance  on  his  march.  But  since 
the  defeat  of  Granson,  I  have  observed  a  strong  and  sudden 
change,  owing,  perhaps,  in  some  degree  to  the  insinuations 
of  Campo-basso,  and  not  a  little  to  the  injured  pride  of  the 
Duke,  who  was  unwilling  that  an  indifferent  person  in  my 
situation,  and  thinking  as  I  do,  should  witness  the  disgrace 
of  his  arms.  He  spoke  in  my  hearing  of  lukewarm  friends, 
cold-blooded  neutrals — of  those  who,  not  being  with  him, 
must  be  against  him.  I  tell  thee,  Arthur  de  Vere,  the  Duke 
has  said  that  which  touched  my  honor  so  nearly,  that  nothing 
but  the  commands  of  Queen  Margaret  and  the  interests  of 
the  house  of  Lancaster  could  have  made  me  remain  in  his 
camp.  That  is  over.  My  royal  mistress  has  no  more  occa- 
sion for  my  poor  services  ;  the  Duke  can  spare  no  aid  to  our 
cause,  and  if  he  could,  we  can  no  longer  dispose  of  the  only 
bribe  which  might  have  induced  him  to  afford  us  succors. 
The  power  of  seconding  his  views  on  Provence  is  buried 
with  Margaret  of  Anjou. 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  423 

*'  What,  then,  is  your  purpose  ?  "  demanded  his  son. 

''I  propose/'  said  Oxford,  ''to  wait  at  the  court  of  King 
Ken6  until  I  can  hear  from  the  Earl  of  Kichmond,  as  we 
must  still  call  him.  I  am  aware  that  banished  men  are  rarely 
welcome  at  the  court  of  a  foreign  prince  ;  but  I  have  been 
the  faithful  follower  of  his  daughter  Margaret.  I  only 
propose  to  reside  in  disguise,  and  desire  neither  notice  nor 
maintenance  ;  so  methinks  King  Rene  will  not  refuse  to 
permit  me  to  breathe  the  air  of  his  dominions,  until  I  learn 
in  what  direction  fortune  or  duty  shall  call  me.*' 

"  Be  assured  he  will  not,''  answered  Arthur.  "  Rene  is 
incapable  of  a  base  or  ignoble  thought ;  and  if  he  could 
despise  trifles  as  he  detests  dishonor,  he  might  be  ranked 
high  in  the  list  of  monarchs.'' 

This  resolution  being  adopted,  the  son  presented  his  father 
at  King  Rene's  court,  whom  he  privately  made  acquainted 
that  he  was  a  man  of  quality,  and  a  distinguished  Lancastrian. 
The  good  king  would  in  his  heart  have  preferred  a  guest  of 
lighter  accomplishments  and  gayer  temper  to  Oxford,  a 
statesman  and  a  soldier  of  melancholy  and  grave  habits. 
The  Earl  was  conscious  of  this,  and  seldom  troubled  his 
benevolent  and  lighthearted  host  with  his  presence.  He  had, 
however,  an  opportunity  of  rendering  the  old  king  a  favor 
of  peculiar  value.  This  was  in  conducting  an  important 
treaty  betwixt  Rene  and  Louis  XL  of  France,  his  nephew. 
Upon  that  c:  afty  monarch  Rene  finally  settled  his  princi- 
pality ;  for  the  necessity  of  extricating  his  affairs  by  such  a 
measure  was  now  apparent  even  to  himself,  every  thought 
of  favoring  Charles  of  Burgundy  in  the  arrangement  having 
died  with  Queen  Margaret.  The  policy  and  wisdom  of  the 
English  earl,  who  was  entrusted  with  almost  the  sole  charge 
of  this  secret  and  delicate  measure,  were  of  the  utmost  ad- 
vantage to  good  King  Rene,  who  was  freed  from  personal 
and  pecuniary  vexations,  and  enabled  to  go  piping  and  tabor- 
ing  to  his  grave.  Louis  did  not  fail  to  propitiate  the  plen- 
ipotentiary, by  throwing  out  distant  hopes  of  aid  to  the 
efforts  of  the  Lancastrian  party  in  England.  A  faint  and 
insecure  negotiation  was  entered  into  upon  the  subject ;  and 
these  affairs,  which  rendered  two  journeys  to  Paris  necessary 
on  the  part  of  Oxford  and  his  son  in  the  spring  and  summer 
of  the  year  1476,  occupied  them  until  that  year  was  half 
spent. 

In  the  meanwhile,  the  wars  of  the  Duke  of  Burgundy  with 
the  Swiss  cantons  and  Count  Ferrand  of  Lorraine  continued 
to  rage.     Before  midsummer  1476,  Charles  had  assembled  a 


h 


424  WAVERLET  NOVELS 

new  army  of  at  least  sixty  thousand  men,  supported  by  one 
hundred  and  fifty  pieces  of  cannon,  for  the  purpose  of  in- 
vading Switzerland,  where  the  warlike  mountaineers  easily 
levied  a  host  of  thirty  thousand  Switzers,  now  accounted 
almost  invincible,  and  called  upon  their  confederates,  the 
Free  Cities  on  the  Rhine,  to  support  them  with  a  powerful 
body  of  cavalry.  The  first  efforts  of  Charles  were  successful. 
He  overran  the  Pays  de  Vaud,  and  recovered  most  of  the 
places  which  he  had  lost  after  the  defeat  at  Granson.  But, 
nistead  of  attempting  to  secure  a  well-defended  frontier,  or, 
what  would  have  been  still  more  politic,  to  achieve  a  peace 
upon  equitable  terms  with  his  redoubtable  neighbors,  this 
most  obstinate  of  princes  resumed  the  purpose  of  penetrating 
into  the  recesses  of  the  Alpine  mountains,  and  chastising 
the  mountaineers  even  within  their  own  strongholds,  though 
experience  might  have  taught  him  the  danger,  nay,  desper- 
ation, of  the  attempt.  Thus  the  news  received  by  Oxford 
and  his  son,  when  they  returned  to  Aix  in  midsummer,  was, 
that  Duke  Charles  had  advanced  to  Morat  (or  Murten), 
situated  upon  a  lake  of  the  same  name,  at  the  very  entrance 
of  Switzerland.  Here  report  said  that  Adrian  de  Bubenberg, 
a  veteran  knight  of  Berne,  commanded  and  maintained  the 
most  obstinate  defense,  in  expectation  of  the  relief  which 
his  countrymen  were  hastily  assembling. 

''  Alas,  my  old  brother-in-arms  !  "  said  the  Earl  to  his  son, 
on  hearing  these  tidings,  '^  this  town  besieged,  these  assaults 
repelled,  this  vicinity  of  an  enemy^s  country,  this  profound 
lake,  these  inaccessible  cliffs,  threaten  a  second  part  of  the 
tragedy  of  Granson,  more  calamitous  perhaps  than  even  the 
former ! " 

On  the  last  week  of  July  [June],  the  capital  of  Provence 
was  agitated  by  one  of  those  unauthorized,  yet  generally  re- 
ceived, rumors  which  transmit  great  events  with  incredible 
swiftness,  as  an  apple  flung  from  hand  to  hand  by  a  number  of 
people  will  pass  a  given  space  infinitely  faster  than  if  borne  by 
the  most  rapid  series  of  expresses.  The  report  announced  a 
second  defeat  of  the  Burgundians,  in  terms  so  exaggerated 
as  induced  the  Earl  of  Oxford  to  consider  the  greater  part, 
if  not  the  whole,  as  a  fabrication. 


CHAPTER  XXXrV 

And  is  the  hostile  troop  arrived, 

And  have  they  won  the  day  ? 
It  must  have  been  a  bloody  field 

Ere  Darwent  fled  away  ! 

The  Ettrick  Shepherd, 

Sleep  did  not  close  the  eyes  of  the  Earl  of  Oxford  or  his 
son  ;  for,  although  the  success  or  defeat  of  the  Duke  of  Bur- 
gundy could  not  now  be  of  importance  to  their  own  private 
or  political  affairs,  yet  the  father  did  not  cease  to  interest 
himself  in  the  fate  of  his  former  companion-in-arms  ;  and 
the  son,  with  the  fire  of  youth,  always  eager  after  novelty,* 
expected  to  find  something  to  advance  or  thwart  his  own 
progress  in  every  remarkable  event  which  agitated  the  world. 

Arthur  had  risen  from  his  bed,  and  was  in  the  act  of 
attiring  himself,  when  the  tread  of  a  horse  arrested  his 
attention.  He  had  no  sooner  looked  out  of  the  window,  than 
exclaiming,  ^'  News,  my  father — news  from  the  army  ! "  he 
rushed  into  the  street,  where  a  cavalier,  who  appeared  to 
have  ridden  very  hard,  was  inquiring  for  the  two  Philipsons, 
father  and  son.  He  had  no  difficulty  in  recognizing  Colvin, 
the  master  of  the  Burgundian  ordnance.  His  ghastly  look 
bespoke  distress  of  mind ;  his  disordered  array  and  broken 
armor,  which  seemed  rusted  with  rain  or  stained  with  blood, 
gave  the  intelligence  of  some  affray  in  which  he  had  probably 
been  worsted ;  and  so  exhausted  was  his  gallant  steed,  that  it 
was  with  difficulty  the  animal  could  stand  upright.  The 
condition  of  the  rider  was  not  much  better.  When  he 
alighted  from  his  horse  to  greet  Arthur,  he  reeled  so  much 
that  he  would  have  fallen  without  instant  support.  His 
horny  eye  had  lost  the  power  of  speculation,  his  limbs  pos- 
sessed imperfectly  that  of  motion,  and  it  was  with  a  half- 
suffocated  voice  that  he  muttered,  "  Only  fatigue — want  of 
rest  and  of  food.^^ 

Arthur  assisted  him  into  the  house,  and  refreshments  were 
procured  ;  but  he  refused  all  except  a  bowl  of  wine,  after 
tasting  which  he  set  it  down,  and  looking  at  the  Earl  of  Ox- 

*  Cupidus  novarum  rerum. 
425 


i26  WA  VEBLET  NOVELS 

ford  with  an  eye  of  the  deepest  affliction,  he  ejaculated,  "  The 
Duke  of  Burgundy  !'' 

*'  Slain  ? ''  replied  the  Earl ;  "  I  trust  not  ! " 

*'  It  might  have  been  better  if  he  were,"  said  the  English- 
man ;  '^but  dishonor  has  come  before  death." 

*' Defeated,  then?"  said  Oxford. 

'^  So  completely  and  fearfully  defeated,"  answered  the  sol- 
dier, '^  that  all  that  I  have  seen  of  loss  before  was  slight  in 
comparison." 

"But  how  or  where?"  said  the  Earl  of  Oxford;  *'you 
were  superior  in  numbers,  as  we  were  informed." 

"Two  to  one  at  least,"  answered  Colvin  ;  "and  when  I 
speak  of  our  encounter  at  this  moment,  I  could  rend  my 
flesh  with  my  teeth  for  being  here  to  tell  such  a  tale  of  sliame. 
We  had  sat  down  for  about  a  week  before  that  paltry  town 
of  Murten,  or  Morat,  or  whatever  it  is  called.  The  gover- 
nor, one  of  those  stubborn  mountain  bears  of  Berne,  bade 
us  defiance.  He  would  not  even  condescend  to  shut  his 
gates,  but,  when  he  summoned  the  town,  returned  for  an- 
swer, we  might  enter  if  we  pleased — we  should  be  suitably 
received.  I  would  have  tried  to  bring  him  to  reason  by  a 
salvo  or  two  of  artillery,  but  the  Duke  was  too  much  irritated 
to  listen  to  good  counsel.  Stimulated  by  that  black  traitor, 
Campo-basso,  he  deemed  it  better  to  run  forward  with  his 
whole  force  upon  a  place  which,  though  I  could  soon  have  bat- 
tered it  about  their  German  ears,  was  yet  too  strong  to  be 
carried  by  swords,  lances,  and  hagbuts.  We  were  beaten  off 
with  great  loss,  and  much  discouragement  to  the  soldiers. 
We  then  commenced  more  regularly,  and  by  batteries  would 
have  brought  these  mad  Switzers  to  their  senses.  Walls  and 
ramparts  went  down  before  the  lusty  cannoneers  of  Bur- 
gundy ;  we  were  well  secured  also  by  intrenchments  against 
those  whom  we  'heard  of  as  approaching  to  raise  the  siege. 
But  on  the  evening  of  the  twentieth  [twenty-first]  of  this 
month,  we  learned  that  they  were  close  at  hand,  and 
Charles,  consulting  only  his  own  bold  spirit,  advanced  to 
meet  them,  relinquishing  the  advantage  of  our  batteries  and 
strong  position.  By  his  orders,  though  against  my  own 
judgment,  I  accompanied  him  with  twenty  good  pieces,  and 
the  flower  of  my  "people.  We  broke  up  on  the  next  morn- 
ing, and  had  not  advanced  far  before  we  saw  the  lances  and 
thick  array  of  halberds  and  two-handed  swords  which 
crested  the  mountain.  Heaven,  too,  added  its  terrors  ;  a 
thunderstorm,  with  all  the  fury  of  those  tempestuous  cli- 
mates, descended  on  both  armies,  but  did  most  annoyance 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  421 

to  ours,  as  our  troops,  especially  the  Italians,  were  more 
sensible  to  the  torrents  of  rain  which  poured  down,  and  the 
rivulets  which,  swelled  into  torrents,  inundated  and  dis- 
ordered  our  position.  The  Duke  for  once  saw  it  necessary 
to  alter  his  purpose  of  instant  battle.  He  rode  up  to  me, 
and  directed  me  to  defend  with  the  cannon  the  retreat 
which  he  was  about  to  commence,  adding,  that  he  himself 
would  in  person  sustain  me  with  the  men-at-arms.  The 
order  was  given  to  retreat.  But  the  movement  gave  new 
spirit  to  an  enemy  already  sufficiently  audacious.  The 
ranks  of  the  Swiss  instantly  prostrated  themselves  in 
prayer — a  practise  on  the  field  of  battle  which  I  have  ridi- 
culed, but  I  will  do  so  no  more.  When,  after  five  minutes, 
they  sprung  again  on  their  feet,  and  began  to  advance 
rapidly,  sounding  their  horns  and  crying  their  war-cries 
with  all  their  usual  ferocity,  behold,  my  lord,  the  clouds  of 
heaven  opened,  shedding  on  the  Confederates  the  blessed 
light  of  the  returning  sun,  while  our  ranks  .were  still  in  the 
gloom  of  the  tempest.  My  men  were  discouraged.  The 
host  behind  them  was  retreating  ;  the  sudden  light  thrown 
on  the  advancing  Switzers  showed  along  the  mountains  a 
profusion  of  banners,  a  glancing  of  arms,  giving  to  the 
enemy  the  appearance  of  double  the  numbers  that  had 
hitherto  been  visible  to  us.  I  exhorted  my  followers  to  stand 
fast,  but  in  doing  so  I  thought  a  thought,  and  spoke  a  word, 
which  was  a  grievous  sin.  '^  Stand  fast,  my  brave  cannon- 
eers," I  said,  '^  we  will  presently  let  them  hear  louder  thun- 
ders, and  show  them  more  fatal  lightnings,  than  their  prayers 
have  put  down  ! "  My  men  shouted.  But  it  was  an  impious 
thought — a  blasphemous  speech,  and  evil  came  after  it.  We 
leveled  our  guns  on  the  advancing  masses  as  fairly  as  cannon 
were  ever  pointed  :  I  can  vouch  it,  for  I  laid  the  Grand 
Duchess  of  Burgundy  myself.  Ah,  poor  Duchess  !  what 
rude  hands  manage  thee  now  !  The  volley  was  fired,  and  ere 
the  smoke  spread  from  the  muzzles  I  could  see  many  a  man 
and  many  a  banner  go  down.  It  was  natural  to  think  such 
a  discharge  should  have  checked  the  attack,  and  whilst  the 
smoke  hid  the  enemy  from  us,  I  made  every  effort  again  to 
load  our  cannon,  and  anxiously  endeavored  to  look  through 
the  mist  to  discover  the  state  or  our  opponents.  But  ere 
our  smoke  was  cleared  away,  or  the  cannon  again  loaded,  they 
came  headlong  down  on  us,  horse  and  foot,  old  men  and  boys, 
men-at-arms  and  varlets,  charging  up  to  the  muzzle  of  the 

uns,    and   over  them,  with  total  disregard   to  their  lives. 

"y  brave  fellows  were  cut  down,  pierced  through,  aad  over* 


i28  WA  VERLET  NO  VEL8 

run,  while  they  were  again  loading  their  pieces,  nor  do  1 
believe  that  a  single  cannon  was  fired  a  second  time." 

''And  the  Duke—''  said  the  Earl  of  Oxford,  " did  he  not 
support  you  ?  " 

''  Most  loyally  and  bravely,''  answered  Colvin,  ''  with  his 
own  body-guard  of  Walloons  and  Burgundians.  But  a 
thousand  Italian  mercenaries  went  off,  and  never  showed 
face  again.  The  pass,  too,  was  cumbered  with  the  artillery, 
and  in  itself  narrow,  bordering  on  mountains  and  cliffs,  a 
deep  lake  close  beside.  In  short,  it  was  a  place  totally  unfit 
for  horsemen  to  act  in.  In  epite  of  the  Duke's  utmost  ex- 
ertions, and  those  of  the  gallant  Flemings  who  fought  around 
him,  all  were  borne  back  in  complete  disorder.  I  was  on 
foot,  fighting  as  I  could,  without  hopes  of  my  life,  or  indeed, 
thoughts  of  saving  it,  when  I  saw  the  guns  taken  and  my 
faithful  cannoneers  slain.  But  I  saw  Duke  Charles  hard 
pressed,  and  took  my  horse  from  my  page  that  held  him. 
Thou,  too,  art  lost,  my  poor  orphan  boy  !  I  could  only  aid 
Monseigneur  de  la  Croye  and  others  to  extricate  the  Duke. 
Our  retreat  became  a  total  rout,  and  when  we  reached  our 
rear-guard,  which  we  had  lelf  strongly  encamped,  the  ban- 
ners of  the  Switzers  were  waving  on  our  batteries,  for  a  large 
division  had  made  a  circuit  through  mountain  passes  known 
only  to  themselves,  and  attacked  our  camp,  vigorously 
seconded  by  that  accursed  Adrian  de  Bubenberg,  who  sallied 
from  the  beleaguered  town,  so  that  our  entrenchments  were 
stormed  on  both  sides  at  once.  I  have  more  to  say,  but, 
having  ridden  day  and  night  to  bring  you  these  evil  tidings, 
my  tongue  clings  to  the  roof  of  my  mouth,  and  I  feel  that  I 
can  speak  no  more.  The  rest  is  all  flight  and  massacre, 
disgraceful  to  every  soldier  that  shared  in  it.  For  my  part, 
I  confess  my  contumelious  self-confidence  and  insolence  to 
man,  as  well  as  blasphemy  to  Heaven.  If  I  live,  it  is  but 
to  hide  my  disgraced  head  in  a  cowl,  and  expiate  the  numer- 
ous sins  of  a  licentious  life." 

With  difficulty  the  broken-minded  soldier  was  prevailed 
upon  to  take  some  nourishment  and  repose,  together  with 
an  opiate  which  was  prescribed  by  the  physician  of  King 
Rene,  who  recommended  it  as  necessary  to  preserve  even  the 
reason  of  his  patient,  exhausted  by  the  events  of  the  battle 
and  subsequent  fatigue. 

The  Earl  of  Oxford,  dismissing  other  assistance,  watched 
alternately  with  his  son  at  Colvin's  bedside.  Notwithstand- 
ing the  draught  that  had  been  administered,  his  repose  was 
far  from  sound.     Sudden   starts,  the  perspiration   which 


AiJ^NE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  420 

started  from  his  brow,  the  distortions  of  his  conntenanoc^ 
and  the  manner  in  which  he  clenched  his  fists  and  flung 
about  his  limbs,  showed  that  in  his  dreams  he  was  again 
encountering  the  terrors  of  a  desperate  and  forlorn  combat. 
This  lasted  for  several  hours ;  but  about  noon,  fatigue  and 
medicine  prevailed  over  nervous  excitation,  and  the  defeated 
commander  fell  into  a  deep  and  untroubled  repose  till  even- 
ing. About  sunset  he  awakened,  and,  after  learning  with 
whom  and  where  he  was,  he  partook  of  refreshments,  and, 
without  any  apparent  consciousness  of  having  told  them 
before,  detailed  once  more  all  the  particulars  of  the  battle 
of  Murten. 

*'It  were  little  wide  of  truth,''  he  said,  "  to  calculate  that 
one  half  of  the  Duke's  army  fell  by  the  sword  or  were 
driven  into  the  lake.  Those  who  escaped  are  great  part  oi 
them  scattered,  never  again  to  unite.  Such  a  desperate  and 
irretrievable  rout  was  never  witnessed.  We  fled  like  deer, 
sheep,  or  any  other  timid  animals,  which  only  remain  in 
company  because  they  are  afraid  to  separate,  but  never  think 
of  order  or  of  defense." 

''  And  the  Duke  ?  "  said  the  Earl  of  Oxford. 

'^  We  hurried  him  with  us,"  said  the  soldier,  ''  rather 
from  instinct  than  loyalty,  as  men  flying  from  a  conflagration 
snatch  up  what  they  have  of  value,  without  knowing  what 
they  are  doing.  Knight  and  knave,  officer  and  soldier,  fled 
in  the  same  panic,  and  each  blast  of  horn  of  Uri  in  our  rear 
added  new  wings  to  our  flight. 

''And  the  Duke  ?"  repeated  Oxford. 

*'  At  first  he  resisted  our  efforts,  and  strove  to  turn  back 
on  the  foe ;  but  when  the  flight  became  general,  he  galloped 
along  with  us,  without  a  word  spoken  or  a  command  issued. 
At  first  we  thought  his  silence  and  passiveness,  so  unusual 
in  a  temper  so  fiery,  were  fortunate  for  securing  his  personal 
safety.  But  when  we  rode  the  whole  day,  without  being 
able  to  obtain  a  word  of  reply  to  all  our  questions,  when  he 
sternly  refused  refreshments  of  every  kind,  though  he  had 
tasted  no  food  all  that  disastrous  day,  when  every  variation 
of  his  moody  and  uncertain  temper  was  sunk  into  silence  and 
sullen  despair,  we  took  counsel  what  was  to  be  done,  and  it 
was  by  the  general  voice  that  I  was  despatched  to  entreat 
that  you,  for  whose  counsels  alone  Charles  has  been  known 
to  have  had  some  occasional  deference,  would  come  instantly 
to  his  place  of  retreat,  and  exert  all  your  influence  to  awaken 
him  from  this  lethargy,  which  may  otherwise  terminate  his 
existence/' 


iSO  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

"  And  what  remedy  can  I  interpose  ?  "  said  Oxford.  '*  You 
know  how  he  neglected  my  advice,  when  following  it  might 
have  fiierved  my  interest  as  well  as  his  own.  You  are  aware 
that  my  life  was  not  safe  among  the  miscreants  that  sur- 
rouxided  the  Duke  and  exercised  influence  over  him." 

•"'  Most  true/^  answered  Colvin  ;  ''  but  I  also  know  he  is 
your  ancient  companion-in-arms,  and  it  would  ill  become  me 
to  teach  the  noble  Earl  of  Oxford  what  the  laws  of  chivalry 
require.  For  your  lordship's  safety,  every  honest  man  in  the 
army  will  give  willing  security.'' 

'*Itis  for  that  I  care  least,"  said  Oxford,  indifferently; 
"  and  if  indeed  my  presence  can  be  of  service  to  the  Duke — 
if  I  could  believe  that  he  desired  it " 

*'He  does — he  does,  my  lord,"  said  the  faithful  soldier, 
with  tears  in  his  eyes.  '^  We  heard  him  name  your  name,  as 
if  the  words  escaped  him  in  a  painful  dream." 

"  I  will  go  to  him,  such  being  the  case,"  said  Oxford — ^'I 
will  go  instantly.  Where  did  he  purpose  to  establish  his 
head-quarters  ?" 

'^  He  had  fixed  nothing  for  himself  on  that  or  other  mat- 
ters ;  but  Monsieur  de  Contay  named  La  Kiviere,  near  Salins, 
in  Upper  Burgundy,  as  the  place  of  his  retreat." 

^*  Thither,  then,  will  we,  my  son,  with  all  haste  of  prep 
aration.  Thou,  Colvin,  hadst  better  remain  here,  and  se^ 
some  holy  man,  to  be  assoilzied  for  thy  hasty  speech  on  the 
battle-field  of  Morat.  There  was  offense  in  it  without  doubt, 
but  it  will  be  ill  atoned  for  by  quitting  a  generous  master 
when  he  hath  most  need  of  your  good  service  ;  and  it  is  but 
an  act  of  cowardice  to  retreat  into  the  cloister  till  we  have 
no  longer  active  duties  to  perform  in  this  world." 

"It  is  true,"  said  Colvin,  "that,  should  I  leave  the  Duke 
now,  perhaps  not  a  man  would  stay  behind  that  could  stell 
a  cannon  properly.  The  sight  of  your  lordship  cannot  but 
operate  favorably  on  my  noble  master,  since  it  has  waked 
the  old  soldier  in  myself.  If  your  lordship  can  delay  your 
journey  till  to-morrow,  I  will  have  my  spiritual  affairs  settled, 
and  my  bodily  health  sufficiently  restored,  to  be  your  guide 
to  La  Eiviere  ;  and,  for  the  cloister,  I  will  think  of  it  when 
I  have  regained  the  good  name  which  I  have  lost  at  Murten. 
But  I  will  have  masses  said,  and  these  right  powerful,  for 
the  souls  of  my  poor  cannoneers." 

The  proposal  of  Colvin  was  adopted,  and  Oxford,  with  his 
son,  attended  by  Thiebault,  spent  the  day  in  preparation, 
excepting  the  time  necessary  to  take  formal  leave  of  King 
Bene,  who  seemed  to  part  with  them  with  regret.     In  coiiQ 


ANNE  OF  GEIER STEIN  431 

pany  with  the  ordnance  officer  of  the  discomfited  duke,  they 
traversed  those  parts  of  Provence,  Dauphine,  and  Franche"- 
Compt^,  which  lie  between  Aix  and  the  place  to  which  the 
Duke  of  Burgundy  had  retreated  ;  but  the  distance  and 
inconvenience  of  so  long  a  route  consumed  more  than  a  fort- 
night on  the  road,  and  the  month  of  July  1476  was  com- 
menced when  the  travelers  arrived  in  Upper  Burgundy,  and 
Lit  the  Castle  of  La  Eiviere,  about  twenty  miles  to  the  south 
of  the  town  of  Salins.  The  castle,  which  was  but  of  small 
size,  was  surrounded  by  very  many  tents,  which  were  pitched 
in  a  crowded,  disordered,  and  unsoldierlike  manner,  very 
unlike  the  discipline  usually  observed  in  the  camp  of  Charles 
the  Bold.  That  the  Duke  was  present  there,  however,  was 
attested  by  his  broad  banner,  which,  rich  with  all  its  quarter- 
ings,  streamed  from  the  battlements  of  the  castle.  The 
guard  turned  out  to  receive  the  strangers,  but  in  a  manner 
so  disorderly,  that  the  Earl  looked  to  Colvin  for  explanation. 
The  master  of  the  ordnance  shrugged  up  his  shoulders  and 
was  silent. 

Colvin  having  sent  in  notice  of  his  arrival,  and  that  of 
the  English  earl.  Monsieur  de  Contay  caused  them  presently 
to  be  admitted,  and  expressed  much  joy  at  their  arrival. 

^'  A  few  of  us,^^  he  said,  '^true  servants  of  the  Duke,  are 
holding  counsel  here,  at  which  your  assistance,  my  noble 
Lord  of  Oxford,  will  be  of  the  utmost  importance.  Messieurs 
De  la  Croye,  De  Craon,  Eubempre,  and  others,  nobles  of 
Burgundy,  are  now  assembled  to  superintend  the  defense  of 
the  country  at  this  exigence.^' 

They  all  expressed  delight  to  see  the  Earl  of  Oxford,  and 
lad  only  abstained  from  thrusting  their  attentions  on  him 
the  last  time  he  was  in  the  Duke's  camp,  as  they  understood 
it  was  his  wish  to  observe  incognito. 

''  His  Grace,'^  said  De  Craon,  *^Mias  asked  after  you  twice, 
and  on  both  times  by  your  assumed  name  of  Philipson.^^ 

"I  wonder  not  at  that,  my  Lord  of  Craon,"  replied  the 
English  nobleman  ;  ^'  the  origin  of  the  name  took  its  rise  in 
former  days,  when  I  was  here  during  my  first  exile.  It  was 
then  said  that  we  poor  Lancastrian  nobles  must  assume 
other  names  than  our  own,  and  the  good  Duke  Philip  said, 
as  I  was  brother-in-arms  to  his  son  Charles,  I  must  be  called 
after  himself,  by  the  name  of  Philipson.  In  memory  of  the 
good  sovereign,  I  took  that  name  when  the  day  of  need  act- 
ually arrived,  and  I  see  that  the  Duke  thinks  of  our  early 
intimacy  by  his  distinguishing  me  so.  How  fares  hia 
Grace  ?  " 


432  WA  VERLEY  NO  VEL8 

The  Burgundians  looked  at  each  other,  and  there  was  a 
pause. 

"  Even  like  a  man  stunned,  brave  Oxford/'  at  length  De 
Contay  replied.  ''  Sieur  d'Argenton,*  you  can  best  inform 
the  noble  Earl  of  the  condition  of  our  sovereign/' 

*'  He  is  like  a  man  distracted,"  said  the  future  historian 
of  that  busy  period.  ''  After  the  battle  of  Grranson,  he  was 
never,  to  my  thinking,  of  the  same  sound  judgment  as  be- 
fore. But  then  he  was  capricious,  unreasonable,  peremptory, 
and  inconsistent,  and  resented  every  counsel  that  was  offered, 
as  if  it  had  been  meant  in  insult  ;  was  jealous  of  the  least 
trespass  in  point  of  ceremonial,  as  if  his  subjects  were  hold- 
ing him  in  contempt.  Now  there  is  a  total  change,  as  if 
this  second  blow  had  stunned  him,  and  suppressed  the  violent 
passions  which  the  first  called  into  action.  He  is  silent  as 
a  Carthusian,  solitary  as  a  hermit,  expresses  interest  in  noth- 
ing, least  of  all  in  the  guidance  of  his  army.  He  was, 
you  know,  anxious  about  his  dress  ;  so  much  so,  that  there 
was  some  affectation  even  in  the  rudenesses  which  he  prac- 
tised in  that  matter.  But,  wo'es  me,  you  will  see  a  change 
now  :  he  will  not  suffer  his  hair  or  nails  to  be  trimmed  or 
arranged.  He  is  totally  heedless  of  respect  or  disrespect 
towards  him,  takes  little  or  no  nourishment,  uses  strong 
wines,  which,  however,  do  not  seem  to  affect  his  understand- 
ing ;  he  will  hear  nothing  of  war  or  state  affairs,  as  little 
of  hunting  or  of  sport.  Suppose  an  anchorite  brought  from 
a  cell  to  govern  a  kingdom,  you  see  in  him,  except  in  point  of 
devotion,  a  picture  of  the  fiery,  active  Charles  of  Burgundy.'' 

"  You  speak  of  a  mind  deeply  wounded,  Sieur  d'Argen- 
ton,"  replied  the  Englishman.  *' Think  you  it  fit  I  should 
present  myself  before  the  Duke  ?  " 

*'  I  will  inquire,"  said  Contay  ;  and  leaving  the  apart- 
ment, returned  presently,  and  made  a  sign  to  the  Earl  to 
follow  him. 

In  a  cabinet,  or  closet,  the  unfortunate  Charles  reclined 
in  a  large  arm-chair,  his  legs  carelessly  stretched  on  a  foot- 
stool, but  so  changed  that  the  Earl  of  Oxford  could  have 
believed  what  he  saw  to  be  the  ghost  of  the  once  fiery  Duke. 
Indeed,  the  shaggy  length  of  hair  which,  streaming  from 
his  head,  mingled  with  his  beard,  the  hollowness  of  the 
caverns  at  the  bottom  of  which  rolled  his  wild  eyes,  the  fall- 
ing in  of  the  breast,  and  the  advance  of  the  shoulders,  gave 

*  Philip  des  Comines,  Sieur  d*Argenton,  author  of  Historicai 
Memoirs  {Laing).    {See  Quentin  Durward,  Notes   35,  45.] 


ANNE  OF  GEIER8TE1N  433 

the  ghastly  appearance  of  one  who  has  suffered  the  final 
agony  which  takes  from  mortality  the  signs  of  life  and  en- 
ergy. His  very  costume  (a  cloak  flung  loosely  over  him) 
increased  his  resemblance  to  a  shrouded  phantom.  De 
Contay  named  the  Earl  of  Oxford ;  but  the  Duke  gazed  on 
him  with  a  lusterless  eye,  and  gave  him  no  answer. 

''  Speak  to  him,  brave  Oxford/^  said  the  Burgundian,  in  a 
whisper  :  '^  he  is  even  worse  than  usual,  but  perhaps  he  may 
know  your  voice.'' 

Never,  when  the  Duke  of  Burgundy  was  in  the  most  palmy 
state  of  his  fortunes,  did  the  noble  Englishman  kneel  to  kiss 
his  hand  with  such  sincere  reverence.  He  respected  in  him 
not  only  the  afflicted  friend,  but  the  humbled  sovereign,  upon 
whose  tower  of  trust  the  lightning  had  so  recently  broken. 
It  was  probably  the  falling  of  a  tear  upon  his  hand  which 
seemed  to  awake  the  Duke's  attention,  for  he  looked  towards 
the  Earl  and  said,  ^^  Oxford — Philipson — my  old — my  only 
friend,  hast  thou  found  me  out  in  this  retreat  of  shame  and 
misery  ?" 

^ '  I  am  not  your  only  friend,  my  lord,"  said  Oxford. 
"  Heaven  has  given  you  many  affectionate  friends  among 
your  natural  and  loyal  subjects.  But  though  a  stranger,  and 
saving  the  allegiance  I  owe  to  my  lawful  sovereign,  I  will 
yield  to  none  of  them  in  the  respect  and  deference  which  I 
have  paid  to  your  Grace  in  prosperity,  and  now  come  to  render 
to  you  in  adversity." 

"  Adversity  indeed  ! "  said  the  Duke — '^  irremediable,  in- 
tolerable adversity  !  I  was  lately  Charles  of  Burgundy, 
called  the  Bold ;  now  am  I  twice  beaten  by  a  scum  of  Ger- 
man peasants,  my  standard  taken,  my  men-at-arms  put  to 
flight,  my  camp  twice  plundered,  and  each  time  of  value 
more  than  equal  to  the  price  of  all  Switzerland  fairly  lost  j 
myself  hunted  like  a  catiff  goat  or  chamois.  The  utmost  spite 
of  hell  could  never  accumulate  more  shame  on  the  head  of  a 
sovereign  ! " 

"  On  the  contrary,  my  lord,"  said  Oxford,  '^  it  is  a  trial 
of  Heaven,  which  calls  for  patience  and  strength  of  mind. 
The  bravest  and  best  knight  may  lose  the  saddle ;  he  is  but 
a  laggard  who  lies  rolling  on  the  sand  of  the  lists  after  the 
accident  has  chanced." 

'^  Ha,  laggard,  sayst  thou  ?  "  said  the  Duke,  some  part  of 
his  ancient  spirit  awakened  by  the  broad  taunt.  **  Leave 
my  presence,  sir,  and  return  to  it  no  more  till  you  are 
summoned  thither ^" 

**  Which  I  trust  will  be  no  later  than  your  Grace  quits  your 


434  wav:erley  novels. 

dishabille,  and  disposes  yourself  to  see  your  vassals  and  friends 
with  Such  ceremony  as  befits  you  and  them/^  said  the  Earl, 
composedly. 

*'  How  mean  you  by  that,  sir  earl  ?     You  are  unmannerly/' 

''  If  I  be,  my  lord,  I  am  taught  my  ill  breeding  by  cir- 
cumstances. I  can  mourn  over  fallen  dignity  ;  but  I  cannot 
honor  him  who  dishonors  himself  by  bending,  like  a  re- 
gardless boy,  beneath  the  scourge  of  evil  fortune/^ 

"  And  who  am  I  that  you  should  term  me  such  ?  "  said 
Charles,  starting  up  in  all  his  natural  pride  and  ferocity  ;  "  or 
who  are  you  but  a  miserable  exile,  that  you  should  break  in 
upon  my  privacy  with  such  disrespectful  upbraidiug  ?  " 

'^  For  me,^^  replied  Oxford,  ''  I  am,  as  you  say,  an  un- 
respected  exile  ;  nor  am  I  ashamed  of  my  condition,  since 
unshaken  loyalty  to  my  king  and  his  successors  has  brought 
me  to  it.  But  in  you,  can  I  recognize  the  Duke  of  Bur- 
gundy in  a  sullen  hermit,  whose  guards  are  a  disorderly 
soldiery,  dreadful  only  to  their  friends  ;  whose  councils  are 
in  confusion  for  want  of  their  sovereign,  and  who  himself 
lurks  like  a  lamed  wolf  in  its  den,  in  an  obscure  castle,  wait- 
ing but  a  blast  of  the  Switzer's  horn  to  fling  open  its  gates, 
which  there  are  none  to  defend  ;  who  wears  not  a  knightly 
sword  to  protect  his  person,  and  cannot  even  die  like  a  stag 
at  bay,  but  must  be  worried  like  a  hunted  fox  ?  " 

*' Death  and  hell,  slanderous  traitor  !  ^Mhundered  the 
Duke,  glancing  a  look  at  his  side,  and  perceiving  himself 
without  a  weapon.  "  It  is  well  for  thee  I  have  no  sword,  or 
thou  shouldst  never  boast  of  thine  insolence  going  unpunished, 
Contay,  step  forth  like  a  good  knight  and  confute  the  calum- 
niator. Say,  are  not  my  soldiers  arrayed,  disciplined,  and 
in  order  ?  **^ 

^'  My  lord,^'  said  Contay,  trembling  (brave  as  he  was  in 
battle)  at  the  frantic  rage  which  Charles  exhibited,  "  there 
are  a  numerous  soldiery  yet  under  your  command,  but  they 
are  in  evil  order,  and  in  worse  discipline,  I  think,  than  thej 
were  wont.^' 

'^  I  see  it — I  see  it,'*  said  the  Duke  ;  "  idle  and  evil  coun- 
selors are  ye  all.  Hearken,  Sir  of  Contay,  what  have  you 
and  the  rest  of  you  been  doing,  holding  as  you  do  large 
lands  and  high  fiefs  of  us,  that  I  cannot  stretch  my  limbs  on 
a  sick-bed,  when  my  heart  is  half  broken,  by  troops  must 
fall  into  such  scandalous  disorder  as  exposes  me  to  the  scoru 
and  reproach  of  each  beggarly  foreigner  ?  '* 

"  My  lord,*'  replied  Contay,  more  firmly,  '^  we  have  done 
what  we  could.     But  your  Grace  has  accastomed  your  mer* 


ANNE  OF  GEIER STEIN  435 

cenary  generals  and  leaders  of  Free  Companies  to  take  their 
orders  only  from  your  own  mouth  or  hand.  They  clamor 
also  for  pay,  and  the  treasurer  refuses  to  issue  it  without 
your  Grace^s  order,  as  he  alleges  it  might  cost  him  his  head  ; 
and  they  will  not  be  guided  and  restrained,  either  by  us  or 
those  wRo  compose  your  council/^ 

The  Duke  laughed  sternly,  but  was  evidently  somewhat 
pleased  with  the  reply. 

''  Ha,  ha  !  "  he  said,  '^  it  is  only  Burgundy  who  can  ride 
his  own  wild  horses,  and  rule  his  own  wild  soldiery.  Hark 
thee,  Contay.  To-morrow  I  ride  forth  to  review  the  troops  ; 
for  what  disorder  has  passed,  allowance  shall  be  made.  Pay 
also  shall  be  issued ;  but  woe  to  those  who  shall  have  of- 
fended too  deeply  !  Let  my  grooms  of  the  chamber  know 
to  provide  me  fitting  dress  and  arms.  I  have  got  a  lesson 
(glancing  a  dark  look  at  Oxford),  and  I  will  not  again  be 
insulted  without  the  means  of  wreaking  my  vengeance. 
Begone,  both  of  you.  And,  Contay,  send  the  treasurer 
hither  with  his  accounts,  and  woe  to  his  soul  if  I  find  aught 
to  complain  of  !     Begone,  I  say,  and  send  him  hither." 

They  left  the  apartment  with  suitable  obeisance.  As 
they  retired,  the  Duke  said,  abruptly,  ^'  Lord  of  Oxford,  a 
word  with  you.  Where  did  you  study  medicine  ?  In  your 
own  famed  university,  I  suppose.  Thy  physic  hath  wrought 
a  wonder.  Yet,  Doctor  Philipson,  it  might  have  cost  thee 
thy  life." 

"  I  have  ever  thought  my  life  cheap,"  said  Oxford, ''  when 
the  object  was  to  help  my  friend." 

^'  Thou  art  indeed  a  friend,"  said  Charles,  "  and  a  fear- 
less one.  But  go — I  have  been  sore  troubled,  and  thou  hast 
tasked  my  temper  closely.  To-morrow  we  will  speak  fur- 
ther ;  meantime,  I  forgive  thee,  and  I  honor  thee." 

The  Earl  of  Oxford  retired  to  the  council-hall,  where  the 
Burgundian  nobility,  aware  of  what  had  passed,  crowded 
around  him  with  thanks,  compliments,  and  congratulations. 
A  general  bustle  now  ensued  ;  orders  were  hurried  off  in 
every  direction.  Those  officers  who  had  duties  to  perform 
which  had  been  neglected  hastened  to  conceal  or  to  atone 
for  fcheir^  negligence.  There  was  a  general  tumult  in  the 
camp,  but  it  was  a  tumult  of  joy  ;  for  soldiers  are  always 
most  pleased  when  they  are  best  in  order  for  performing 
their  military  service  ;  and  license  or  inactivity,  however 
acceptable  at  times,  are  not,  when  continued,  so  agreeable 
to  their  nature  a?  strict  discipline  and  a  prospect  of  employ- 
ment 


436  WA VERLEY  NOVELS 

The  treasurer,  who  was,  luckily  for  him,  a  man  of  sense 
and  method,  having  been  two  hours  in  private  with  the 
Duke,  returned  with  looks  of  wonder,  and  professed  that 
never,  in  Charleses  most  prosperous  days,  had  he  showed 
himself  more  acute  in  the  department  of  finance,  of  which 
he  had  but  that  morning  seemed  totally  incapable  ;  and  the 
'merit  was  universally  attributed  to  the  visit  of  Lord  Oxford, 
whose  timely  reprimand  had,  like  the  shot  of  a  cannon  dis- 
persing foul  mists,  awakened  the  Duke  from  his  black  and 
bilious  melancholy. 

On  the  following  day,  Charles  reviewed  his  troops  with 
his  usual  attention,  directed  new  levies,  made  various  dis- 
positions of  his  forces,  and  corrected  the  faults  of  their 
discipline  by  severe  orders,  which  were  enforced  by  some 
deserved  punishments  (of  which  the  Italian  mercenaries  of 
Campo-basso  had  a  large  share),  and  rendered  palatable  by 
the  payment  of  arrears,  which  was  calculated  to  attach 
them  to  the  standard  under  which  they  served. 

The  Duke  also,  after  consulting  with  his  council,  agreed 
to  convoke  meetings  of  the  States  in  his  different  territories, 
redress  certain  popular  grievances,  and  grant  some  boons 
which  he  had  hitherto  denied  ;  and  thus  began  to  open  a 
new  account  of  popularity  with  his  subjects,  in  place  of  that 
which  his  rashness  had  exhausted. 


CHAPTER  XXXV 

Here's  a  weapon  now 
Shall  shake  a  conquering  general  in  his  tent, 
A  monarch  on  his  throne,  or  reach  a  prelate, 
However  holy  be  his  offices, 
E'en  while  he  serves  the  altar. 

Old  Play, 

Fkom  this  time  all  was  activity  in  the  Duke  of  Bnrgundy'a 
court  and  army.  Money  was  collected,  soldiers  were  levied, 
and  certain  news  of  the  Confederates^  motions  only  were 
wanting  to  bring  on  the  campaign.  But  although  Charles 
was,  to  all  outward  appearance,  as  active  as  ever,  yet  those 
who  were  more  immediately  about  his  person  were  of  opinion 
that  he  did  not  display  the  soundness  of  mind  or  the  energy 
of  judgment  which  had  been  admired  in  him  before  these 
calamities.  He  was  still  liable  to  fits  of  moody  melancholy, 
similar  to  those  which  descended  upon  Saul,  and  was  vehe« 
mently  furious  when  aroused  out  of  them.  Indeed,  the 
Earl  of  Oxford  himself  seemed  to  have  lost  the  power  which 
he  had  exercised  over  him  at  first.  Nay,  though  in  genera) 
Charles  was  both  grateful  and  affectionate  towards  him,  he 
evidently  felt  humbled  by  the  recollection  of  his  having 
witnessed  his  impotent  and  disastrous  condition,  and  was 
so  much  afraid  of  Lord  Oxford  being  supposed  to  lead  his 
counsels,  that  he  often  repelled  his  advice,  merely,  as  it 
seemed,  to  show  his  own  independence  of  mind. 

In  these  fro  ward  humors,  the  Duke  was  much  encouraged 
by  Campo-basso.  That  wily  traitor  now  saw  his  master's 
affairs  tottering  to  their  fall,  and  he  resolved  to  lend  his 
lever  to  the  work,  so  as  to  entitle  him  to  a  share  of  the  spoil. 
He  regarded  Oxford  as  one  of  the  most  able  friends  and 
counselors  who  adhered  to  the  Duke ;  he  thought  he  saw 
in  his  looks  that  he  fathomed  his  own  treacherous  purpose, 
and  therefore  he  hated  and  feared  him.  Besides,  in  order 
perhaps  to  color  over,  even  to  his  own  eyes,  the  abominable 
perfidy  he  meditated,  he  affected  to  be  exceedingly  enraged 
against  the  Duke  for  the  late  punishment  of  marauders  be- 
longing to  his  Italian  bands.  He  believed  that  chastisement 
to  have  been  inflicted  by  the  advice  of  Oxford  ;  and  he  sua- 

437 


138  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

pected  that  the  measure  was  pressed  with  the  hope  of  dis- 
covering that  the  Italians  had  not  pillaged  for  their  own 
emolument  only,  but  for  that  of  their  commander.  Believ- 
ing that  Oxford  was  thus  hostile  to  him,  Campo-basso  would 
have  speedily  found  means  to  take  him  out  of  his  path,  had 
not  the  Earl  himself  found  it  prudent  to  observe  some  pre  - 
cautions  ;  and  the  lords  of  Flanders  and  Burgundy,  who  loved 
him  for  the  very  reasons  for  which  the  Italian  abhorred  him^ 
watched  over  his  safety  with  a  vigilance  of  which  he  himself 
was  ignorant,  but  which  certainly  was  the  means  of  preserv- 
ing his  life. 

It  was  not  to  be  supposed  that  Ferrand  of  Lorraine  should 
have  left  his  victory  so  long  unimproved ;  but  the  Swiss 
Confederates,  who  were  the  strength  of  his  forces,  insisted 
that  the  first  operations  should  take  place  in  Savoy  and  the 
Pays  de  Yaud,  where  the  Burgundians  had  many  garrisons, 
which  though  they  received  no  relief,  yet  were  not  easily  or 
speedily  reduced.  Besides,  the  Switzers  being,  like  most  of 
the  national  soldiers  of  the  time,  a  kind  of  militia,  most  of 
them  returned  home  to  get  in  their  harvest  and  to  deposit 
their  spoil  in  safety.  Ferrand,  therefore,  though  bent  on 
pursuing  his  success  with  all  the  ardor  of  youthful  chivalry, 
was  prevented  from  making  any  movement  in  advance  until 
the  month  of  December  1476.  In  the  meantime,  the  Duke 
of  Burgundy's  forces,  to  be  least  burdensome  to  the  country, 
were  cantoned  in  distant  places  of  his  dominions,  where 
every  exertion  was  made  to  perfect  the  discipline  of  the  new 
levies.  The  Duke,  if  left  to  himself,  would  have  precipitated 
the  struggle  by  again  assembling  his  forces  and  pushing  for- 
ward into  the  Helvetian  territories  ;  but,  though  he  inwardly 
foamed  at  the  recollection  of  Granson  and  Murten,  the  mem- 
ory of  these  disasters  was  too  recent  to  permit  such  a  plan 
of  the  campaign.  Meantime,  weeks  glided  past,  and  the 
month  of  December  was  far  advanced  when  one  morning, 
as  the  Duke  was  sitting  in  council,  Campo-basso  suddenly 
entered,  with  a  degree  of  extravagant  rapture  in  his  coun- 
tenance singularly  different  from  the  cold,  regulated,  and 
subtle  smile  which  was  usually  his  utmost  advance  towards 
laughter.  '•  Guanfes"*  he  said — '^guantes,  for  luck's  sake, 
if  it  please  your  Grace.  •*' 

^'And  what  of  good  fortune  comes  nigh  us?''  said  the 
Duke.     "  Meth ought  she  had  forgot  the  way  to  our  gates." 

''  She  has  returned  to  them,  please  your  Highness,  with 
her  cornucopia  full  of  choicest  gifts,  ready  to  pour  her  fruit, 
*  See  Note  11. 


ANNE  OF  GEIEB8TEIN  439 

her  flowers,  her  treasures,  on  the  head  of  the  sovereign  of 
Europe  most  worthy  to  receive  them/' 

"  The  meaning  of  all  this  ? ''  said  Duke  Charles  :  ''  riddles 
are  for  children." 

"  The  harebrained  young  madman  Ferrand,  who  calls  him- 
self of  Lorraine,  has  broken  down  from  the  niountains,  at 
the  head  of  a  desultory  army  of  scapegraces  like  himself  ; 
and  what  think  you — ha  !  ha  !  ha  ! — they  are  overrunning 
Lorraine,  and  have  taken  Nancy— ha  !  ha  !  ha  ! '' 

''  By  my  good  faith,  sir  count,''  said  Contay,  astonished  at 
the  gay  humor  with  which  the  Italian  treated  a  matter  so 
serious,  '*  I  have  seldom  heard  a  fool  laugh  more  gaily  at  a 
more  scurvy  jest  than  you,  a  wise  man,  laugh  at  the  loss  of 
the  principal  town  of  the  province  we  are  fighting  for." 

'^  I  laugh,"  said  Oampo-basso,  "  among  the  spears,  as  my 
war-horse  does — ha  !  ha  ! — among  the  trumpets.  I  laugh 
also  over  the  destruction  of  the  enemy,  and  the  dividing  of 
the  spoil  as  eagles  scream  their  joy  over  the  division  of  their 
prey.     I  laugh " 

'^  You  laugh,"  said  the  Lord  of  Contay,  waxing  impatient, 
'^  when  you  have  all  the  mirth  to  yourself,  as  you  laughed 
after  our  losses  at  Granson  and  Murten." 

''  Peace,  sir  ! "  said  the  Duke.  ^'  The  Count  of  Campo- 
basso  has  viewed  the  case  as  I  do.  This  young  knight-errant 
ventures  from  the  protection  of  his  mountains  ;  and  Heaven 
deal  with  me  as  I  keep  my  oath,  when  I  swear  that  the  next 
fair  field  on  which  we  meet  shall  see  one  of  us  dead  !  It  is 
now  the  last  week  of  the  old  year,  and  before  Twelfth  Day  we 
will  see  whether  he  or  I  shall  find  the  bean  in  the  cake.  To 
arms,  my  lords  :  let  our  camp  instantly  break  up,  and  our 
troops  move  forward  towards  Lorraine.  Send  off  the  Italian 
and  Albanian  light  cavalry,  and  the  Stradiots,  to  scour  the 
country  in  the  van.  Oxford,  thou  wilt  bear  arms  in  this 
journey,  wilt  thou  not  ?  " 

"  Surely,"  said  the  Earl.  '^  I  am  eating  your  Highnesses 
bread  ;  and  when  enemies  invade,  it  stands  with  my  honor 
to  fight  for  your  Grace  as  if  I  was  your  born  subject.  With 
your  Grace's  permission,  I  will  despatch  a  pursuivant,  who 
shall  carry  letters  to  my  late  kind  host,  the  Landamman  of 
Unterwalden,  acquainting  him  with  my  purpose." 

The  Duke  having  given  a  ready  assent,  the  pursuivant  was 
dismissed  accordingly,  and  returned  in  a  few  hours,  so  near 
had  the  armies  approached  to  each  other.  He  bore  a  letter 
from  the  Landamman,  in  a  tone  of  courtesy  and  even  kind- 
ness, regretting  that  any  cause  should  have  occurred  for  bear* 


440  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

ing  arms  against  his  late  guest,  for  whom  he  expressed  high 
personal  regard.  The  same  pursuivant  also  brought  greet- 
ings from  the  family  of  the  Biedermans  to  their  friend  Arthur, 
and  a  separate  letter,  addressed  to  the  same  person,  of  which 
the  contents  ran  thus  : — 

"  Eudolph  Donnerhugel  is  desirous  to  give  the  young  mer- 
chant, Arthur  Philipson,  the  opportunity  of  finishing  the 
bargain  which  remained  unsettled  between  them  in  the  castle- 
court  of  Geierstein.  He  is  the  more  desirous  of  this  as 
he  is  aware  that  the  said  Arthur  has  done  him  wrong,  in 
seducing  the  affections  of  a  certain  maiden  of  rank,  to  whom 
he,  Philipson,  is  not,  and  cannot  be,  anything  beyond  an 
ordinary  acquaintance.  Rudolph  Donnerhugel  will  send 
Arthur  Philipson  word  when  a  fair  and  equal  meeting  can 
take  place  on  neutral  ground.  In  the  meantime,  he  will  be 
as  often  as  possible  in  the  first  rank  of  the  skirmishers/' 

Young  Arthur's  heart  leaped  high  as  he  read  the  defiance, 
the  piqued  tone  of  which  showed  the  state  of  the  writer's 
feelings,  and  argued  sufificiently  Eudolph's  disappointment  on 
the  subject  of  Anne  of  Geierstein,  and  his  suspicion  that  she 
had  bestowed  her  affections  on  the  youthful  stranger. 
Arthur  found  means  of  despatching  a  reply  to  the  challenge 
of  the  Swiss,  assuring  him  of  the  pleasure  with  which  he 
would  attend  his  commands,  either  in  front  of  the  line  or 
elsewhere,  as  Rudolph  might  desire. 

Meantime  the  armies  were  closely  approaching  to  each 
other,  and  the  light  troops  sometimes  met.  The  Stradiots 
from  the  Venetian  territory,  a  sort  of  cavalry  resembling  that 
of  the  Turks,  performed  much  of  that  service  on  the  part  of 
the  Burgundian  army,  for  which,  indeed,  if  their  fidelity 
could  have  been  relied  on,  they  were  admirably  well  qualified. 
The  Earl  of  Oxford  observed,  that  these  men,  who  were  un- 
der the  command  of  Campo-basso,  always  brought  in  intelli- 
gence that  the  enemy  were  in  indifferent  order  and  in  full 
retreat.  Besides,  information  was  communicated  through 
their  means  that  sundry  individuals,  against  whom  the  Duke 
of  Burgundy  entertained  peculiar  personal  dislike,  and  whom 
he  specially  desired  to  get  into  his  hands  had  taken  refuge 
in  Nancy.  This  greatly  increased  the  Duke's  ardor  for  re- 
taking that  place,  which  became  perfectly  ungovernable  when 
he  learned  that  Ferrand  and  his  {Swiss  allies  had  drawn  off  to  a 
neighboring  position  called  St.  Nicholas,  on  the  news  of  his 
arrival.     The  greater  part  of  the  Burgundian  counselors,  to- 


ANNE  OF  QEIERSTEIN  441 

getlier  with  the  Earl  of  Oxford,  protested  against  his  besieging 
a  place  of  some  strength,  while  an  active  enemy  lay  in  the 
neighborhood  to  relieve  it.  They  remonstrated  on  the  small- 
ness  of  his  army,  on  the  severity  of  the  weather,  on  the  diffi- 
culty of  obtaining  provisions,  and  exhorted  the  Duke,  that 
having  made  such  a  movement  as  had  forced  the  enemy  to  re- 
treat, he  ought  to  suspend  decisive  operations  till  spring. 
Charles  at  first  tried  to  dispute  and  repel  these  arguments  ; 
but  when  his  counselors  reminded  him  that  he  was  placing 
himself  and  his  army  in  the  same  situation  as  at  Granson  and 
Murten,  he  became  furious  at  the  recollection,  foamed  at  the 
mouth,  and  only  answered  by  oaths  and  imprecations  that  he 
would  be  master  of  Nancy  before  Twelfth  Day. 

Accordingly,  the  army  of  Burgundy  sat  down  before 
Nancy,  in  a  strong  position,  protected  by  the  hollow  of  a 
watercourse,  and  covered  with  thirty  pieces  of  cannon, 
which  Oolvin  had  under  his  charge. 

Having  indulged  his  obstinate  temper  in  thus  arranging 
the  campaign,  the  Duke  seemed  to  give  a  little  more  heed 
to  the  advice  of  his  counselors  touching  the  safety  of  his 
person,  and  permitted  the  Earl  of  Oxford,  with  his  son, 
and  two  or  three  officers  of  his  household,  men  of  approved 
trust,  to  sleep  within  his  pavilion,  in  addition  to  the  usual 
guard. 

It  wanted  three  days  of  Christmas  when  the  Duke  sat 
down  before  Nancy,  and  on  that  very  evening  a  tumult  hap- 
pened which  seemed  to  justify  the  alarm  for  his  personal 
safety.  It  was  midnight,  and  all  in  the  ducal  pavilion  were 
as  rest,  when  a  cry  of  treason  arose.  The  Earl  of  Oxford, 
drawing  his  sword,  and  snatching  up  a  light  which  burned 
beside  him,  rushed  into  the  Duke's  apartment,  and  found 
him  standing  on  the  floor  totally  undressed,  but  with  his 
sword  in  his  hand,  and  striking  around  him  so  furiously, 
that  the  Earl  himself  had  difficulty  in  avoiding  his  blows. 
The  rest  of  his  officers  rushed  in,  their  weapons  drawn,  and 
their  cloaks  wrapped  around  their  left  arms.  When  the 
Duke  was  somewhat  composed,  and  found  himself  sur- 
rounded by  his  friends,  he  informed  them,  with  rage  and 
agitation,  that  the  officers  of  the  Secret  Tribunal  had,  in 
spite  of  the  vigilant  precautions  taken,  found  means  to  gain 
entrance  into  his  chamber,  and  charged  him,  under  the 
highest  penalty,  to  appear  before  the  Holy  Vehme  upon 
Christmas  night. 

The  bystanders  heard  this  story  with  astonishment,  and 
some  of  them  were  uncertain  whether  they  ought  to  con- 


442  WA  VERLEY  NO  VELS 

sider  it  as  a  reality  or  a  dream  of  the  Duke's  irritable  fancy. 
But  the  citation  was  found  on  the  Duke's  toilet,  written, 
as  was  the  form,  upon  parchment,  signeted  with  three 
crosses,  and  stuck  to  the  table  with  a  knife.  A  slip  of  wood 
had  been  also  cut  from  the  table.  Oxford  read  the  sum- 
mons with  attention.  It  named,  as  usual,  a  place,  where 
the  Duke  was  cited  to  come  unarmed  and  unattended,  and 
from  which  it  was  said  he  would  be  guided  to  the  seat  of 
judgment. 

Charles,  after  looking  at  the  scroll  for  some  time,  gave 
vent  to  his  thoughts. 

'  "  I  know  from  what  quiver  this  arrow  comes,"  he  said. 
''  It  is  shot  by  that  degenerate  noble,  apostate  priest,  and 
accomplice  of  sorcerers,  Albert  of  Geierstein.  "Wo  have  heard 
that  he  is  among  the  motley  group  of  murderers  and  out- 
laws whom  the  old  fiddler  of  Provence's  grandson  has  raked 
together.  But,  by  St.  George  of  Burgundy  !  neither  monk's 
cowl,  soldier's  casque,  nor  conjurer's  cap  shall  save  him  after 
such  an  insult  as  this.  I  will  degrade  him  from  knighthood, 
hang  him  from  the  highest  steeple  in  Nancy,  and  his  daugh- 
ter shall  choose  between  the  meanest  herd-boy  in  my  army 
and  the  convent  of  filles  repent ees." 

''  Whatever  are  your  purposes,  my  lord,"  said  Contay,  '^  it 
were  surely  best  be  silent,  when,  from  this  late  apparition, 
we  may  conjecture  that  more  than  we  wot  of  may  be  within 
hearing." 

The  Duke  seemed  struck  with  this  hint,  and  was  silent, 
or  at  least  only  muttered  oaths  and  threats  betwixt  his  teeth, 
while  the  strictest  search  was  made  for  the  intruder  on  his 
repose.     But  it  was  in  vain. 

Charles  continued  his  researches,  incensed  at  a  flight  of 
audacity  higher  than  ever  had  been  ventured  upon  by  these 
Secret  Societies,  who,  whatever  might  be  the  dread  inspired 
by  them,  had  not  as  yet  attempted  to  cope  with  sovereigns. 
A  trusty  party  of  Burgundians  were  sent  on  Christmas  night 
to  watch  the  spot  (a  meeting  of  four  cross  roads),  named  in 
the  summons,  and  make  prisoners  of  any  whom  they  could 
lay  hands  upon  ;  but  no  suspicious  persons  appeared  at  or 
near  the  place.  The  Duke  not  the  less  continued  to  impute 
the  affront  he  had  received  to  Albert  of  Geierstein.  There 
was  a  price  set  upon  his  head ;  and  Campo-basso,  alwajrg 
willing  to  please  his  master's  mood,  undertook  that  some  of  his 
Italians,  sufficiently  experienced  in  such  feats,  should  bring 
the  obnoxious  baron  before  him,  alive  or  dead.  Colvin,  Con- 
tay, and  others  laughed  in  secret  at  the  Italian's  promises. 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  443 

"  Subtle  as  he  is/*  said  Colvin,  "  he  will  lure  the  wild  vul- 
ture from  the  heavens  before  he  gets  Albert  of  Geierstein 
into  his  power." 

Arthur,  to  whom  the  words  of  the  Duke  had  given  sub- 
ject for  no  small  anxiety,  on  account  of  Anne  of  Geierstein, 
and  of  her  father  for  her  sake,  breathed  more  lightly  on 
hearing  his  menaces  held  so  cheaply. 

It  was  the  second  day  after  this  alarm  that  Oxford  felt  a 
desire  to  reconnoiter  the  camp  of  Ferrand  of  Lorraine,  hav- 
ing some  doubts  whether  the  strength  and  position  of  it 
were  accurately  reported.  He  obtained  the  Duke's  consent 
for  this  purpose,  who  at  the  same  time  made  him  and  his 
son  a  present  of  two  noble  steeds  of  great  power  and  speed, 
which  he  himself  highly  valued. 

So  soon  as  the  Duke's  pleasure  was  communicated  to  the 
Italian  Count,  he  expressed  the  utmost  joy  that  he  was  to 
have  the  assistance  of  Oxford's  age  and  experience  upon  an 
exploratory  party,  and  selected  a  chosen  band  of  an  hundred 
Stradiots,  whom  he  said  he  had  sent  sometimes  to  skirmish 
up  to  the  very  beards  of  the  Switzers.  The  Earl  showed 
himself  much  satisfied  with  the  active  and  intelligent  man- 
ner in  which  these  men  performed  their  duty,  and  drove  be- 
fore them  and  dispersed  some  parties  of  Ferrand's  cavalry. 
At  the  ^entrance  of  a  little  ascending  valley,  Campo-basso 
communicated  to  the  English  noblemen  that,  if  they  could 
advance  to  the  farther  extremity,  they  would  have  a  full  view 
of  the  enemy's  position.  Two  or  three  Stradiots  then 
spurred  on  to  examine  this  defile,  and,  returning  back,  com- 
municated with  their  leader  in  their  own  language,  who, 
pronouncing  the  passage  safe,  invited  the  Earl  of  Oxford  to 
accompany  him.  They  proceeded  through  the  valley  with- 
out seeing  an  enemy,  but,  on  issuing  upon  a  plain  at  the 
point  intimated  by  Oampo-basso,  Arthur,  who  was  in  the  van 
of  the  Stradiots,  and  separated  from  his  father,  did  indeed 
see  the  camp  of  Duke  Ferrand  within  half  a  mile's  distance  ; 
but  a  body  of  cavalry  had  that  instant  issued  from  it,  and 
were  riding  hastily  towards  the  gorge  of  the  valley,  from 
which  he  had  just  emerged.  He  was  about  to  wheel  his 
horse  and  ride  off,  but,  conscious  of  the  great  speed  of  the 
animal,  he  thought  he  might  venture  to  stay  for  a  moment's 
more  accurate  survey  of  the  camp.  The  Stradiots  who  at- 
tended him  did  not  wait  his  orders  to  retire,  but  went  off,  as 
was  indeed  their  duty,  when  attacked  by  a  superior  force. 

Meantime,  Arthur  observed  that  the  knight  who  seemed 
leader  of  the  advancing  squadron,  mounted  on  a  powerful 


444  WA  VEBLET  NO  VELS 

horse  that  shook  the  earth  beneath  him,  bore  on  his  shield 
the  Bear  of  Berne,  and  had  otherwise  the  appearance  of  the 
massive  frame  of  Rudolph  Donnerhugel.  He  was  satisfied 
of  this  when  he  beheld  the  cavalier  halt  his  party  and  ad- 
vance towards  him  alone,  putting  his  lance  in  rest,  and  mov- 
ing slowly,  as  if  to  give  him  time  for  preparation.  To  ac- 
cept such  a  challenge,  in  such  a  moment,  was  dangerous, 
but  to  refuse  it  was  disgraceful  ;  and  while  Arthur's  blood 
boiled  at  the  idea  of  chastising  an  insolent  rival,  he  was  not 
a  little  pleased  at  heart  that  their  meeting  on  horseback  gave 
him  an  advantage  over  the  Swiss,  through  his  perfect  ac- 
quaintance with  the  practise  of  the  tourney,  in  which 
Eudolph  might  be  supposed  more  ignorant. 

They  met,  as  was  the  phrase  of  the  time,  *'  manful  under 
shield.''  The  lance  of  the  Swiss  glanced  from  the  helmet  of 
the  Englishman,  against  which  it  was  addressed,  while  the 
spear  of  Arthur,  directed  right  against  the  center  of  his 
adversary's  body,  was  so  justly  aimed,  and  so  truly  seconded 
by  the  full  fury  of  the  career,  as  to  pierce,  not  only  the 
shield  which  hung  round  the  ill-fated  warrior's  neck,  but  a 
breastplate,  and  a  shirt  of  mail  which  he  wore  beneath  it. 
Passing  clear  through  the  body,  the  steel  point  of  the  weapon 
was  only  stopped  by  the  back-piece  of  the  unfortunate  cava- 
lier, who  fell  headlong  from  his  horse,  as  if  struck  by  light- 
ning, rolled  twice  or  thrice  over  on  the  ground,  tore  t£e  earth 
with  his  hands,  and  then  lay  prostrate  a  dead  corpse. 

There  was  a  cry  of  rage  and  grief  among  those  men-at- 
arms  whose  ranks  Rudolph  had  that  instant  left,  and  many 
couched  their  lances  to  avenge  him ;  but  Ferrand  of  Lor- 
raine, who  was  present  in  person,  ordered  them  to  make 
prisoner,  but  not  to  harm,  the  successful  champion.  This 
was  accomplished,  for  Arthur  had  not  time  to  turn  his 
bridle  for  flight,  and  resistance  would  have  been  madness. 

When  brought  before  Ferrand,  he  raised  his  visor,  and 
said,  *'Is  it  well,  my  lord,  to  make  captive  an  adventurous 
knight  for  doing  his  devoir  against  a  personal  challenger  ?  " 

'"  Do  not  complain.  Sir  Arthur  of  Oxford,"  said  Ferrand, 
''before  you  experience  injury.  You  are  free,  sir  knight. 
Your  father  and  you  were  faithful  to  my  royal  aunt  Mar- 
garet, and,  although  she  was  my  enemy,  I  do  justice  to  your 
fidelity  in  her  behalf ;  and  from  respect  to  her  memory,  dis- 
inherited as  she  was  like  myself,  and  to  please  my  grand- 
father, who  I  think  had  some  regard  for  you,  I  give  you 
your  freedom.  But  I  must  also  care  for  your  safety  during 
your  return  to  the  camp  of  Burgundy.     On  this  side  of  the 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  445 

hill  we  are  loyal  and  true-hearted  men  ;  on  the  other  they 
are  traitors  and  murderers.  You,  sir  count,  will,  I  think, 
gladly  see  our  captive  placed  in  safety/' 

The  knight  to  whom  Ferrand  addressed  himself,  a  tall 
stately  man,  put  himself  in  motion  to  attend  on  Arthur, 
while  the  former  was  expressing  to  the  young  Duke  of 
Lorraine  the  sense  he  entertained  of  his  chivalrous  conduct. 
*'  Farewell,  Sir  Arthur  de  Vere,"  said  Ferrand.  ''  You  have 
slain  a  noble  champion,  and  to  me  a  most  useful  and  faithful 
friend.  But  it  was  done  nobly  and  openly,  with  equal  arms, 
and  in  the  front  of  the  line  ;  and  evil  befall  him  who  enter- 
tains feud  first !  "  Arthur  bowed  to  his  saddle-bow.  Ferrand 
returned  the  salutation,  and  they  parted. 

Arthur  and  his  new  companion  had  ridden  but  a  little  way 
up  the  ascent,  when  the  stranger  spoke  thus  : — 

'^  We  have  been  fellow-travelers'  before,  young  man,  yet 
you  remember  me  not.*' 

Arthur  turned  his  eyes  on  the  cavalier,  and,  observing  that 
the  crest  which  adorned  his  helmet  was  fashioned  like  a  vul- 
ture, strange  suspicions  began  to  cross  his  mind,  which  were 
confirmed  when  the  knight,  opening  his  helmet,  showed  him 
the  dark  and  severe  features  of  the  priest  of  St.  PauFs. 

'^  Count  Albert  of  Geierstein  I'*  said  Arthur. 

"  The  same,'*  replied  the  Count,  ''  though  thou  hast  seen 
him  in  other  garb  and  head-gear.  But  tyranny  drives  all 
men  to  arms,  and  I  have  resumed,  by  the  license  and  com- 
mand of  my  superiors,  those  which  I  have  laid  aside.  A  war 
against  cruelty  and  oppression  is  holy  as  that  waged  in  Pales- 
tine, in  which  priests  bear  armor." 

''  My  Lord  Count,"  said  Arthur,  eagerly,  ^'  I  cannot  too 
soon  entreat  you  to  withdraw  to  Sir  Ferrand  of  Lorraine's 
squadron.  Here  you  are  in  peril,  where  no  strength  of 
courage  can  avail  you.  The  Duke  has  placed  a  price  on  your 
head  ;  and  the  country  betwixt  this  and  Nancy  swarms  with 
Stradiots  and  Italian  light  horsemen." 

*'  I  laugh  at  them,"  answered  the  Count.  ''  I  have  not 
lived  so  long  in  a  stormy  world,  amid  intrigues  of  war  and 
policy,  to  fall  by  the  mean  hand  of  such  as  they ;  besides, 
thou  art  with  me,  and  I  have  seen  but  now  that  thou  canst 
bear  thee  nobly." 

"  In  your  defense,  my  lord,"  said  Arthur,  who  thought  of 
his  companion  as  the  father  of  Anne  of  Geierstein,  ^^  1  should 
try  to  do  my  best." 

"  What,  youth  ! "  replied  Count  Albert  with  a  stern  sneer 
that  was  peculiar  to  his  countenauce  ;  '^  wouldstthou  aid  th^ 


446  WAVEBLET  NOVELS 

enemy  of  the  lord  under  whose  banner  thou  servest  against 
his  waged  soldiers  ?  " 

'Arthur  was  somewhat  abashed  at  the  turn  given  to  his 
ready  offer  of  assistance,  for  which  he  had  expected  at  least 
thanks  ;  but  he  instantly  collected  himself,  and  replied,  *^My 
Lord  Count  Albert,  you  have  been  pleased  to  put  yourself  in 
peril  to  protect  me  from  partizans  of  your  party ;  I  am  equally 
bound  to  defend  you  from  those  of  our  side/' 

"  It  is  happily  answered,^'  said  the  count ;  *'yet  I  think 
there  is  a  little  blind  partizan,  of  whom  troubadours  and 
minstrels  talk,  to  whose  instigation  I  might,  in  case  of  need, 
owe  the  great  zeal  of  my  protector/' 

He  did  not  allow  Arthur,  who  was  a  good  deal  embarrassed, 
time  to  reply,  but  proceeded — "  Hear  me,  young  man.  Thy 
lance  has  this  day  done  an  evil  deed  to  Switzerland,  to  Berne, 
and  Duke  Ferrand,  in  slaying  their  bravest  champion.  But 
to  me  the  death  of  Rudolph  Donnerhugel  is  a  welcome 
event.  Know  that  he  was,  as  his  services  grew  more  indis- 
pensable, become  importunate  in  requiring  Duke  Ferrand's 
mterest  with  me  for  my  daughter's  hand.  And  the  Duke 
himself,  the  son  of  a  princess,  blushed  not  to  ask  me  to  be- 
stow the  fast  of  my  house — for  my  brother's  family  are  de- 
generate mongrels — upon  a  presumptuous  young  man,  whose 
nncle  was  a  domestic  in  the  house  of  my  wife's  father,  though 
they  boasted  some  relationship,  I  believe,  through  an  illegiti- 
mate channel,  which  yonder  Rudolph  was  wont  to  make  the 
most  of,  as  it  favored  his  suit." 

"  Surely,"  said  Arthur,  ''  a  match  with  one  so  unequal  in 
birth,  and  far  more  in  every  other  respect,  was  too  mon- 
strous to  be  mentioned  ?  " 

"  While  I  lived,"  replied  Count  Albert,  "  never  should 
such  union  have  been  formed,  if  the  death  both  of  bride  and 
bridegroom  by  my  dagger  could  have  saved  the  honor  ol  my 
house  from  violation.  But  when  I — I  whose  days,  whose 
very  hours  are  numbered — shall  be  no  more,  what  could  pre- 
vent an  undaunted  suitor,  fortified  by  Duke  Ferrand's  favor, 
by  the  general  applause  of  his  country,  and  perhaps  by  the 
unfortunate  prepossession  of  my  brother  Arnold,  from  carry- 
ing his  point  against  the  resistance  and  scruples  of  a  solitary 
maiden  ?  " 

"  Rudolph  is  dead,"  replied  Arthur,  "and  may  Heaven 
assoilzie  him  from  guilt  !  But  were  he  alive,  and  urging  his 
suit  on  Anne  of  Geierstein,  he  would  find  there  was  a  combat 
to  be  fought " 

"  Which  has  been  already  decided,"  answered  Count  Albert 


ANNE  OF  GEIEBSTEIN  44'J 

**Now,  mark  me,  Arthur  de  Vere  !  My  daughter  has  told 
me  of  the  passages  betwixt  you  and  her.  Your  sentiments 
and  conduct  are  worthy  of  the  noble  house  you  descend  from, 
which  I  well  know  ranks  with  the  most  illustrious  in  Europe. 
You  are  indeed  disinherited,  but  so  is  Anne  of  Geierstein, 
save  such  pittance  as  her  uncle  may  impart  to  her  of  her 
paternal  inheritance.  If  you  share  it  together  till  better 
days — always  supposing  your  noble  father  gives  his  consent, 
for  my  child  shall  enter  no  house  against  the  will  of  its  head 
— my  daughter  knows  that  she  has  my  willing  consent  and 
my  blessing.  My  brother  shall  also  know  my  pleasure.  He 
will  approve  my  purpose  ;  for,  though  dead  to  thoughts  of 
honor  and  chivalry,  he  is  alive  to  social  feelings,  loves  his 
niece,  and  has  friendship  for  thee  and  for  thy  father.  What 
say'st  thou,  young  man,  to  taking  a  beggarly  countess  to  aid 
thee  in  the  journey  of  life  ?  I  believe — nay,  I  prophesy,  for 
I  stand  so  much  on  the  edge  of  the  grave  that  methinks  I 
command  a  view  beyond  it,  that  a  luster  will  one  day,  after 
I  have  long  ended  my  doubtful  and  stormy  life,  beam  on  the 
coronets  of  De  Vere  and  Geierstein.'^ 

De  Vere  threw  himself  from  his  horse,  clasped  ^  the  hand 
of  Count  Albert,  and  was  about  to  exhaust  himself  in  thanks  ; 
but  the  Count  insisted  on  his  silence. 

''We  are  about  to  part,''  he  said.  ''The  time  is  short, 
the  place  is  dangerous.  You  are  to  me,  personally  speaking, 
less  than  nothing.  Had  any  one  of  the  many  schemes  of 
ambition  which  I  have  pursued  led  me  to  success,  the  son  of 
a  banished  earl  had  not  been  the  son-in-law  I  had  chosen. 
Else  and  remount  your  horse  ;  thanks  are  unpleasing  when 
they  are  not  merited." 

Arthur  arose,  and,  mounting  his  horse,  threw  his  raptures 
into  a  more  acceptable  form,  endeavoring  to  describe  how  his 
love  for  Anne,  and  efforts  for  her  happiness,  should  express 
his  gratitude  to  her  father  ;  and,  observing  that  the  Count 
listened  with  some  pleasure  to  the  picture  he  drew  of  their 
future  life,  he  could  not  help  exclaiming,  "And  you,  my 
lord — you  who  have  been  the  author  of  all  this  happiness, 
will  you  not  be  the  witness  and  partaker  of  it  ?  Believe  me, 
we  will  strive  to  soften  the  effect  of  the  hard  blows  which 
fortune  has  dealt  to  you,  and  should  a  ray  of  better  luck 
shine  upon  us,  it  will  be  the  more  welcome  that  you  can 
share  it.'* 

"  Forbear  such  folly,"  said  the  Count  Albert  of  Geierstein. 
"  I  know  my  last  scene  is  approaching.  Hear  and  tremble. 
The  Duke  of  Burgundy  is  sentenced  to  die,  and  the  Secret 


448  WAVEELEY  NOVELS 

and  Invisible  Judges,  who  doom  in  secret  and  avenge  in 
secret,  like  the  Deity,  have  given  the  cord  and  the  dagger  to 
my  hand/' 

"  Oh,  cast  from  you  these  vile  symbols  !  "  exclaimed  Arthur, 
with  enthusiasm — ^^let  them  find  butchers  and  common 
stabbers  to  do  such  an  office,  and  not  dishonor  the  noble 
Lord  of  Geierstein  !  " 

**  Peace,  foolish  boy,*'  answered  the  Count.  '^  The  oath 
by  which  I  am  sworn  is  higher  than  that  clouded  sky,  more 
deeply  fixed  than  those  distant  mountains.  Nor  think  my 
act  is  that  of  an  assassin,  though  for  such  I  might  plead  the 
Duke's  own  example.  I  send  not  hirelings,  like  these  base 
Stradiots,  to  hunt  his  life,  without  imperiling  mine  own. 
I  give  not  his  daughter,  innocent  of  his  offenses,  the  choice 
betwixt  a  disgraceful  marriage  and  a  discreditable  retreat 
from  the  world.  No,  Arthur  de  Vere,  I  seek  Charles  with 
the  resolved  mind  of  one  who,  to  take  the  life  of  an  adver- 
sary, exposes  himself  to  certain  death." 

^'  I  pray  you  speak  no  farther  of  it,"  said  Arthur,  very  anx- 
iously. *^  Consider  I  serve  for  the  present  the  prince  whom 
you  threaten " 

"And  art  bound,"  interrupted  the  Count,  ^'to  unfold  to 
him  what  I  tell  you.  I  desire  you  should  do  so  ;  and  though 
he  hath  already  neglected  a  summons  of  the  Tribunal,  I  am 
glad  to  have  this  opportunity  of  sending  him  personal  defi- 
ance. Say  to  Charles  of  Burgundy,  that  he  has  wronged 
Albert  of  Geierstein.  He  who  is  injured  in  his  honor  loses 
all  value  for  his  life,  and  whoever  does  so  has  full  command 
over  that  of  another  man.  Bid  him  keep  himself  well  from 
me,  since,  if  he  see  a  second  sun  of  the  approaching  year 
rise  over  the  distant  Alps,  Albert  of  Geierstein  is  forsworn. 
And  now  begone,  for  I  see  a  party  approach  under  a  Bur- 

fundian  banner.     They  will  ensure  your  safety,  but,  should 
remain  longer,  would  endanger  mine." 
So  saying,  the  Count  of  Geierstein  turned  his  horse  and 
rode  off. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI 

Faint  the  din  of  battle  bray'd 
Distant  down  the  heavy  wind ; 

War  and  terror  fled  before, 
Wounds  and  death  were  left  behind. 

MiCKLE. 

Arthur,  left  alone,  and  desirous  perhaps  to  cover  the  re- 
treat of  Count  Albert,  rode  towards  the  approaching  body 
of  Burgundian  cavalry,  who  were  arrayed  under  the  Lord 
Contay^s  banner. 

'*  Welcome — welcome,""  said  that  nobleman,  advancing 
hastily  to  the  young  knight.  "  The  Duke  of  Burgundy  is 
a  mile  hence,  with  a  body  of  horse  to  support  the  reconnoit- 
ering  party.  It  is  not  half  an  hour  since  your  father  galloped 
up,  and  stated  that  you  had  been  led  into  an  ambuscade  by 
the  treachery  of  the  Stradiots,  and  made  prisoner.  He  has 
impeached  Campo-basso  of  treason,  and  challenged  him  to 
the  combat.  They  have  both  been  sent  to  the  camp,  under 
charge  of  the  grand  marshal,  to  prevent  their  fighting  on  the 
spot,  though  I  think  our  Italian  showed  little  desire  to  come 
to  blows.  The  Duke  holds  their  gages,  and  they  are  to  fight 
upon  Twelfth  Day.'' 

''  I  doubt  that  day  will  never  dawn  for  some  who  look  for 
it,''  said  Arthur  ;  '^  but  if  it  do,  I  will  myself  claim  the 
combat,  by  my  father's  permission." 

He  then  turned  with  Contay,  and  met  a  still  larger  body 
of  cavalry  under  the  Duke's  broad  banner.  He  was  instantly 
brought  before  Charles.  The  Duke  heard,  with  some  ap- 
parent anxiety,  Arthur's  support  of  his  father's  accusations 
against  the  Italian,  in  whose  favor  he  was  so  deeply  prej- 
udiced. When  assured  that  the  Stradiots  had  been  across 
the  hill,  and  communicated  with  their  leader  just  before  he 
encouraged  Arthur  to  advance,  as  it  proved,  into  the  midst 
of  an  ambush,  the  Duke  shook  his  head,  lowered  his  shaggy 
brows,  and  muttered  to  himself — '*  111  will  to  Oxford,  perhaps 
— these  Italians  are  vindictive.'*  Then  raising  his  head,  he 
commanded  Arthur  to  proceed. 

He  heard  with  a  species  of  ecstasy  the  death  of  Rudolph 
Bonnerhugel,  and,  taking  a  ponderous  gold  chain  from  his 
own  neck,  flung  it  over  Arthur's 

449 


ISO  WA  VEBLEY  NO VELS 

"  Why,  thou  hast  forestalled  all  our  honors,  young  Arthur : 
this  was  the  biggest  bear  of  them  all :  the  rest  are  but  suck- 
ling whelps  to  him.  I  think  I  have  found  a  youthful  David 
to  match  their  huge  thick-headed  Goliath.  But  the  idiot, 
to  think  his  peasant  hand  could  manage  a  lance  !  Well,  my 
brave  boy,  what  more  ?  How  camest  thou  off  ?  By  some 
wily  device  or  agile  stratagem,  I  warrant/^ 

*' Pardon  me,  my  lord,  answered  Arthur.  "I  was  pro- 
tected  by  their  chief,  Ferrand,  who  considered  my  encounter 
with  Rudolph  Donnerhugel  as  a  personal  duel ;  and  desirous 
to  use  fair  war,  as  he  said,  dismissed  me  honorably,  with  my 
horse  and  arms.*' 

'^'Umph  !  "  said  Charles,  his  bad  humor  returning  ;  '^your 
Prince  Adventurer  must  play  the  generous.  Umph — well  it 
belongs  to  his  part,  but  shall  not  be  a  line  for  me  to  square 
my  conduct  by.  Proceed  with  your  story.  Sir  Arthur  de 
Vere." 

As  Arthur  proceeded  to  tell  how,  and  under  what  circum- 
stances. Count  Albert  of  Geierstein  named  himself  to  him, 
the  Duke  fixed  on  him  an  eager  look,  and  trembled  with 
impatience  as  he  fiercely  interrupted  him  with  the  question 
• — ''  And  you — ^you  struck  him  with  your  poniard  under  the 
fifth  rib,  did  you  not  ?  " 

**  I  did  not,  my  Lord  Duke  ;  we  were  pledged  in  mutual 
assurance  to  each  other.'* 

"  Yet  you  knew  him  to  be  my  mortal  enemy  ?  "  said  the 
Duke.  ''Go,  young  man,  thy  lukewarm  indifference  has 
canceled  thy  merit.  The  escape  of  Albert  of  Geierstein 
hath  counterbalanced  the  death  of  Rudolph  Donnerhugel.  f 

"Be  it  so,  my  lord,*'  said  Arthur,  boldly.  "I  neither 
claim  your  praises  nor  deprecate  your  censure.  I  had  to 
move  me  in  either  case  motives  personal  to  myself  :  Donner- 
hugel was  my  enemy,  and  to  Count  Albert  I  owe  some 
kindness." 

The  Burgundian  nobles  who  stood  around  were  terrified 
for  the  effect  of  this  bold  speech.  But  it  was  never  possible 
to  guess  with  accuracy  how  such  things  would  affect 
Charles.  He  looked  around  him  with  a  laugh.  "Hear 
you  this  English  cockerel,  my  lords  ;  what  a  note  will  he 
one  day  sound,  that  already  crows  so  bravely  in  a  prince's 
presence  ?  " 

A  few  horsemen  now  came  in  from  different  quarters,  re- 
counting that  the  Duke  Ferrand  and  his  company  had 
retired  into  their  encampment,  and  the  country  was  clear  oi 
the  enemy* 


ANNE  OF  GEIEBSTEIN  451 

"  Let  us  then  draw  back  also/^  said  Charles,  "  since  there 
Is  no  chance  of  breaking  spears  to-day.  And  thou,  Arthur 
de  Vere,  attend  me  closely/^ 

Arrived  in  the  Duke's  pavilion,  Arthur  underwent  an  ex- 
amination, in  which  he  said  nothing  of  Anne  of  Geierstein, 
or  her  father's  designs  concerning  him,  with  which  he  con- 
sidered Charles  as  having  nothing  to  do  ;  but  he  frankly 
conveyed  to  him  the  personal  threats  which  the  Count  had 
openly  used.  The  Duke  listened  with  more  temper,  and 
when  he  heard  the  expression,  *'  That  a  man  who  is  desperate 
of  his  own  life  might  command  that  of  any  other  person," 
he  said,  *'But  there  is  a  life  beyond  this,  in  which  he  who 
is  treacherously  murdered  and  his  base  and  desperate  assassin 
shall  each  meet  their  deserts.''  He  then  took  from  his  bosom 
a  gold  cross,  and  kissed  it,  with  much  appearance  of  devo- 
tion. *'  In  this,"  said  he,  ''  I  will  place  my  trust.  If  I  fail 
in  this  world,  may  I  find  grace  in  the  next.  Ho,  sir  mar- 
shal !"  he  exclaimed.     ''  Let  your  prisoners  attend  us." 

The  marshal  of  Burgundy  entered  with  the  Earl  of  Ox- 
ford, and  stated  that  his  other  prisoner,  Campo-basso,  had 
desired  so  earnestly  that  he  might  be  suffered  to  go  and  post 
his  sentinels  on  that  part  of  the  camp  entrusted  to  the  pro- 
tection of  his  troops,  that  he,  the  marshal,  had  thought  fit 
to  comply  with  his  request. 

"It  is  well,"  said  Burgundy,  without  further  remark. 
^'  Then  to  you  my  Lord  Oxford  I  would  present  your  son, 
had  you  not  already  locked  him  in  your  arms.  He  has  won 
great  los  and  honor,  and  done  me  brave  service.  This  is  a 
period  of  the  year  when  good  men  forgive  their  enemies. 
I  know  not  why — my  mind  was  little  apt  to  be  charged  with 
such  matters — but  I  feel  an  unconquerable  desire  to  stop 
the  approaching  combat  betwixt  you  and  Campo-basso. 
For  my  sake,  consent  to  befriends,  and  to  receive  back  your 
gage  of  battle,  and  let  me  conclude  this  year — perhaps  the 
last  I  may  see — with  a  deed  of  peace." 

"  My  lord,"  said  Oxford,  "  it  is  a  small  thing  you  ask  of 
me,  since  your  request  only  enforces  a  Christian  duty.  I 
was  enraged  at  the  loss  of  my  son.  lam  grateful  to  Heaven 
and  your  Grace  for  restoring  him.  To  be  friends  with  Campo- 
basso  is  to  me  impossible.  Faith  and  treason,  truth  and 
falsehood,  might  as  soon  shake  hands  and  embrace.  But 
the  Italian  shall  be  to  me  no  more  than  he  has  been  before 
this  rupture  ;  and  that  is  literally  nothing.  I  put  my  honor 
in  your  Grace's  hands  ;  if  he  receives  back  his  gage,  I  am 
willing  to  receive  mine.     John  de  Vere  needs  not  be  appre 


452  WAVEItLET  NOVELS 

hensive  that  the  world  will  suppose  that  he  fears  Campo- 
basso." 

The  Duke  returned  sincere  thanks,  and  detained  the 
officers  to  spend  the  evening  in  his  tent.  His  manners 
seemed  to  Arthur  to  be  more  placid  than  he  had  ever  seen 
them  before,  while  to  the  Earl  of  Oxford  they  recalled  the 
earlier  days  in  which  their  intimacy  commenced,  ere  absolute 
power  and  unbounded  success  had  spoiled  Charles's  rough 
but  not  ungenerous  disposition.  The  Duke  ordered  a  dis- 
tribution of  provisions  and  wine  to  the  soldiers,  and  ex- 
pressed an  anxiety  about  their  lodgings,  the  cure  of  the 
wounded,  and  the  health  of  the  army,  to  which  he  received 
only  unpleasing  answers.  To  some  of  his  counselors,  apart, 
he  said,  "Were  it  not  for  our  vow,  we  would  relinquish 
this  purpose  till  spring,  when  our  poor  soldiers  might  take 
the  field  with  less  of  suffering.^' 

Nothing  else  remarkable  appeared  in  the  Duke's  manner, 
save  that  he  inquired  repeatedly  after  Campo-basso,  and  at 
length  received  accounts  that  he  was  indisposed,  and  that 
his  physician  had  recommended  rest ;  he  had  therefore  re- 
tired to  repose  himself,  in  order  that  he  might  be  stirring 
on  his  duty  at  peep  of  day,  the  safety  of  the  camp  depend- 
ing much  on  his  vigilance. 

The  Duke  made  no  observation  on  the  apology,  which  he 
considered  as  indicating  some  lurking  disinclination  on 
the  Italian's  part  to  meet  Oxford.  The  guests  at  the  ducal 
pavilion  were  dismissed  an  hour  before  midnight. 

When  Oxford  and  his  son  were  in  their  own  tent,  the  Earl 
fell  into  a  deep  reverie,  which  lasted  nearly  ten  minutes. 
At  length,  starting  suddenly  up,  he  said,  ''  My  son,  give 
orders  to  Thiebault  and  thy  yeomen  to  have  our  horses  before 
the  tent  by  break  of  day,  or  rather  before  it ;  and  it  would 
not  be  amiss  if  you  ask  our  neighbor  Colvin  to  ride  along 
with  us.     I  will  visit  the  outposts  by  daybreak." 

''  It  is  a  sudden  resolution,  my  lord,"  said  Arthur. 

"  And  yet  it  may  be  taken  too  late,"  said  his  father. 
'*  Had  it  been  moonlight,  I  would  have  made  the  rounds  to- 
night." 

"  It  is  dark  as  a  wolfs  throat,"  said  Arthur.  "  But  where- 
fore, my  lord,  can  this  night  in  particular  excite  your  appre- 
hensions ?  " 

*'  Son  Arthur,  perhaps  you  will  hold  your  father  credu- 
lous. But  my  nurse,  Martha  Nixon,  was  a  Northern  woman, 
and  full  of  superstitions.  In  particular,  she  was  wont  to 
Bay  that  any  sudden  and  causeless  change  of  a  man's  nature^i 


ANNE  OF  GEIEBSTETN  453 

as  from  license  to  sobriety,  from  temperance  to  indulgence, 
from  avarice  to  extravagance,  from  prodigality  to  love  of 
money,  or  the  like,  indicates  an  immediate  change  of  his 
fortunes ;  that  some  great  alteration  of  circumstances, 
either  for  good  or  evil,  and  for  evil  most  likely,  since  we 
live  in  an  evil  world,  is  impending  over  him  whose  disposi- 
tion is  so  much  altered.  This  old  woman's  fancy  has  re- 
curred so  strongly  to  my  mind,  that  I  am  determined  to  s«e 
with  mine  own  eyes,  ere  to-morrow's  dawn,  that  all  our 
guards  and  patrols  around  the  camp  are  on  the  alert/' 

Arthur  made  the  necessary  communications  to  Colvin  and 
to  Thiebault,  and  then  retired  to  rest. 

It  was  ere  daybreak  of  the  first  of  January  1477,  a  period 
long  memorable  for  the  events  which  marked  it,  that  the 
Earl  of  Oxford,  Oolvin,  and  the  young  Englishman,  followed 
only  by  Thiebault  and  two  other  servants,  commenced  their 
rounds  of  the  Duke  of  Burgundy's  encampment.  For  the 
greater  part  of  their  progress,  they  found  sentinels  and 
guards  all  on  the  alert  and  at  their  posts.  It  was  a  bitter 
morning.  The  ground  was  partly  covered  with  snow,  that 
snow  had  been  partly  melted  by  a  thaw,  which  had  prevailed 
for  two  days,  and  partly  congealed  into  ice  by  a  bitter  frost, 
which  had  commenced  the  preceding  evening  and  still  con- 
tinued.     A  more  dreary  scene  could  scarcely  be  witnessed. 

But  what  were  the  surprise  and  alarm  of  the  Earl  of  Oxford 
and  his  companions,  when  they  came  to  that  part  of  the  camp 
which  had  been  occupied  the  day  before  by  Campo-basso  and 
his  Italians,  who,  reckoning  men-at-arms  and  Stradiots, 
amounted  to  nigh  two  thousand  men — not  a  challenge  was 
given — not  a  horse  neighed — no  steeds  were  seen  at  picquet 
— no  guard  on  the  camp.  They  examined  several  of  the 
tents  and  huts — they  were  empty. 

^'  Let  us  back  to  alarm  tlie  camp,"  said  the  Earl  of  Ox- 
ford ;  ^^here  is  treachery." 

*'Nay,  my  lord,"  said  Colvin,  '^let  us  not  carry  back  im- 
perfect tidings.  I  have  a  battery  an  hundred  yards  in 
advance,  covering  the  access  to  this  hollow  way ;  let  us  see 
if  my  German  cannoneers  are  at  their  post,  and  I  think  I  can 
swear  that  we  shall  find  them  so.  The  battery  commands  a 
narrow  pass,  by  which  alone  the  camp  can  be  approached, 
and  if  my  men  are  at  their  duty,  I  will  pawn  my  life  that  we 
make  the  pass  good  till  you  bring  up  succors  from  the  main 
body." 

"Forward,  then,  in  God's  name  I"  said  the  Earl  of 
Oxford. 


454  WA  VEELEY  NO VELS 

They  galloped,  at  every  risk,  over  broken  ground,  slip* 
pery  with  ice  in  some  places,  encumbered  with  snow  m 
others.  They  came  to  the  cannon,  judiciously  placed  to 
sweep  the  pass,  which  rose  towards  the  artillery  on  the  out- 
ward side,  and  then  descended  gently  from  the  battery  into 
the  lower  ground.  The  waning  winter  moon,  mingling  with 
the  dawning  light,  showed  them  that  the  guns  were  in  their 
places,  but  no  sentinel  was  visible. 

^'  The  villains  cannot  have  deserted  ! "  said  the  astonished 
Colvin.  ''  But  see,  there  is  light  in  their  cantonment.  Oh, 
that  unhallowed  distribution  of  wine  !  Their  usual  sin  of 
drunkenness  has  beset  them.  I  will  soon  drive  them  from 
their  revelry." 

He  sprung  from  his  horse,  and  rushed  into  the  tent  from 
whence  the  light  issued.  The  cannoneers,  or  most  of  them, 
were  still  there,  but  stretched  on  the  ground,  their  cups  and 
flagons  scattered  around  them  ;  and  so  drenched  were  they 
in  wassail,  that  Colvin  could  only,  by  commands  and  threats, 
awaken  two  or  three,  who,  staggering,  and  obeying  him 
rather  from  instinct  than  sense,  reeled  forward  to  man  tho 
battery.  A  heavy  rushing  sound,  like  that  of  men  marching 
fast,  was  now  heard  coming  up  the  pass. 

"  It  is  the  roar  of  a  distant  avalanche,"  said  Arthur. 

*'  It  is  an  avalanche  of  Switzers,  not  of  snow,"  said  Colvin. 
"  Oh,  these  drunken  slaves  !  The  cannon  are  deeply  loaded 
and  well  pointed  ;  this  volley  must  check  them  if  they  were 
fiends,  and  the  report  will  alarm  the  camp  sooner  than  we 
can  do.     But,  oh,  these  drunken  villains  ! " 

"  Care  not  for  their  aid,"  said  the  Earl :  "  my  son  and  I 
will  each  take  a  linstock,  and  be  gunners  for  once." 

They  dismounted,  and  bade  Thiebault  and  the  grooms 
look  to  the  horses,  while  the  Earl  of  Oxford  and  his  son  took 
each  a  linstock  from  one  of  the  helpless  gunners,  three  of 
whom  were  just  sober  enough  to  stand  by  their  guns. 

"  Bravo  !"  cried  the  bold  master  of  ordnance,  '*  never  was 
a  battery  so  noble.  Now,  my  mates — your  pardon,  my  lords, 
for  there  is  no  time  for  ceremony — and  you,  ye  drunken 
knaves,  take  heed  not  to  fire  till  I  give  the  word,  and,  were 
the  ribs  of  these  tramplers  are  flinty  as  their  Alps,  they  shall 
know  how  old  Colvin  loads  his  guns." 

They  stood  breathless,  each  by  his  cannon.  The  dreaded 
sound  approached  nearer  and  more  near,  till  the  imperfect 
light  showed  a  dark  and  shadowy,  but  dense,  columnof  men, 
armed  with  long  spears,  pole-axes,  and  other  weapons,  amidst 
which  banners  dimly  floated.     Colvin  suffered  them  to  ap- 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  466 

proach  to  the  distance  of  about  forty  yards,  and  then  gave 
the  word,  "  Fire  ! "  But  his  own  piece  alone  exploded  ;  a 
slight  flame  flashed  from  the  touch-hole  of  the  others,  which 
had  been  spiked  by  the  Italian  deserters,  and  left  in  reality 
disabled,  though  apparently  fit  for  service.  Had  they  been 
all  in  the  same  condition  with  that  fired  by  Colvin,  they,  would 
probably  have  verified  his  prophecy  ;  for  even  that  single  dis- 
charge produced  an  awful  effect,  and  made  a  long  lane  of 
dead  and  wounded  through  the  Swiss  column,  in  which  the 
first  and  leading  banner  was  struck  down. 

"  Stand  to  it  yet,"  said  Colvin,  '^  and  aid  me  if  possible 
^0  reload  the  piece." 

For  this,  however,  no  time  was  allowed.  A  stately  form, 
conspicuous  in  the  front  of  the  staggered  column,  raised  up 
iJhe  fallen  banner,  and  a  voice  as  of  a  giant  exclaimed, 
*'  What,  countrymen  !  have  you  seen  Murten  and  Granson, 
and  are  you  daunted  by  a  single  gun  ?  Berne — Uri — Schwytz 
— banners  forward  !  Unterwalden,  here  is  your  standard  !' 
Cry  your  war-cries,  wind  your  horns.  Unterwalden,  follow 
your  Landamman  ! " 

They  rushed  on  like  a  raging  ocean,  with  a  roar  as  deafen- 
ing and  a  course  as  impetuous.  Colvin,  still  laboring  to 
reload  his  gun,  was  struck  down  in  the  act.  Oxford  and  his 
son  were  overthrown  by  the  multitude,  the  closeness  of  which 
prevented  any  blows  being  aimed  at  them.  Arthur  partly 
saved  himself  by  getting  under  the  gun  he  was  posted  at ; 
his  father,  less  fortunate,  was  much  trampled  upon,  and 
must  have  been  crushed  to  death  but  for  his  armor  of  proof. 
The  human  inundation,  consisting  of  at  least  four  thousand 
men,  rushed  down  into  the  camp,  continuing  their  dreadful 
shoutif,  soon  mingled  with  shrill  shrieks,  groans  and  cries  of 
alarm. 

A  byoad  red  glare  rising  behind  the  assailants,  and  putting 
to  shame  the  pallid  lights  of  the  winter  morning,  first  re- 
called Arthur  to  a  sense  of  his  condition.  The  camp  was 
on  fire  in  his  rear,  and  resounded  with  all  the  various  shouts 
of  conquest  and  terror  that  are  heard  in  a  town  which  is 
stormed.  Starting  to  his  feet,  he  looked  around  him  for 
his  father.  He  lay  near  him  senseless,  as  were  the  gunners, 
whose  condition  prevented  their  attempting  an  escape. 
Having  opened  his  father's  casque,  he  was  rejoiced  to  see 
him  give  symptoms  of  reanimation. 

'*^  The  horses — the  horses!"  said  Arthur.  "Thiebault, 
where  art  thou  ?  " 

"At  hand,  my  lord,"  said  that  trusty  attendant,  who  had 


456  WAVEELEY  NOVELS 

saved  himself  and  his  charge  by  a  prudent  retreat  into  a 
small  thicket,  which  the  assailants  had  avoided  that  they 
might  not  disorder  their  ranks. 

'•'Where  is  the  gallant  Colvin  ?^*  said  the  Earl;  ''get 
him  a  horse,  I  will  not  leave  him  in  jeopardy/* 

*'  His  wars  are  ended,  my  lord,"  said  Thiebanlt :  "  he 
will  never  mount  steed  more." 

A  look  and  a  sigh  as  he  saw  Colvin,  with  the  ramrod  in 
his  hand,  before  the  muzzle  of  the  piece,  his  head  cleft  by  a 
Swiss  battle-ax,  was  all  the  moment  permitted. 

"  Whither  must  we  take  our  course  ?  "  said  Arthur  to  his 
ffithsr 

"To  join  the  Duke,"  said  the  Earl  of  Oxford.  "  It  is 
not  on  a  day  like  this  that  I  will  leave  him." 

"So  please  you,"  said  Thiebault,  "I  saw  the  Duke,  fol- 
lowed by  some  half-score  of  his  guards,  riding  at  full  speed 
across  this  hollow  watercourse,  and  making  for  the  open 
country  to  the  northward.  I  think  I  can  guide  you  on  the 
track." 

"  If.  that  be  so,"  replied  Oxford,  "  we  will  mount  and 
follow  him.  The  camp  has  been  assailed  on  several  places 
at  once,  and  all  must  be  over  since  he  has  fled." 

With  difficulty  they  assisted  the  Earl  of  Oxford  to  his 
horse,  and  rode  as  fast  as  his  returning  strength  permitted 
in  the  direction  which  the  Proven9al  pointed  out.  Their 
other  attendants  were  dispersed  or  slain. 

They  looked  back  more  than  once  on  the  camp,  now  one 
great  scene  of  conflagration,  by  whose  red  and  glaring  light 
they  could  discover  on  the  ground  the  traces  of  Charles's  re- 
treat. About  three  miles  from  the  scene  of  their  defeat, 
the  sound  of  which  they  still  heard,  mingled  with  the  bells 
of  Nancy,  which  were  ringing  in  triumph,  they  reached  a 
half -frozen  swamp,  round  which  lay  several  dead  bodies. 
The  most  conspicuous  was  that  of  Charles  of  Burgundy,* 
once  the  possessor  of  such  unlimited  power,  such  unbounded 
wealth.  He  was  partly  stripped  and  plundered,  as  were 
those  who  lay  round  him.  His  body  was  pierced  with  sev- 
eral wounds,  inflicted  by  various  weapons.  His  sword  was 
still  in  his  hand,  and  the  singular  ferocity  which  was  wont 
to  animate  his  features  in  battle  still  dwelt  on  his  stiffened 
countenance.  Close  behind  him,  as  if  they  had  fallen  in  the 
act  of  mutual  fight,  lay  the  corpse  of  Count  Albert  of  Geier- 
stein ;  and  that  of  Ital  Schreckenwald,  the  faithful  though 

«  See  Charles  the  Bold.    Note  13. 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN  457 

unscrupulous  follower  of  the  latter,  lay  not  far  distant. 
Both  were  in  the  dress  of  the  men-at-arms  composing  the 
Duke^s  guard,  a  disguise  probably  assumed  to  execute  the 
fatal  commission  of  the  Secret  Tribunal.  It  is  supposed 
that  a  party  of  the  traitor  Campo-basso^s  men  had  been  en- 
gaged in  the  skirmish  in  which  the  Duke  fell,  for  six  or 
seven  of  them,  and  about  the  same  number  of  the  Duke's 
guards,  were  found  near  the  spot. 

The  Earl  of  Oxford  threw  himself  from  his  horse,  and 
examined  the  body  of  his  deceased  brother-in-arms  with  all 
the  sorrow  inspired  by  early  remembrance  of  his  kindness. 
But,  as  he  gave  way  to  the  feelings  inspired  by  so  melancholy 
an  example  of  the  fall  of  human  greatness,  Thiebault,  who 
was  looking  out  on  the  path  they  had  just  pursued,  exclaimed, 
*'  To  horse,  my  lord  !  here  is  no  time  to  mourn  the  dead, 
and  little  to  save  the  living — the  Swiss  are  upon  us.'' 

"  Fly  thyself,  good  fellow,"  said  the  Earl  ;  ''  and  do  thou, 
Arthur,  fly  also,  and  save  thy  youth  for  happier  days.  I 
cannot  and  will  not  fly  farther.  I  will  render  me  to  the 
pursuers  ;  if  they  take  me  to  grace,  it  is  well ;  if  not,  there 
IS  ON'E  above  that  will  receive  me  to  His." 

*'  I  will  not  fly,"  said  Arthur,  "and  leave  you  defenseless  : 
I  will  stay  and  share  your  fate." 

*'  And  I  will  remain  also,"  said  Thiebault ;  "  the  Switzers 
make  fair  war  when  their  blood  has  not  been  heated  by  much 
opposition,  and  they  have  had  little  enough  to-day." 

The  party  of  Swiss  which  came  up  proved  to  be  Sigismund, 
with  his  brother  Ernest  and  some  of  the  youths  of  Unter- 
walden.  Sigismund  kindly  and  joyfully  received  them  to 
mercy ;  and  thus,  for  the  third  time,  rendered  Arthur  an 
important  service,  in  return  for  the  kindness  he  had  ex- 
pressed towards  him. 

"I  will  take  you  to  my  father,"  said  Sigismund,  ''  who 
will  be  right  glad  to  see  you  ;  only  that  he  is  ill  at  ease  just 
now  for  the  death  of  brother  Eudiger,  who  fell  with  the 
banner  in  his  hand,  by  the  only  cannon  that  was  fired  this 
morning ;  the  rest  could  not  bark  :  Campo-basso  had 
muzzled  Colvin's  mastiffs,  or  we  should  many  more  of  us 
have  been  served  like  poor  Rudiger.  But  Colvin  himself  is 
-     killed." 

"  Campo-basso,  then,  was  in  your  correspondence  ?"  said 
Arthur. 

'■"'  Not  in  ours — we  scorn  such  companions — but  some  deal- 

Iing  there  was  between  the  Italian  and  Duke  Ferrand ;  and 


458    •  iVAVEBLET  NOVELS 

soundly  drnnk,  he  came  off  to  our  camp  with  fifteen  hundred 
horse,  and  offered  to  act  with  us.  "But  no — no  \"  said  my 
father,  "  traitors  come  not  into  our  Swiss  host  '^ ;  and  so, 
though  we  walked  in  at  the  door  which  he  left  open,  we 
would  not  have  his  company.  So  he  marched  with  Duke 
Ferrand  to  attack  the  other  extremity  of  the  camp,  where  he 
found  them  entrance  by  announcing  them  as  the  return  of  a 
reconnoitering  party. '^ 

"Nay,  then,^^  said  Arthur,  ''a  more  accomplished  traitor 
never  drew  breath,  nor  one  who  drew  his  net  with  such 
success.*' 

"  You  say  well,'*  answered  the  young  Swiss.  "  The  Duke 
will  never,  they  say,  be  able  to  collect  another  army." 

"  Never,  young  man,''  said  the  Earl  of  Oxford,  "  for  he 
lies  dead  before  you." 

Sigismund  started ;  for  he  had  an  inherent  respect,  and 
somewhat  of  fear,  for  the  lofty  name  of  Charles  the  Bold, 
and  could  hardly  believe  that  the  mangled  corpse  which  now 
lay  before  him  was  once  the  personage  he  had  been  taught  to 
dread.  But  his  surprise  was  mingled  with  sorrow  when  he 
saw  the  body  of  his  uncle.  Count  Albert  of  Geierstein. 

"Oh,  my  uncle,"  he  said — "  my  dear  uncle  Albert !  has 
all  your  greatness  and  your  wisdom  brought  you  to  a  death 
at  the  side  of  a  ditch,  like  any  crazed  beggar  ?  Come,  this 
sad  news  must  be  presently  told  to  my  father,  who  will  be 
concerned  to  hear  of  his  brother's  death,  which  will  add  gall 
to  bitterness,  coming  on  the  back  of  poor  Eudiger's.  It  is 
some  comfort,  however,  that  father  and  uncle  never  could 
abide  each  other." 

With  some  difficulty  they  once  more  assisted  the  Earl  of 
Oxford  to  horseback,  and  were  proceeding  to  set  forward, 
when  the  English  lord  said,  "  You  will  place  a  guard  here, 
to  save  these  bodies  from  farther  dishonor,  that  they  may  be 
interred  with  due  solemnity." 

"  By  Our  Lady  of  Einsiedlen  !  I  thank  you  for  the  hint," 
said  Sigismund.  "  Yes,  we  should  do  all  that  the  church 
can  for  uncle  Albert.  It  is  to  be  hoped  he  has  not  gambled 
away  his  soul  beforehand,  playing"  with  Satan  at  odds  and 
evens.  I  would  we  had  a  priest  to  stay  by  his  poor  body  ; 
but  it  matters  not,  since  no  one  ever  heard  of  a  demon  appear- 
ing just  before  breakfast." 

They  proceeded  to  the  Landamman's  quarters,  through 
sights  and  scenes  which  Arthur,  and  even  his  father,  so  well 
accustomed  to  war  in  all  its  shapes,  could  not  look  upon 
without    shuddering.     But  the  simple   Sigismund,    as   he 


ANNE  OF  GEIEB STEIN  45S 

walked  by  Arthur's  side,  contrived  to  hit  upon  a  theme 
BO  interesting  as  to  divert  his  sense  of  the  horrors  around 
them. 

^'  Have  you  farther  business  in  Burgundy,  now  this  Duke 
of  yours  is  at  an  end  ?  " 

*'  My  father  knows  best,^'  said  Arthur  ;  "  but  I  apprehend 
we  have  none.  The  Duchess  of  Burgundy,  who  must  now 
succeed  to  some  sort  of  authority  in  her  late  husband^s 
dominion,  is  sister  to  this  Edward  of  York,  and  a  mortal 
enemy  to  the  house  of  Lancaster,  and  to  those  who  have 
stood  by  it  faithfully.  It  were  neither  prudent  nor  safe  to 
tarry  where  she  has  influence." 

"  In  that  case,"  said  Sigismund,  ''  my  plan  will  fadge 
bravely.  You  shall  go  back  to  Geierstein,  and  take  up  your 
dwelling  with  us.  Your  father  will  be  a  brother  to  mine, 
and  a  better  one  than  uncle  Albert,  whom  he  seldom  saw  or 
spoke  with ;  while  with  your  father  he  will  converse  from 
morning  till  night,  and  leave  us  all  the  work  of  the  farm. 
And  you,  Arthur — you  shall  go  with  us,  and  be  a  brother  to 
us  all,  in  place  of  poor  Eudiger,  who  was,  to  be  sure,  my 
real  brother,  which  you  cannot  be.  Nevertheless,  I  did  not 
like  him  so  well,  in  respect  he  was  not  so  good-natured.  And 
then  Anne — cousin  Anne — is  left  all  to  my  father's  charge, 
and  is  now  at  Geierstein  ;  and  you  know.  King  Arthur,  we 
used  to  call  her  Queen  Guenever." 

"  You  spoke  great  folly  then,"  said  Arthur. 

*'  But  it  is  great  truth.  For,  look  you,  I  loved  to  tell 
Anne  tales  of  our  hunting,  and  so  forth  ;  but  she  would  not 
listen  a  word  till  I  threw  in  something  of  King  Arthur,  and 
then  I  warrant  she  would  sit  still  as  a  heath-hen  when  the 
hawk  is  in  the  heavens.  And  now  Donnerhugel  is  slain, 
you  know  you  may  marry  my  cousin  when  you  and  she  will, 
for  nobody  hath  interest  to  prevent  it." 

Arthur  blushed  with  pleasure  under  his  helmet,  and  almost 
forgave  that  new  year's  morning  all  its  complicated  dis- 
tresses. 

"You  forget,"  he  replied  to  Sigismund,  with  as  much 
indifference  as  he  could  assume,  ''that  I  may  be  viewed 
in  vour  country  with  preiudice  on  account  of  Rudolph's 
death."  .^  ^    •' 

"  Not  a  whit — not  a  whit ;  we  bear  no  malice  for  what  is 
done  in  fair  fight  under  shield.  It  is  no  more  than  if  you 
had  beat  him  in  wrestling  or  at  quoits,  only  it  is  a  game 
cannot  be  played  over  again." 

They  now  entered  the  town  of  Nancy  ;  the  windows  were 


460  WA  VERLEY  NO  VEL  S 

hung  with  tapestry,  and  the  streets  crowded  with  tnmnl- 
tuous  and  rejoicing  multitudes,  whom  the  success  of  the 
battle  had  relieved  from  great  alarm  for  the  formidable 
vengeance  of  Charles  of  Burgundy. 

The  prisoners  were  received  with  the  utmost  kindness  by 
the  Landamman,  who  assured  them  of  his  protection  and 
friendship.  He  appeared  to  support  the  death  of  his  son 
Rudiger  with  stern  resignation. 

**He  had  rather/'  he  said,  ''^his  son  fell  in  battle  than 
that  he  should  live  to  despise  the  old  simplicity  of  his  coun- 
try, and  think  the  object  of  combat  was  the  gaining  of  spoil. 
The  gold  of  the  dead  Burgundy,"  he  added,  ''would  injure 
the  morals  of  Switzerland  more  irretrievably  than  ever  his 
sword  did  their  bodies/' 

He  heard  of  his  brother's  death  without  surprise,  but 
apparently  with  emotion. 

**  It  was  the  conclusion,"  he  said,  '^  of  a  long  tissue  of 
ambitious  enterprises,  which  often  oifered  fair  prospects, 
but  uniformly  ended  in  disappointment. 

The  Landamman  farther  intimated,  that  his  brother  had 
apprised  him  that  he  was  engaged  in  an  affair  of  so  much 
danger  that  he  was  almost  certain  to  perish  in  it,  and  had 
bequeathed  his  daughter  to  her  uncle's  care,  with  instructions 
respecting  her. 

Here  they  parted  for  the  present,  but  shortly  after  the 
Landamman  inquired  earnestly  of  the  Earl  of  Oxford  what 
his  motions  were  like  to  be,  and  whether  he  could  assist 
them. 

*'  I  think  of  choosing  Bretagne  for  my  place  of  refuge,'' 
answered  the  Earl,  ''  where  my  wife  has  dwelt  since  the 
battle  of  Tewkesbury  expelled  us  from  England." 

"Do  not  so,"  said  the  kind  Landamman,  ''but  come  to 
Geierstein  with  the  Countess,  where,  if  she  can,  like  you, 
endure  our  mountain  manners  and  mountain  fare,  you  are 
welcome,  as  to  the  house  of  a  brother,  to  a  soil  where  neither 
conspiracy  nor  treason  ever  flourished.  Bethink  you,  the 
Duke  of  Bretagne  is  a  weak  prince,  entirely  governed  by  a 
wicked  favorite,  Peter  Landais.  He  is  as  capable — I  mean 
the  minister — of  selling  brave  men's  blood  as  a  butcher  of 
selling  bullock's  flesh  ;  and  you  know  there  are  those,  both 
in  France  and  Burgundy,  that  thirst  after  yours." 

The  Earl  of  Oxford  expressed  his  thanks  for  the  proposal, 
and  his  determination  to  profit  by  it,  if  approved  of  by  Henry 
of  Lancaster,  Earl  of  Richmond,  whom  he  now  regarded  as 
his  sovereign. 


ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN 


461 


To  close  the  tale,  about  three  months  after  the  battle  of 
Nancy,  the  banished  Earl  of  Oxford  resumed  his  name  of 
Philipson,  bringing  with  his  lady  some  remnants  of  their 
former  wealth,  which  enabled  them  to  procure  a  commodious 
residence  near  to  Geierstein  ;  and  the  Landamman^s  interest 
in  the  state  procured  for  them  the  right  of  denizenship.. 
The  high  blood  and  the  moderate  fortunes  of  Anne  of  Geier- 
stein and  Arthur  de  Vere,  joined  to  their  mutual  inclination, 
made  their  marriage  in  every  respect  rational  ;  and  Annette 
with  her  bachelor  took  up  their  residence  with  the  young 
people,  not  as  servants,  but  mechanical  aids  in  the  duties  of 
the  farm ;  for  Arthur  continued  to  prefer  the  chase  to  the 
labors  of  husbandry,  which  was  of  little  consequence,  as  his 
separate  income  amounted,  in  that  poor  country,  to  opulence. 
Time  glided  on,  till  it  amounted  to  five  years  since  the  exiled 
family  had  been  inhabitants  of  Switzerland.  In  the  year 
1482,  the  Landamman  Biederman  died  the  death  of  the 
righteous,  lamented  universally,  as  a  model  of  the  true  and 
valiant,  simple-minded  and  sagacious  chiefs  who  ruled  the 
ancient  Switzers  in  peace,  and  headed  them  in  battle.  In 
the  same  year,  the  Earl  of  Oxford  lost  his  noble  countess. 

But  the  star  of  Lancaster  at  that  period  began  again  to 
culminate,  and  called  the  banished  lord  and  his  son  from 
their  retirement,  to  mix  once  more  in  politics.  The  treasured 
necklace  of  Margaret  was  then  put  to  its  destined  use,  and 
the  produce  applied  to  levy  those  bands  which  shortly  after 
fought  the  celebrated  battle  of  Bosworth,  in  which  the  arms 
of  Oxford  and  his  son  contributed  so  much  to  the  success  of 
Henry  VII.  This  changed  the  destinies  of  De  Vere  and  his 
lady.  Their  Swiss  farm  was  conferred  on  Annette  and  her 
husband  ;  and  the  manners  and  beauty  of  Anne  of  Geierstein 
attracted  as  much  admiration  at  the  English  court  as 
formerly  in  the  Swiss  chalet* 


NOTES  TO  ANNE  OF  GEIEKSTEIN 


Note  1.— Double  gangers,  p.  141 

Double-walkers,  a  name  in  Germany  for  those  aerial  duplicates  of  humanity 
who  represent  the  features  and  appearance  of  other  living  persons. 

Note  2.— Louis  XI. 's  Ministers,  p.  173 

Louis  XI.  was  probably  the  first  king^f  France  who  flung  aside  all  affectation 
of  choosing  his  ministers  from  amoilg  the  nobility.  He  often  placed  men  of 
mean  birth  in  situations  of  the  highest  trust. 

Note  3.— German  Dungeon,  p.  174 

In  connection  with  the  description  of  this  dungeon,  it  may  be  stated  that  the 
Author,  in  composing  this  novel,  derived  considerable  assistance  from  a  journal 
of  foreign  travel,  the  work  of  his  intimate  friend  the  late  James  Skene  of  Rubis- 
Aaw.  It  is  also  curious  to  observe  that  in  the  Archceologia  Scotica,  1823,  vol.  iii.  p. 
17,  there  appears  an  account  by  Mr.  Skene  of  a  suite  of  apartments  excavated 
from  the  rocks  on  which  the  castle  of  Baden,  in  Swabia,  stands,  supposed  to 
have  been  connected  with  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Secret  Tribunal  in  that  country 
(Laing). 

Note  4.— Public  Executioner,  p.  198 

There  is  abundant  evidence  that  in  the  middle  ages  the  oflfice  of  public  execu- 
tioner was  esteemed  highly  honorable  all  over  Germany.  It  still  is,  in  such  parts 
j)f  that  country  as  retain  the  old  custom  of  execution  by  stroke  of  sword,  very 
far  from  being  held  discreditable  to  the  extent  to  which  we  carry  our  feelings  on 
the  subject,  and  which  exposed  the  magistrates  of  a  Scotch  town,  I  rather  think 
no  less  a  one  than  Glasgow,  to  a  good  deal  of  ridicule  when  they  advertised,  some 
few  years  ago,  on  occasion  of  the  death  of  their  hangman,  that  "■  none  but  per- 
sons of  respectable  character  "  need  apply  for  the  vacant  situation.  At  this  day 
in  China,  in  Persia,  and  probably  in  other  Oriental  kingdoms,  the  chief  execu- 
tioner is  one  of  the  great  ofiftcers  of  state,  and  is  as  proud  of  the  emblem  of  his 
fatal  duty  as  any  European  lord  chamberlain  of  his  golden  key. 

The  circumstances  of  the  strange  trial  and  execution  of  the  knight  of  Hagen- 
bach  are  detailed  minutely  by  M.  de  Barante  from  contemporary  MS.  docu- 
ments ;  and  the  reader  will  be  gratified  with  a  "specimen  of  that  writer's  nar- 
rative.   A  translation  is  also  given  for  the  benefit  of  many  of  my  kind  readers. 

De  toutes  parts  on  6tait  accouru  par  milliers  pour  assister  au  proems  de  ce  cruel 
gouverneur,  tant  la  haine  6tait  grande  contre  lui.  De  sa  prison,  il  entendait  re- 
tentir  sur  le  pont,  et  au-dessous  des  voutes  de  la  porte,  le  pas  des  chevaux,  et 
s'enqu6rait  k  son  geolier  de  ceux  qui  arrivaient,  soit  pour  6tre  ses  juges,  soit 
pour  etre  t6moins  de  son  supplice.  Parfois  le  geolier  r^pondait,  "  Ce  sont  des 
etrangers  ;  je  ne  les  connais  pas."  "  Ne  sont-ce  pas,"  disait  le  prisonnier,  "  des 
gens  assez  mal  vetus,  de  haute  taille,  de  forte  apparence,  months  sur  des  chevaux 
aux  courtes  oreilles  ?  "  et  si  le  geolier  r6pondait,  "  Oui  " — "  Ah  ce  sont  les 
Suisses,"  s'6criait  Hagenbach.  "  Mon  Dieu,  ayez  piti6  do  moi !  "  et  il  se  rappelait 
toutes  les  insultes  qu'il  leur  avait  faites,  toutes  ses  insolences  envers  eux.  II 
pensait,  mais  trop  tard,  que  c'6tait  leur  alliance  avec  la  maison  d'Autriche  qui 
etait  cause  de  sa  perte. 

Le  4  Mai  1474,  aprSs  avoir  6t6  mis  k  la  question,  il  f  ut,  &  la  diligence  d'Hermann 
d'Eptingen,  gouverneur  pour  Tarchiduc,  amen6  devant  ses  juges,  sur  la  place 
publique  de  Brisach.  Sa  contenance  6tait  ferme  et  d'un  homme  qui  ne  craint 
pas  la  mort.  Henri  Iselin  de  Bale  porta  la  parole  au  nom  d'Hermann  d'Eptingen, 
agissant  pour  le  seigneur  et  le  [du]  pays.  II  parla  d.  pen  prds  en  ces  termes  : 
"  Pierre  de  Hagenbach,  chevalier,  maitre  d 'hotel  de  Monseigneur  le  Due  de 
Bourgogne,  et  son  gouverneur  dans  les  pays  de  Ferette  et  Haute-Alsace,  aurait 

463 


464  WA  VEBLEY  NO  VELS 


du  respecter  les  privileges  reserves  par  Tacte  d'engagement ;  mais  il  n''a  paa 
moins  foul6  aux  pieds  les  lois  de  Dieu  et  des  hommes,  que  les  droits  jur6s  et 
garantis  au  pays.  II  a  fait  mettre  k  mort  sans  jugement  quatre  honnetes  bour- 
geois de  Thann  ;  il  a  d6pouill6  la  ville  de  Brisach  de  sa  ;juridiction,  et  y  a  6tablis 
luges  et  consuls  de  son  choix  ;  il  a  rompu  et  disperse  les  communaut6s  de  la 
bourgeoisie  et  des  metiers  ;  il  a  lev6  des  impots  par  sa  seule  volonte  ;  il  a,  contre 
toutes  les  lois,  log6  chez  les  habitans  des  gens  de  guerre— Lombards,  Francais. 
Picards,  ou  Flamands  ;  et  a  favorise  leurs  d6sordres  et  pillages.  11  leur  a  meme 
command6  d'6gorger  leurs  botes  durant  la  nuit,  et  avait  fait  preparer,  pour  y 
embarquer  les  femmes  et  les  enfans,  des  bateaux  qui  devaient  etre  submerges 
dans  le  Rhin.  Enfin,  lors  meme  qu'il  rejetteraitde  telles  cruautes  sur  les  ordres 
qu'il  a  recus,  comment  pourrait-il  g'excuser  d'avoir  fait  violence  et  outrage  i 
rhonneur'de  tant  de  filles  et  femmes,  et  meme  de  saintes  religieuses  ?  " 

D'autres  accusations  f  urent  port6es  dans  les  interrogatoires  ;  et  des  t6moins 
attest^rent  les  violences  faites  aux  gens  de  Mulhausen  et  aux  marchands  de 
Bale. 

Pour  suivre  toutes  les  formes  de  la  justice,  on  avait  donn6  un  avocat  h  TaccusS. 
"  Messire  Pierre  de  Hagenbach,"  dit-il,  "nereconnait  d'autre  juge  et  d'autre 
seigneur  que  Monseigneur  le  Due  de  Bourgogne,  dont  il  avait  commission,  et  rece- 
vait  les  commandemens.  II  n'avait  nul  droit  de  controler  les  ordres  qu'il  6tait 
charg6  d'ex6cuter,  et  son  devoir  6tait  d'ob6ir.  Ne  sait-on  pas  quelle  soumission 
les  gens  de  guerre  doivent  ^  leur  seigneur  et  maitre  ?  Croit-on  que  le  landvogt 
de  Monseigneur  le  Due  eiit  ^  lui  remontrer  et  ^  lui  resister  ?  Et  monseigneur 
n'a-t-il  pas  ensuite,  par  sa  presence,  confirm^  et  ratiflo  tout  ce  qui  avait  6t6  fait 
en  son  nom  ?  Si  des  impots  ont  6t6  demand6s,  c'est  quMl  avait  besoin  d'argent. 
Pour  les  recueillir,  il  a  bien  fallu  punir  ceux  qui  se  refusaient  t  payer,  C'est  ce 
que  Monseigneur  le  Due,  et  meme  I'empereur,  quand  ils  sontvenus,  ont  reconnu 
n6cessaire.  Le  logement  des  gens  de  guerre  6tait  aussi  la  suite  des  ordres  du 
Due.  Quant  h.  la  juridiction  de  Brisach,  le  landvogt  pouvait  il  souffrir  cette  re- 
sistance ?  Enfln  dans  une  affaire  si  grave,  oil  il  y  va  de  la  vie,  convient-il  de  pro- 
duire  comme  un  v6ritable  grief,  le  dernier  dont  a  parl6  I'accusateur  ?  Parmi 
ceux  qui  6coutent,  y  eo  a-t-il  un  seul  qui  puisse  se  vanter  de  ne  pas  avoir  saisi 
les  occasions  de  se  divertir  ?  N'est-il  pas  clair  que  Messire  de  Hagenbach  a  seu- 
lement  profits  de  la  bonne  volont6  de  quelques  femmes  ou  fllles  ;  ou,  pour  mettre 
les  choses  au  pis,  qu'il  n'a  exerc6  d'autre  contrainte  envers  elle  qu'au  moyen  de 
son  bon  argent  ?  " 

Les  juges  si6g6rent  longtemps  sur  leur  tribunal.  Douze  heures  enti^res  pas- 
s6rent  sans  que  I'affaire  f iit  terminfie.  Le  Sire  de  Hagenbach,  tou jours  ferme  et 
calme,  n'all6gua  d'autres  defenses,  d'autres  excuses,  que  celles  qu'il  avait  don- 
n6es  d6ja,  sous  la  torture— les  ordres  et  la  volontfi  de  son  seigneur,  qui  6tait  son 
seul  juge,  et  le  seul  qui  piit  lui  demander  compte. 

Enfln,  h  sept  heures  du  soir,  &  la  clart6  des  flambeaux,  les  juges,  aprSs  avoir 
declare  qu'^  eux  appartenait  le  droit  de  prononcer  sur  les  crimes  imputes  au 
landvogt,  le  firent  rappeler,  et  rendirent  leur  sentence  qui  le  condamna  h  mort. 
II  ne  s'6mut  pas  davantage,  et  demanda  pour  toute  grace  d'avoir  seulement  la 
tete  tranch6e.  Huit  bourreaux  des  diverses  villec  se  pr6senterent  pour  ex6cuter 
I'arret.  Celui  de  Colmar,  qui  passait  pour  le  plus  adroit,  f ut  pr6f6r6.  Avant  de 
le  conduire  h  I'^chafaud,  les  seize  chevaliers  qui  faisaient  partie  des  juges  re- 
quirent  que  Messire  de  Hagenbach  fut  degrade  de  sa  dignite  de  chevalier  et  de 
tous  ses  honneurs.  Pour  lors  s'avanca  Gaspard  Hurter,  h6raut  de  I'empereur,  et 
11  dit :  "  Pierre  de  Hagenbach,  il  me'  d6plait  grandement  que  vous  ayez  si  mal 
employe  votre  vie  mortelle,  de  sorte  qu'il  convient  que  vous  perdiez  non  seule- 
ment la  dignite  et  ordre  de  chevalerie,  maif  aussi  la  vie.  Votre  devoir  etait  de 
rendre  la  justice,  de  proteger  la  veuve  et  I'orphelin,  de  respecter  les  femmes  et 
les  fllles,  d'honorer  les  saints  pretres,  de  vous  opposer  h,  toute  in  juste  violence, 
et,  au  contraire,  vous  avez  commis  tout  ce  que  vous  deviez  empecher.  Ayant 
ainsi  f orfait  au  noble  ordre  de  chevalerie,  et  aux  sermens  que  vous  aviez  jur6s, 
les  chevaliers  icl  pres6ns  m'ont  enjoint  de  vous  en  oter  les  insignes.  Ne  les 
voyant  pas  sur  vous  en  ce  moment  je  vous  proclame  indigne  chevalier  de  St. 
George,  au  nom  et  k  I'honneur  duquel  on  vous  avait  autrefois  honor6  du  baudrier 
de  chevalerie."  Puis  s'avanca  Hermann  d'Eptingen  :  "  Puis  qu'on  vient  de  te 
d6grader  de  chevalerie,  je  te'depouille  de  ton  collier,  chaine  d'or,  anneau,  poi- 
gnard,  eperon,  gantelet."  II  les  lui  prit  et  lui  en  frappa  le  visage,  et  ajouta  : 
"  Chevaliers,  et  vous  qui  desirez  le  devenir,  j'espSre  que  cette  punition  publique 
vous  servira  d'exemple,  et  que  vous  vivrez  dans  la  crainte  de  Dieu,  noblement  et 
vaillamment,  selon  la  dignite  de  la  chevalerie  et  I'honneur  de  votre  nom."  Enfln, 
Thomas  Schutz,  prevot  d'Einsisheim  et  mar6chal  de  cette  commission  de  juges, 
se  leva,  et  s'adressant  au  bourreau,  lui  dit :  "  Faites  selon  la  justice." 

Tous  les  juges  montSrent  a  cheval  ainsi  qu'Hermann  d'  Eptingen.  Au  milieu 
d'eux  marchait  Pierre  de  Hagenbach,  entre  deux  pretres.  C'6tait  pendant  la 
nuit.  Des  torches  6clairaient  la  marche  :  une  foule  immense  se  pressait  autour 
de  ce  triste  cortege.    Le  condamn6  s'entretenait  avec  son  confesseur  d'un  air 


NOTES  TO  ANNE  OF  GEIEBSTEIN  465 

pieux  et  recueilli,  mais  ferme ;  se  recommandant  aussi  aux  priSres  de  tous  ceux 
qui  Tentouraient.  Arriv6  dans  une  prairie  devant  la  porte  de  la  ville,  il  monta 
sur  I'^chaf  aud  d'un  pas  assure  ;  puis  61evant  la  voix— 

"  Je  n'ai  pas  peur  de  la  mort,"  dit-il ;  "encore  que  je  ne  Tattendisse  pas  de 
cette  sorte,  rnais  bien  les  armes  a  la  main  ;  ce  que  je  plains  c'est  tout  le  sang  que 
le  mien  fera  couler.  Monseigneur  ne  laissera  point  ce  ioiir  sans  vengeance  pour 
moi.  Je  ne  regrette  ni  ma  vie,  ni  mon  corps.  .  .  .  J'etais  homme — priez  pour 
moi.  .  .  ."  II  s'entretint  encore  un  instant  avec  le  confesseur,  pr^senta  la  t§te 
et  recut  le  coup.— [Brugiere  de]  Barante  [Histoire  des  Dues  de  Bourgogne,  x. 
pp.  189-196] . 

Translation 

Such  was  the  detestation  in  which  this  cruel  governor  was  held,  that  multitudes 
flocked  in  from  all  quarters  to  be  present  at  his  trial.  He  heard  from  his  prison 
the  bridge  and  the  archway  of  the  gate  re-echo  with  the  tread  of  horses,  and 
would  ask  of  his  jailer  respecting  those  who  were  arriving,  whether  they  might 
be  his  judges,  or  those  desirous  of  witnessing  his  punishment.  Sometimes  the 
jailer  would  answer,  "  These  are  strangers  whom  I  know  not."  "  Are  not  they," 
said  the  prisoner,  "  men  meanly  clad,  tall  in  stature,  and  of  bold  mien,  mounted 
on  short-eared  horses  ?  "  And  if  the  jailer  answered  in  the  affirmative,  "  Ah, 
these  are  the  Swiss."  cried  Hagenbach.  "  My  God,  have  mercy  on  me  !  "  and  he 
recalled  to  mind  all  the  insults  and  cruelties  he  had  heaped  upon  them.  He 
considered,  but  too  late,  that  their  alliance  with  the  house  of  Austria  had  been 
his  destruction. 

On  the  4th  of  May  1474,  after  being  put  to  the  torture,  he  was  brought  before 
his  judges  in  the  public  square  of  Brisach,  at  the  instance  of  Hermann  d'Eptingen, 
who  governed  for  the  Archduke.  His  countenance  was  firm,  as  one  who  fears 
not  death.  Henry  Iselin  of  Bale  first  spoke  in  the  name  of  Hermann  d'Eptingen, 
who  acted  for  the  lord  and  [of]  the  country.  He  proceeded  in  nearly  these 
terms  :  "  Peter  de  Hagenbach,  knight,  steward  of  my  lord  the  Duke  of  Burgundy, 
and  his  governor  in  the  counirv  of  Ferette  and  Haute-Alsace,  was  bound  to 
observe  the  privileges  reserved  oy  act  of  compact,  but  he  has  alike  trampled 
under  foot  the  laws  of  God  and  man,  and  the  rights  which  have  been  guaranteed 
by  oath  to  the  country.  He  has  caused  four  worshipful  burgesses  of  Thann  to 
be  put  to  death  without  trial ;  he  has  spoiled  the  city  of  Brisach,  and  established 
there  judges  and  consuls  chosen  by  himself  ;  he  has  broken  and  dispersed  the 
various  communities  of  burghers  and  craftsmen  ;  he  has  levied  imposts  of  his 
own  will ;  contrary  to  every  law,  he  has  quartered  upon  the  inhabitants  soldiers 
of  various  countries,  Lombards,  French,  men  of  Picardy,  and  Flemings,  and  has 
encouraged  them  in  pillage  and  disorder  ;  he  has  even  commanded  these  men  to 
butcher  their  hosts  during  the  night,  and  had  caused  boats  to  be  prepared  to 
embark  therein  women  and  children  to  be  sunk  in  the  Rhine.  Finally,  should  he 
plead  the  orders  which  he  had  received  as  an  excuse  for  these  cruelties,  how  can 
he  clear  himself  of  having  dishonored  so  many  women  and  maidens,  even  those 
under  religious  vows  ?  " 

Other  accusations  were  brought  against  him  by  examination,  and  witnesses 

g roved  outrages  committed  on  the  people  of  Mulhausen  and  the  merchants  of 
ale. 

That  every  form  of  justice  might  be  observed,  ap  advocate  was  appointed  to 
defend  the  accused.  "Messire  Peter  de  Hagenbach,"  said  he,  "recognizes  no 
other  judge  or  master  than  my  lord  the  Duke  of  Burgundy,  whose  commission 
he  bore  and  whose  orders  he  received.  He  had  no  control  over  the  orders  he 
was  charged  to  execute  :  his  duty  was  to  obey.  Who  is  ignorant  of  the  submis- 
sion due  by  military  retainers  to  their  lord  and  master  ?  Can  any  one  believe 
that  the  landvogt  of  my  lord  the  Duke  could  remonstrate  with  or  resist  him  ? 
And  has  not  my  lord  confirmed  and  ratified  by  his  presence  all  acts  done  in  his 
name  ?  If  imposts  have  been  levied,  it  was  because  he  had  need  of  money  ;  to 
obtain  it,  it  was  necessary  to  punish  those  who  refused  payment ;  this  proceed- 
ing my  lord  the  Duke,  and  the  Emperor  himself,  when  present,  have  considered 
as  expedient.  The  quartering  of  soldiers  was  also  in  accordance  with  the  orders 
of  the  Duke.  With  respect  to  the  jurisdiction  of  Brisach,  could  the  landvogt 
permit  any  resistance  from  that  quarter  ?  To  conclude,  in  so  serious  an  affair- 
one  which  touches  the  life  of  the  prisoner— can  the  last  accusation  be  really  con- 
sidered a  grievance  ?  Among  all  those  who  hear  me,  is  there  one  man  who  can 
say  he  has  never  committed  similar  imprudences  ?  Is  it  not  evident  that  Messire 
de  Hagenbach  has  only  taken  advantage  of  the  good-will  of  some  girls  and 
women,  or,  at  the  worst,  that  his  money  was  the  only  restraint  imposed  upon 
them  ?  " 

The  judges  sat  for  a  long  time  on  the  tribunal.  Twelve  hours  elapsed  before 
the  termination  of  the  trial.  The  knight  of  Hagenbach,  always  calm  and  un- 
daunted, brought  forward  no  other  defense  or  excuse  than  what  he  had  before 
given  when  under  the  torture,  viz.  the  orders  and  will  of  his  lord,  who  alone  was 


466  WAVEELET  NOVELS 

his  judge,  and  who  alone  could  demand  an  explanation.  At  length  at  seven  in 
the  evening,  and  by  the  light  of  torches,  the  judges,  after  having  declared  it 
their  province  to  pronounce  judgment  on  the  crimes  of  vrhich  the  landvogt  was 
accused,  caused  him  to  be  called  before  them,  and  delivered  their  sentence  con- 
demning him  to  death.  He  betrayed  no  emotion,  and  only  demanded  as  a  favor 
that  he  should  be  beheaded.  Eight  executioners  of  various  towns  presented 
themselves  to  execute  the  sentence  ;  the  one  belonging  to  Colmar,  who  was  ac- 
counted the  most  expert,  was  preferred. 

Before  conducting  him  to  the  scaffold,  the  sixteen  knights  who  acted  as  judges 
required  that  Messire  de  Hagenbach  should  be  degraded  from  the  dignity  of 
knight,  and  from  all  his  honors.  Then  advanced  Gaspard  Hurter,  herald  of  the 
Emperor,  and  said—"  Peter  de  Hagenbach,  I  deeply  deplore  that  you  have  so 
employed  your  mortal  life,  that  you  must  lose  not  only  the  dignity  and  honor  of 
knighthood,  but  your  life  also.  Your  duty  was  to  render  justice,  to  protect  the 
widow  and  orphan,  to  respect  women  and  maidens,  to  honor  the  holy  priests,  to 
oppose  every  unjust  outrage  ;  but  you  have  yourself  committed  what  you  ought 
to  nave  opposed  in  others.  Having  broken,  therefore,  the  oaths  which  you  have 
sworn,  and  having  forfeited  the  noble  order  of  knighthood,  the  knights  here 
present  have  enjoined  me  to  deprive  you  of  its  insignia.  Not  perceiving  them  on 
your  person  at  this  moment,  I  proclaim  you  unworthy  knight  of  St.  George,  in 
whose  name  and  honor  you  were  formerly  admitted  in  the  order  of  knighthood." 
Then  Hermann  d'Eptingen  advanced.  "  Since  you  are  degraded  from  knight- 
hood, I  deprive  you  of  your  collar,  gold  chain,  ring,  poniard,  spur,  and  gauntlet." 
He  then  took  them  from  him,  and,  striking  him  on  the  face,  added—"  Knights, 
and  you  who  aspire  to  that  honor,  I  trust  this  public  punishment  will  serve  as 
an  example  to  you,  and  that  you  will  live  in  the  fear  of  God,  nobly  and  vali- 
antly, in  accordance  with  the  dignity  of  knighthood  and  the  honor  of  your 
name."  At  last  the  provost  of  Einsisheim,  and  marshal  of  that  commission  of 
judges,  arose,  and  addressing  himself  to  the  executioner— "Let  justice  be  done." 

All  the  judges,  along  with  Hermann  d'Eptingen,  mounted  on  horseback  ;  in 
the  midst  of  them  walked  Peter  de  Hagenbach  between  two  priests.  It  was 
night,  and  they  marched  by  the  light  of  torches  ;  an  immense  crowd  pressed 
around  this  sad  procession.  The  prisoner  conversed  with  his  confessor  with 
pious,  collected,  and  firm  demeanor,  recommending  himself  to  the  prayers  of  the 
spectators.  On  arriving  at  a  meadow  without  the  gate  of  the  town,  he  mounted 
the  scaffold  with  a  firm  step,  and  elevating  his  voice,  exclaimed— 

"  I  fear  not  death,  I  have  always  expected  it ;  not,  indeed,  in  this  manner,  but 
with  arms  in  my  hand.  I  regret  alone  the  blood  which  mine  will  cause  to  be 
shed  •  my  lord  will  not  permit  this  day  to  pass  unavenged.  I  regret  neither  my 
life  or  body.  I  was  a  man— pray  for  me  1  "  He  conversed  an  instant  more  with 
his  confessor,  presented  his  head,  and  received  the  blow. 

Note  5.—"  Der  Rhein,  der  Rhein,"  p.  223 

This  is  one  of  the  best  and  most  popular  of  the  German  ditties  :— 

Der  Rhein,  der  Rhein,  gesegnet  sei  der  Rhein. 
Da  wachsen  unsre  Reben,  etc. 

Note  6. — ^Vehme,  p.  252 

The  word  "  Vehme  "  is  of  uncertain  derivation,  but  was  always  used  to  intimate 
this  inquisitorial  and  secret  court.  The  members  were  termed  wissenden,  ol' 
initiated,  answering  to  the  modern  phrase  of  illuminati.  Mr.  Palgrave  seem3 
inclined  to  derive  the  word  "  Vehme  "  from  "  ehme,"  i.  e.  law,  and  he  is  probably 
right. 

Note  7.— Red  Soil,  p.  259 

The  parts  of  Germany  subjected  to  the  operation  of  the  Secret  Tribunal  were 
called,  from  the  blood  which  it  spilt,  or  from  some  other  reason  (Mr.  Palgrave 
suggests  the  ground  tincture  of  the  ancient  banner  of  the  district),  the  Red 
Soil.  "Westphalia,  as  the  limits  of  that  country  were  understood  in  the  Middle 
Ages,  which  are  considerably  different  from  the  present  boundaries,  was  the 
principal  theater  of  the  Vehme. 

Note  8.— The  Troubadours,  p.  363 

The  smoothness  of  the  Provencal  dialect,  partaking  strongly  of  the  Latin, 
which  had  been  spoken  for  so  many  ages  in  what  was  called  for  distinction's 
sake  the  Roman  province  of  Gaul,  and  the  richness  and  fertility  of  a  country 


NOTES  TO  ANNE  OF  GEIEBSTEIN  467 

abounding  in  all  that  could  delight  the  senses  and  soothe  the  imagf  nation,  natu* 
rally  disposed  the  inhabitants  to  cultivate  the  art  of  poetry,  and  to  value  and 
foster  the  genius  of  those  who  distinguished  themselves  by  attaining  excellence 
in  it.  Troubadours,  that  is, "  finders  "  or  "  inventors,"  equivalent  to  the  Northern 
term  of  "  makers,"  arose  in  every  class,  from  the  lowest  to  the  highest,  and  suc- 
cess in  their  art  dignified  men  of  the  meanest  rank,  and  added  fresh  honors  to 
those  who  were  born  in  the  patrician  file  of  society.  War  and  love,  more  es- 
pecially the  latter,  were  dictated  to  them  by  the  chivalry  of  the  times  as  the 
especial  subjects  of  their  verse.  Such,  too,  were  the  themes  of  our  Northern 
minstrels.  But  whilst  the  latter  confined  themselves  in  general  to  those  well- 
known  metrical  histories  in  which  scenes  of  strife  and  combat  mingled  with  ad- 
ventures of  enchantment,  and  fables  of  giants  and  monsters  subdued  by  valiant 
champions,  such  as  best  attracted  the  ears  of  the  somewhat  duller  and  more 
barbarous  warriors  of  northern  France,  of  Britain,  and  of  Germany,  the  more 
lively  troubadours  produced  poems  which  turned  on  human  passion,  and  on  love, 
affection,  and  dutiful  observance,  with  which  the  faithful  knight  was  bound  to 
regard  the  object  of  his  choice,  and  the  honor  and  respect  with  which  she  was 
bound  to  recompense  his  faithful  services. 

Thus  far  it  cannot  be  disputed  that  the  themes  selected  by  the  troubadours 
were  those  on  which  poetry  is  most  naturally  exerted,  and  with  the  best  chance 
of  rising  to  excellence.  But  it  usually  happens  that,  when  any  one  of  the  fine 
arts  is  cultivated  exclusively,  the  taste  of  those  who  practise  and  admire  its 

S reductions  loses  sight  of  nature,  simplicity,  and  true  taste,  and  the  artist  en- 
eavors  to  discover,  while  the  public  learn  to  admire,  some  more  complicated 
system,  in  which  pedantry  supersedes  the  dictates  of  natural  feeling,  and  meta- 
physical ingenuity  is  used  instead  of  the  more  obvious  quaUfications  of  simplic- 
ity and  good  sense.  Thus,  with  the  unanimous  approbation  of  their  hearers 
the  troubadours  framed  for  themselves  a  species  of  poetry  describing  and  in- 
culcating a  system  of  metaphysical  affection  as  inconsistent  with  nature  as  tha 
minstrel's  tales  of  magicians  and  monsters  ;  with  this  evil  to  society,  that  it  waj 
calculated  deeply  to  injure  its  manners  and  its  morals.  Every  troubadour,  or 
good  Knight,  who  took  the  maxims  of  their  poetical  school  for  his  rule,  was 
bound  to  choose  a  lady  love,  the  fairest  and  noblest  to  whom  he  had  access,  to 
whom  he  dedicated  at  once  his  lyre  and  his  sword,  and  who,  married  or  single 
was  to  be  the  object  to  whom  his  life,  words,  and  actions  were  to  be  devoted. 
On  the  other  hand,  a  lady  thus  honored  and  distinguished  was  bound,  by  accept 
ing  the  services  of  such  a  gallant,  to  consider  him  as  her  lover,  and  on  all  dua 
occasions  to  grace  him  as  such  with  distinguished  marks  of  personal  favor.  It 
is  true  that,  according  to  the  best  authorities,  the  intercourse  betwixt  her  lover 
and  herself  was  to  be  entirely  of  a  Platonic  character,  and  the  loyal  swain  was 
not  to  require,  or  the  chosen  lady  to  grant,  anything  beyond  the  favor  she  might 
in  strict  modesty  bestow.  Even  under  this  restriction,  the  system  was  like  to 
make  wild  work  with  the  domestic  peace  of  families,  since  it  permitted,  or  rather 
enjoined,  such  familiarity  betwixt  the  fair  dame  and  her  poetical  admirer ;  and 
very  frequently  human  passions,  placed  in  such  a  dangerous  situation,  proved 
too  strong  to  be  confined  within  the  metaphysical  bounds  prescribed  to  them  by 
so  fantastic  and  perilous  a  system.  The  injured  husbands  on  many  occasions 
avenged  themselves  with  severity,  and  even  with  dreadful  cruelty,  on  the  un- 
faithful ladies,  and  the  musical  skill  and  chivalrous  character  of  the  lover  proved 
no  protection  to  his  person.  But  the  real  spirit  of  the  system  was  seen  in  this, 
that  in  the  poems  of  the  other  troubadours,  by  whom  such  events  are  recorded, 
their  pity  is  all  bestowed  on  the  hapless  lovers,  while,  without  the  least  allow 
ance  for  just  provocation,  the  injured  husband  is  held  up  to  execration. 

Note  9. —Parliament  op  Love,  p.  364 

In  Provence,  during  the  flourishing  time  of  the  troubadours,  love  was  esteemed 
so  grave  and  formal  a  part  of  the  business  of  life,  that  a  Parliament  or  High 
Court  of  Love  was  appointed  for  deciding  such  questions.  This  singular  tribunal 
was,  it  may  be  supposed,  conversant  with  more  of  imaginary  than  of  real  suits  ; 
but  it  is  astonishing  with  what  cold  and  pedantic  ingenuity  the  troubadours  of 
whom  it  consisted  set  themselves  to  plead  and  to  decide,  upon  reasoning  which 
was  not  less  singular  and  able  than  out  of  place,  the  absurd  questions  which 
their  own  fantastic  imaginations  had  previously  devised.  There,  for  example, 
is  a  reported  case  of  much  celebrity,  where  a  lady,  sitting  in  company  with 
three  persons  who  were  her  admirers,  listened  to  one  with  the  most  favorable 
smiles,  while  she  pressed  the  hand  of  the  second,  and  touched  with  her  own  the 
foot  of  the  third.  It  was  a  case  much  agitated  and  keenly  contested  in  the  Par- 
liament of  Love  which  of  these  rivals  had  received  the  distinguishing  mark  of 
the  lady's  favor.  Much  ingenuity  was  wasted  on  this  and  similar  cases,  of  which 
there  is  a  collection,  in  all  judicial  form  of  legal  proceedings,  under  the  title  of 
arrets  d^amour  (adjudged  cases  of  the  Court  of  Love). 


*68  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

KoTB  10.— Head  of  the  Vehmic  Tribunals,  p.  415 

The  Archbishop  of  Cologne  was  recognized  as  head  of  all  the  free  tribunal* 
(i.e.  the  Vehmique  benches)  in  Westphalia,  by  a  writ  of  privilege  granted  in  1353 
by  the  Emperor  Charles  IV.  Winceslaus  confirmed  this  act  by  a  privilege  dated 
1382,  in  which  the  archbishop  is  termed  Grand  Master  of  the  Velime,  or  Grand 
Inquisitor.  And  this  prelate  and  other  priests  were  encouraged  to  exercise  such 
office  by  Pope  Boniface  III.,  whose  ecclesiastical  discipline  permitted  them  in 
Buch  cases  to  assume  the  right  of  judging  in  matters  of  life  and  death. 

NOTB  ll.—GUANTES,  p.  488 

Guantes,  used  by  the  Spanish  as  the  French  say  etrennes,  or  the  English  hand 
Bell  or  luckpenny— phrases  used  by  inferiors  to  their  patrons  as  the  bringers  ot 
good  news. 

NoTB  12.— Charles  the  Bold,  p.  456 

The  following  very  striking  passage  Is  that  in  which  Philip  de  Comines  sums 
wp  the  last  scene  of  Charles  the  Bold,  whose  various  fortunes  he  had  long  watched 
with  a  dark  anticipation  that  a  character  so  reckless,  and  capable  of  such  excess, 
must  sooner  or  later  lead  to  a  tragical  result  :— 

As  soon  as  the  Count  de  Campo-basso  arrived  In  the  Duke  of  Lorrain's  army, 
word  was  sent  him  to  leave  the  camp  immediately,  for  they  would  not  entertain, 
nor  have  any  communication  with,  such  traitors.  Upon  which  message  he  re- 
tired with  his  party  to  Conde,  a  castle  and  pass  not  far  off,  where  ho  fortified 
himself  with  carts  and  other  things  as  well  as  he  could,  in  hopes  that,  if  the 
Duke  of  Burgundy  was  routed,  he  might  h  ive  an  opportunity  or  coming  in  for 
share  of  tne  plunder,  as  he  did  afterwards.  Nor  was  this  practise  with  the  Duke 
of  Lorraln  the  most  execrable  action  that  Campo-bass  was  guilty  of ;  but  before 
he  left  the  army  he  conspir'd  with  several  other  officers  (finding  it  was  imprac- 
ticable to  attempt  anything  against  the  Duke  of  Burgundy'-  person)  to  leave 
him  just  as  they  came  to  charge  for  at  that  time  he  suppos'd  it  would  pit  the 
Duke  into  the  greatest  terror  and  consternation,  and  if  he  fled,  he  was  sure  he 
could  not  escape  alive,  for  he  had  order'd  thirteen  or  fourteen  sure  men,  some 
to  run  as  soon  as  the  Germans  came  up  to  charge  'em,  and  others  to  watch  the 
Duke  of  Burgundy,  and  kill  him  in  t'le  rout,  which  was  well  enough  contrived  ;  I 
myself  have  seen  two  or  three  of  th  se  who  were  employed  to  kill  the  Duke. 
Having  thus  settled  his  conspiracy  at  h  me,  he  went  over  to  the  Duke  of  Lorrain 
upon  the  approach  of  the  German  army ;  but  finding  they  would  not  entertain 
him,  he  retired  to  Conde. 

The  German  army  march'd  forward,  and  with  'em  a  considerable  body  of 
French  horse,  whom  the  King  had  given  leave  to  be  present  at  that  action. 
Several  parties  lay  in  ambush  not  far  off,  that  if  the  Duke  of  Burgundy  was 
routed,  they  might  surprise  some  person  of  quality,  or  take  some  considerable 
booty.  By  this  every  one  may  see  into  what  a  deplorable  condition  this  poor 
Duke  had  brought  himself  by  his  contempt  of  good  counsel,  both  armies  being 
join'd,  the  Duke  of  Burgundy's  forces  having  been  twice  beaten  before,  and  by 
consequence  weak  and  dispirited,  and  ill  provided  besides,  were  quickly  broken 
and  entirely  defeated.  Many  sav'd  themselves  and  got  off  ;  the  rest  were  either 
taken  or  kill'd  ;  and  among  'em  the  Duke  of  Burgundy  himself  was  kill'd  on  the 
spot.  .  .  .  One  Monsieur  Claude  of  Bausmont,  captain  of  the  Castle  of  Dier  in 
Lorrain,  kill'd  the  Duke  of  Burgundy.  Finding  his  army  routed,  be  mounted  a 
swift  horse,  and  endeavoring  to  swim  a  little  river  hi  order  to  make  his  escape, 
his  horse  fell  with  him,  and  overset  him.  The  Duke  cry'd  out  for  quarter  to 
this  gentleman  who  was  pursuing  him,  but  he  being  deaf,  and  not  hearmg  him, 
immediately  kill'd  and  stripp'd  him,  not  knowing  who  he  was,  and  left  him  naked 
in  the  ditch,  where  his  body  was  found  the  next  day  aftor  the  battle  ;  which  ttie 
Duke  of  Lorrain  (to  his  eternal  honor)  buried  with  great  pomp  and  magnificence 
In  St.  George's  church,  in  the  old  town  of  Nancy,  himself  and  all  his  nobility,  m 
deep  mourning,  attending  the  corpse  to  the  grave.  The  followmg  epitaph  wa« 
some  time  afterwards  engrav'd  on  his  tomb : — 

Carolus  hoc  busto  Burgundse  gloria  gentis 
Condltur,  Europae  qui  f ult  ante  timor.  .  .  . 

1  saw  a  seal  ring  of  his,  since  his  death,  at  Milan,  with  his  arms  cut  curiously 
upon  a  sardonyx  that  I  have  seen  him  often  wear  in  a  riband  at  his  breast  which, 
was  sold  at  Milan  for  two  ducats,  and  had  been  stolen  from  him  by  a  rascal  that 
waited  on  him  in  his  chamber.  I  have  often  seen  the  Duke  dress  d  and  undress  d 
In  great  state  and  formality,  and  attended  by  very  great  persons ;  but  at  his 


NOTES  TO  ANNE  OF  GEIEBSTEIN  469 

death  all  this  pomp  and  magnificence  ceas'd,  and  his  family  was  involved  in  the 
same  ruin  with  himself  .  .  .  and  very  likely  as  a  punishment  for  his  having  de- 
livered up  the  Constable  not  long  before,  out  of  a  base  and  avaricious  principle  ; 
but  God  forgive  him.  I  have  known  him  a  powerful  antl  honorable  prince,  in  as 
great  esteem,  and  as  much  courted  by  his  neighbors  (when  his  affairs  were  in  a 
prosperous  condition),  as  any  prince  in  Europe,  and  perhaps  more  ;  and  I  can- 
not conceive  what  should  provoke  God  Almighty's  displeasure  so  highly  against 
him,  unless  it  was  his  self-love  and  arrogance,  iu  appropriating  all  the  success  of 
his  enterprises,  and  all  the  renown  he  ever  acquir'd,  to  his  own  wisdom  and  con- 
duct, without  attributing  anything  to  God.  Yet,  to  speak  truth,  he  was  master 
of  several  good  qualities.  No  prince  ever  had  a  greater  ambition  to  entertain 
young  noblemen  than  he,  nor  was  more  careful  of  their  education.  His  presents 
and  bounty  were  never  profuse  and  extravagant,  because  he  gave  to  many,  and 
had  a  mind  everybody  should  taste  of  it.  No  prince  was  ever  more  easy  of  ac- 
cess to  his  servants  aiid  subjects.  Whilst  I  was  in  his  service  he  was  never  cruel, 
but  a  little  before  his  death  he  took  up  that  humor,  which  was  an  unfallible 
sign  of  the  shortness  of  his  life.  He  was  very  splendid  and  curious  in  his  dress, 
and  in  everything  else,  and  indeed  a  little  too  much.  He  paid  great  honors  to 
all  ambassadors  and  foreigners,  and  entertain'd  them  nobly.  His  ambitious 
desire  of  fame  was  insatiable,  and  it  was  that  which  induced  him  to  be  eternally 
in  wars,  more  than  any  other  motive.  He  ambitiously  desir'd  to  imitate  the  old 
kings  and  heroes  of  antiquity,  whose  actions  still  shine  in  history,  and  are  so 
much  talked  of  in  the  world,  and  his  courage  was  equal  to  any  prince's  of  his 
time. 

But  all  his  designs  and  imaginations  were  vain  and  extravagant,  and  turn'd 
afterwards  to  his  own  dishonor  and  confusion,  for  'tis  the  conquerors  and  not 
the  conquer'd  that  purchase  to  themselves  renown.  I  cannot  easily  determine 
towards  whom  God  Almighty  show'd  His  anger  most,  whether  towards  him  who 
died  suddenly  without  pain  or  sickness  in  the  field  of  battle,  or  towards  his  sub- 
jects who  never  enjoy'd  peace  after  his  death,  but  were  continually  involv'd  in 
wars,  against  which  they  were  not  able  to  maintain  themselves,  upon  account  of 
the  civil  dissentions  and  cruel  animosities  that  arose  among  'em  ;  and  that  which 
was  the  most  insupportable  was,  that  the  very  people  to  whom  they  were  now 
oblig'd  for  their  defence  and  preservation  were  the  Germans,  who  were  strangers, 
and  not  long  since  their  profess'd  enemies.  In  short,  after  the  Duke's  death, 
there  was  not  a  neighboring  state  that  wish'd  them  to  prosper,  nor  even  Ger- 
many that  defended  'em.  And  by  the  management  of  their  affairs,  their  under- 
standing seem'd  to  be  as  much  infatuated  as  their  master's,  for  they  rejected  all 
good  counsel,  and  pursued  such  methods  as  directly  tended  to  their  destruction  ; 
and  they  are  still  in  such  a  condition,  that  though  they  have  at  present  some 
little  ease  and  relaxation  from  their  sorrows,  yet  'tis  with  great  danger  of  a  re- 
lapse, and  'tis  well  if  it  turns  not  in  the  end  to  their  utter  ruin. 

I  am  partly  of  their  opinion  who  maintain,  that  God  gives  princes,  as  He  in 
His  wisdom  thinks  fit,  to  punish  or  chastise  the  subjects  ;  and  He  disposes  the 
affection  of  subjects  to  their  princes,  as  He  has  determin'd  to  raise  or  depress 
'em.  Just  so  it  has  pleas'd  Him  to  deal  with  the  house  of  Burgundy  ;  for,  after 
a  long  series  of  riches  and  prosperity,  and  six-and-twenty  years'  peace  under 
three  illustrious  princes,  predecessors  to  this  Charles  (all  of  'em  excellent  per- 
sons, and  of  great  prudence  and  discretion),  it  pleas'd  God  to  send  this  Duke 
Charles,  who  involv'd  them  in  bloody  wars,  as  well  winter  as  summer,  to  their 
great  affliction  and  expense,  in  which  most  of  their  richest  and  stoutest  men 
were  either  kill'd  or  utterly  undone.  Their  misfortunes  began  at  the  siege  of 
Nuz,  and  so  continu'd  for  three  or  four  battles  successively  to  the  very  hour  of 
his  death  ;  and  after  such  a  manner,  that  at  the  last  the  whole  strength  of  their 
country  was  destroy'd,  and  all  kill'd  or  taken  prisoners  who  had  any  zeal  or 
affection  for  the  house  of  Burgundy,  and  had  power  to  defend  the  state  and 
dignity  of  that  family ;  so  that  in  a  manner  their  losses  were  equal  to,  if  not 
over-balanc'd,  their  fomaer  prosperity ;  for  as  I  have  seen  these  princes  here- 
tofore puissant,  rich,  and  honorable,  so  it  fared  the  same  with  their  subjects ; 
for  I  think  I  have  seen  and  known  the  greatest  part  of  Europe ;  yet  I  never 
knew  any  province  or  country,  tho'  perhaps  of  a  larger  extent,  so  abounding 
in  money,  so  extravagantly  fine  in  furniture  for  their  horses,  so  sumptuous  in 
their  buildings,  so  profuse  in  their  expenses,  so  luxurious  in  their  feasts  and 
entertainments,  and  so  prodigal  in  all  respects,  as  the  subjects  of  these  princes, 
in  my  time  .  .  .  but  it  has  pleased  God  at  one  blow  to  subvert  and  ruin  this 
powerful  and  illustrious  family.  .  .  .  Such  changes  and  revolutions  of  states  and 
kingdoms  God  in  His  providence  has  wrought  before  we  were  born,  and  will 
do  again  when  we  are  in  our  graves  :  for  this  is  a  certain  maxim,  that  the  pros« 
perity  or  adversity  of  princes  are  wholly  at  His  disposal.— Cominks,  Book  V, 
chap.  ix. 


GLOSSARY 


OF 


WORDS,  PHRASES,  AND  ALLUSIONS 


46ye,  to  pay  the  penalty 
of,  atone  for 

Adjecte  d,  appended, 
added 

Agnes,  Queen  (p.  159),  wife 
of  King  Andrew  of  Hun- 
gary, and  daughter  of 
the  (Emperor)  Albert, 
took  inhuman  venge- 
ance on  her  father's 
murderers 

Aigrette,  a  plume  of 
feathers 

Albert,  Emperor,  more 
correctly  King  of  the 
Romans,  was  assassin- 
ated by  his  nephews  and 
other  conspirators  near 
Habsburg  in  Switzerland 
in  1308 

Almain,  or  Allemagne, 
Germany 

Alter  ego,  second  self 

Ariette,  a  little  song 

Arquebusier,  a  soldier 
armed  with  an  arque- 
buse,  an  early  form  of 
musket 

Arrests  of  love,  decrees  of 
the  troubadour  courts 
of  love.  See  Note  9,  p. 
467 

Asi,  or  ^sir,  a  class  of 
gods  in  ancient  Scandi- 
navian mythology 

Asses,  Festival  of.  See 
Festival  of  Asses 

Astucious,  astute,  shrewd 

An  secret,  for  a  confiden- 
tial consultation 

Ave,  Ave  Maria,  Hail  to 
thee,  Mary  I  A  prayer 
beginning  with  these 
words 

Baarenhauter,  correctly, 
Bdrenhauter,  a  "  bear's- 
hider,"  a  nickname 
given  to  the  lanzknechte, 
or  landsTcnechte,  at  the 
time  of  the  Thirty  Years 
War,  from  their  fond- 
ness for  lying  stretched 
at  lazy  ease  on  a  bear- 
skin or  similar  rug 


Banneret,  a  standard- 
bearer 

Ban  of  the  Empire,  sen- 
t  e  n  c  e  of  outlawry  ; 
authority 

Banquette,  the  walk  be- 
hind the  parapet  of  a 
fortress 

Barante,  A.  G.  P.  Bru- 
giere,  Baron  de,  author 
of  Histoire  des  Dues  de 
Bourgogne,  12  vols.  (1824- 
28) 

Barber,  Louis  XL's  Com- 
pare Oliver  le  Dain  in 
Quentin  Durward 

Barbican.,  the  outwork 
defending  the  gate  of  a 
fortress 

Baron  of  the  Empire,  a 
baron  who  owed  no 
allegiance  to  any  feudal 
superior  except  the 
emperor 

Bartizan,  a  small  over- 
hanging turret,  project- 
ing parapet 

Bean  in  the  cake.  He  who 
obtained  the  bean,  pre- 
viously placed  in  the 
Twelfth  Night  cake,  was 
Twelfth  Night  King 

Benedicite,  my  blessing 
rest  upon  you 

Berchtold  of  Offringen 
(p.  159;,  a  soldier  and 
hermit,  who  establish 
his  cell  near  the  spot 
where  Albert  {q.  v.)  was 
slain 

Bickering,  quivering, 
rapidly  fluttenng 

Black  friars  of  St. 
Francis'' s  order.  See  St. 
Francis's  order 

Blink  out  of,  to  evade, 
shirk 

Blutacker.  See  Steinern- 
herz,  Francis,  etc. 

Boreas,  in  ancient  Greek 
mythology,  the  Nortli 
Wind 

Botargo,  the  roe  of  the 
mullet  or  tunny,  salted 
and  dried 

471 


Both  Sicilies.  See  Sicilies 
both 

Bounjer,  a  maker  of  bows 

Boy  bishop,  consecration 
of  (p.  379),  an  annual 
mummery  in  most  Eng- 
lish cathedral  towns,  on 
St.  Nicholas's  Day  (6th 
December),  a  boy  bishop 
being  elected  in  mockery 
of  the  clergy 

Brache,  a  kind  of  sport- 
ing dog,  that  hunted  by 
scent 

Bransle,  a  brawl,  species 
of  dance,  resembling  the 
cotillon 

Bretagne,  Brittany 

Broad-piece,  an  old  Eng- 
1  i  s  h  gold  coin  =  20s., 
first  issued  by  James  I. 
in  1619 

Brockenberg,  or  Brocken 
Hill,  a  summit  in  the 
Harz  Mountains  of  Ger- 
many, where  the  witches 
were*  believed  to  as- 
semble for  weird  revelry 
at  least  once  a  year 

Bruit,  rumor 

Bull,  wild,  called  in  Latin 
urus,  whence  Uri  (see  p. 
189) 

Buon  campagna,  open 
country 

Buttisholz,  near  to  Rus- 
swyl  (q.  V.)  in  the  canton 
of  Lucerne 

Cabaret,  a  wine-shop 

Cabestaing,  William,  a 
troubadour  of  Roussil- 
lon,  who  lived  in  the  end 
of  the  12th  century 

Calegons,  drawers 

Candia,  or  Crete,  was  at 
the  date  of  this  novel  a 
possession  of  Venice  ; 
nearly  all  the  Levant, 
except  this  island  and 
Rhodes  (g.  v.)  was  sub- 
ject to  the  Turks 

Capote,  a  long  shaggj 
overcoat 

Caravansera,  an  inn 


472 


WA VERLEY  NOVELS 


Carbonado,  a  piece  of 
meat  or  game,  seasoned 
and  broiled 

Car ca  net,  a  necklace, 
circlet  of  jewels 

Carolus  hoc  busto,  etc. 
(p.  468).  In  this  tomb 
is  embalmed  Charles, 
the  glory  of  the  Burgun- 
dian  nation,  formerly 
the  terror  of  Europe 

Carthusian  friars,  take, 
amongst  other  vows,  one 
of  almost  total  silence 

Cathay,  China 

Caurus  in  ancient  Greek 
mythology,  the  West- 
North- West  Wind 

Chaffron,  or  chanifron  the 
armoured  frontlet  of  a 
horse 

Chalunieau,  a  reed  made 
into  an  instrument  of 
music 

Charles  the  Simple,  a 
feeble  puppet-king  of 
France,  who  reigned  in 
the  end  of  the  9th  and 
beginning  of  the  10th 
century 

Clarence  and  his  father- 
in-law  (p.  317).  George 
Duke  of  Clarence, 
brother  of  Edward  IV., 
married  Isabella,  daugh- 
ter of  Warwick  the  King- 
maker.  Clarence  and 
Warwick  went  over  to 
Henry  VI.  ;  but  the  duke 
soon  abandoned  his 
father-in-law  and  re- 
turn e  d  to  join  his 
brother 

Coif,  a  woman's  headdress 

Corso,  the  chief  street  or 
square  in  an  Italian  town 

Cote  roti,  wine  grown  on 
a  sunny  slope 

Couci,  Ingelram  de,  or  En- 
querrand  VII.,  married 
Isabella,  a  daughter  of 
Edward  III.  of  England, 
and  in.  1374-75  claimed 
certain  Swiss  territories 
as  belonging  to  the 
dowry  of  his  mother,  an 
Austrian  princess 

Cour  pleniere,  a  great 
gathering  of  all  a  king's 


Cousi  e- Archers,  associ- 
ates, used  contemptu- 
ously 

Credo,  the  Apostles'  (or 
other)  Creed 

Cresset,  a  large  kind  of 
candlestick  for  holding 
a  small  fire  or  illuminant 


Dalmatic,   dalmatique,  a 
long  ecclesiastical  robe 


Deo  gratias.  To  God  be 
the  thanks 

"  Der  Rhein  der  Rhein,'''' 
etc.  (p.  466).  The  Rhine, 
the  Rhine,  blessed  be 
the  Rhine.  There  grow 
our  noble  grapes,  etc. 

Diensttag,  serving-day, 
Tuesday 

Diet,  the  national  assem- 
bly 

Dijon  (p.  300),  is  more  than 
100  miles  from  Strasburg 
as  the  crow  flies,  and 
lies  south  -  west  from 
Bale,  whereas  Strasburg 
lies  north  from  Bale 

Dingstag,  court  -  day, 
Tuesday 

Dom  Daniel,  in  Oriental 
lore,  a  huge  cavern  sup- 
posed to  lie  "  under  the 
roots  of  the  ocean," 
in  which  evil  spirits, 
enchanters,  and  other 
wicked  beings  are  con- 
fined 

Doomsmen,  all  who 
gathered  at  the  doom, 
or  geat  popular  court 

Dorff,  correctly  Dorf,  a 
village 

Double-ganger,  or  dop- 
pelgdnger,  a  spectral 
counterpart  of  a  living 
person 

Ducat,  an  old  gold  coin, 
worth  about  9s.  4d. 

Echevin,  sheriff,  assessor 

Einsiedlen,  or  Einsiedln, 
a  celebrated  Benedictine 
abbey,  a  few  miles  south 
of  the  Lake  of  Zurich 

Empire  ban  of.  See  Ban 
of  the  Empire 

Entrechat,  a  caper 

Eresburgh,  an  old  frontier 
fortress  or  fortified 
camp  of  the  ancient 
Saxons,  about  18  miles 
south  of  Paderborn 

Escossais,  Scotsmen 

Espadon,  a  long  heavy 
,  sword 

Etrennes,  a  free  gift,  earn- 
est-money 

Eurus,  in  ancient  Greek 
mythology,      the     East 

Fadge,  to  succeed,  fit, 
turn  out  well 

Faustrecht,  club-law,  the 
right  claimed  by  the 
petty  barons  of  the  Em- 
pire to  wage  private  war- 
fare 

Ferette  La,  a  district  or 
county  in  southern 
Alsace 

Festival  of   Asses,    cele- 


brated on  14th  January, 
in  commemoration  or 
the  Flight  into  Egypt  of 
Joseph  and  Mary 

Fete  -  Dieu,  a  five-days' 
festival,  consisting  of 
processions,  spectacles, 
games,  etc.,  first  ar- 
ranged by  King  Ren6  in 
1462,  and  celebrated  an- 
nually at  Aix 

Fiat  voluntas  tua.  Thy 
will  be  done 

Filles  repentees,  fallen 
women 

Folterkammer,  a  torture^ 
chamber 

Forest  Cantons,  Lucerne, 
Uri,  Schwyz,  and  Unter- 
walden,  grouped  round 
the  Lake  of  Lucerne 

Free  cities  of  the  Empire, 
owed  allegiance  to  no 
prince  or  ruler  except 
the  emperor 

Free  count  of  the  Empire, 
a  count  who  owed  allegi- 
a  n  c  e  to  no  feudal 
superior  except  the  em- 
peror 

Freegraves,  free  counts, 
judges  of  the  Vehmic 
tribunals 

Freyenbach,  near  Zurich ; 
there  the  Confederates 
were  attacked  on  226. 
May  1443  by  Austria  and 
Zurich 

Freyfeldgericht,  free  field 
court 

Freygraffschaften,  free 
counties 

Freyschoppfen,    or   Fret- 


schoffen,     free    bailiffs, 
sheriffs 
Frohner,  a  summoner, 
minor  judicial  officer 

Galilee,  a  porch  or  chapel 
beside  a  monastery  or 
church,  in  which  the 
monks  received  visitors, 
where  processions  were 
formed,  penitents  sta- 
tioned, and  so  forth.  See 
Note  25,  of  Fair  Maid  of 
Perth 

Gau,  an  administrative 
district  of  the  German 
Empire 

Gaxids,  trinkets,  orna- 
ments 

Gea?-,  business,  affair; 
property,  goods 

Geierstein,  vulture-stone 

Gerefa,  or  graf,  count,  earl 

Geysler,  or  Gessler,  the 
bailiff  of  the  Duke  of 
Austria  in  Switzerland, 
the  oppressive  tyrant 
who  figures  in  the  story 
of  William  Tell 


GL0S8ABT 


473 


Oraffslust,  or  Grafenltist, 
means  "  count's  delight " 

Grave,  a  count 

Gutte r-blooded,  of  the 
meanest  birth 

Hagbut,  a  musket,  arque- 
buse 

Handsel,  earnest-money 

Hanse,  or  Hansa,  an  asso- 
ciation of  trading  towns, 
very  powerful  on  the 
Baltic  and  North  Sea 
coasts  of  Germany 

Hauptman,m.ore  correctly 
hauptmann,  a  captain 

Heilbronn,  an  old  German 
town  on  the  Neckar, 
about  30  miles  north  of 
Stuttgart 

Heimliche  acht,  the  secret 
tribunal  of  the  Vehmic 
institution 

Helvetia,  the  Latin  name 
for  Switzerland 

Henry  V.  (p.  307),  carried 
an  invading  army  from 
England  over  to  France, 
but  not  from  France  into 
Italy 

Hermitage  (p.  376),  wine 
grown  in  a  vineyard 
situated  10  or  11  miles 
north  of  Valence,  in  the 
southeast  of  France 

Hypocaust,  a  stove,  heat- 
ing apparatus 

"i  have  seen  the  wicked 
man,"  etc.  (p.  157).  Com- 
pare Psalm  xxxvii.  35,  36 

llluminati,  a  secret  society 
founded  by  Adam  Weis- 
haupt  at  Ingolstadt  in 
1776  for  promoting  gen- 
eral enlightenment  and 
combating  tyranny 

Ulustrissimo,  very  illus- 
trous  sir 

Insouciant,  heedless,  re- 
gardless 

Irminsule,  or  Irminsaule, 
a  pillar  dedicated  to 
Irmin,  an  ancient  Teu- 
tonic deity 

Jongleur,  a  minstrel-poet 
of  Northern  France 

Joyeuse  Entree,  making 
entry  in  festal  fashion 

Joyous  science,  minstrelsy 

Judgment  of  God,  trial  by 
ordeal,  such  as  judicial 
combat,  carrying  red- 
hot  iron,  etc. 

Jungherrn,  or  Jungherren, 
a  general  title  given  to 
the  sons  of  nobles 

King  of  Gods  and  Men,  the 
Zeus  of  the  Greeks,  Ju- 
piter of  the  Romans 


King  of  Naples,  style  of, 
etc.  (p.  311),  from  Henry 
VI. ,  Part  III.  Act.  i.  sc.  4 


Koenigsfeldt,  or  Konigs- 
felden,  in  the  canton  of 
Aargau,  about  17  miles 
northwest  of  Zurich 

Konigsstuhl,  king's  seat, 
seat  of  judgment 

Kreutzer,  or  creutzer,  an 
old  silver  or  copper  coin 
of  Germany,  formerly  = 
IJ^d. 

La  Ferette.  See  Ferette, 
La 

Lammergeier,  or  Idmmer- 
geier,  the  Bearded  Vul 
ture,  the  largest  bird  of 
prey  of  the  Old  World 

Landais,  Peter,  favorite 
of  Francis  II.,  Duke  of 
Brittany  ;  he  was  the 
son  of  a  tailor,  and  was 
hanged  at  Nantes  in  1485 

Landamman,  the  chief 
magistrate  in  a  Swiss 
canton 

Landvogt,  a  bailiff 

Lanzkn  echt,  or  lands 
knecht,  a  German  mer 
cenary  soldier 

Laupen,  in  the  canton  of 
Berne  ;  there  the  Swiss 
peasants  defeated  the 
neighboring  feudal 
nobles  in  1389 

Leaguer,  a  fixed  camp, 
generally  fortified  or  en- 
trenched 

Le  bon  Roi  Rene,  good 
King  Ren6 

Leumund,  general  bad 
reputation 

Liege  (p.  153),  was  taken 
by  Charles  of  Burgundy 
in  1467,  and,  after  a  rising 
of  the  citizens,  again  in 
1468,  when  he  treated 
the  people  with  much 
severity  and  cruelty 

Loretto,  holy  house  of,  a 
small  room  traditionally 
believed  to  have  been 
the  Nazareth  home  of 
the  Virgin  Mary,  is  rev- 
erenced at  Loretto  near 
Ancona,  on  the  Adriatic 
coast  of  Italy 

Los,  or  laus,  praise 

Losel,  a  good-for-nothing, 
worthless  fellow 

Louis  XL,  agents  of.  One 
of  his  principal  advisers 
was  the  ci-devant  barber, 
Oliver  le  Dain,  who 
figures  so  prominently 
in  ^entin  Duward  ; 
Louis  XL  poisoned  his 
brother  (p.  317).  Louis 
caused  his  brother 
Charles,  Duke   of   Gui- 


enne,  to  be  put  to  death. 
See    Quentin    Durward. 
Note  40 
Lyme-hound,  a  large  dog, 
as  a  bloodhound 

Magnifico,  your  magnifi- 
cence 

Mails,  baggage 

Mainour,  the  thing  stolen ; 
fact,  act 

Maire,  mayor 

Maison  du  Due,  the  ducal 
palace  ;  maison  du  Roy, 
the  royal  palace 

Malecredence,  mistrust, 
the  condition  of  not  be- 
ing believed 

Menherr,  Mr. 

Merlin,  a  kind  of  hawk, 
formerly  trained  to  hunt 
game  birds 

Met e-wand,  measuring- 
rod 

Minnesinger,  a  poet- 
minstrel  of  medieval 
Germany 

Monition,  a  formal  notice 
requiring  the  amend- 
ment of  some  offense 

Montereou,  bridge  of  (p. 
359),  there  in  1419  John 
the  Fearless,  Duke  of 
Burgundy,  was  treach- 
erously slain  by  the 
attendants  of  the  Dau- 
phin, son  of  Charles  VI. 
of  France 

Montero-cap,  a  hunts- 
man's cap,  provided  with 
flaps  for  protecting  the 

Mont  VHery  (p.  324), 
fought  on  16th  July  1465 
between  Louis  XI.  on  the 
one  part  and  certain  of 
the  great  nobles  of 
France  on  the  other 

Morat,  or  Murten,  about 
12  miles  from  Neuf 
chatel,  on  the  east  side 
of  the  Lake  of  Neuf- 
chatel 

Morgue,  the  proud,  dis- 
dainful look  of  a  superior 
to  an  inferior 

Morisco.  a  Moor  of  Spain, 
Moorish 

Mount  Hirzel,  close  to 
Zurich,  stormed  by  the 
Confederated  Swiss  in 
1443 

Nancy,  battle  of,  was 
fought,  not  on  1st,  but 
on  5th,  January  1477. 
The  body  of  Charles  the 
Bold  was  found  on  the 
southwest,  not,  as  p.  456 
seems  to  imply,  on  the 
north,  of  the  city 

Nazarene,       correctly 


474 


WAVERLET  NOVELS' 


Nazarite,  t^amson  the 
Judge  of  Israel.  See 
Numbers  vi.  Sand  Judges 
xiii.  5 

Nierensteiner,  ^rown  at 
Nierstein,  10  miles  south 
of  Mayence,  on  the  Rhine 

Nimmersat,  means  "  never 
satisfied  " 

Non  frater,  etc.  (p.  258), 
brother  is  not  safe  from 
brother,  nor  the  guest 
irom  his  host 

Offenbare  ding,  the  open 
court  of  the  Vehmic  in- 
stitution 

Or i flam  me,  the  sacred 
standard  of  the  kingdom 
of  France,  was  made  of 
red  silk  with  a  flame-like 
edging,  and  borne  on  a 
gilded  pole 

Palemon,  in  Thomson's 
Seasons,  Autumn 

Par  Amours,  forbidden 
love 

Pardoner,  a  licensed  seller 
of  papal  indulgences 

Pavin,  or  pavan,  a  stately 
Spanish  dance 

Pays  de  Vaud,  the  country 
of  Vaud,  a  Swiss  canton 

Peltry,  skins  and  furs  of 
wild  animals 

Pennoncelle,  a  little  flag 
fixed  to  a  lance 

Pepys,  and  his  camlet 
cloak  (p.  417).  See  his 
Diary,  under  date  30th 
December  1667 

Piastre,  a  silver  coin, 
worth  4s. 

Pight,  pitched,  placed, 
fixed 

Pilatre,  Mont,  more  cor- 
rectly Pilatus,  a  con- 
spicuous peak  beside 
Lake  Lucerne 

Plump,  a  clump,  collec- 
tion 

Potz  element,  a  Gterman 
oath 

Public  good,  war  of  the 
(p.  321),  waged  by  the 
Dukes  of  Burgundy, 
Britanny,  and  other 

freat     feudatories     of 
'ranee  against  Louis  XI. 
See    Quentin   Durward, 
p.  892 
Questionary,  a  peddler  of 
relics  or  indulgences 

Barn's  Alley,  now  Hare 
Place,  off  Fleet  Street 
and  near  Whitefriars, 
a  resort  of  thieves  and 
low  characters,  and 
noted  for  its  dirty  cook- 
shops 


Rebeck,  or  rebec,  a  musi- 
cal instrument  of  the 
viol  class 

Red  Land,  a  name  given  to 
Westphalia,  the  peculiar 
home  of  the  Vehvige- 
richte  or  Secret  Tribu- 
nals. These  were  always 
most  powerful  in  the 
west,  not  the  east,  of  the 
Empire  (p.  350).  See  also 
Note  7,  p.  466 

Reiter,  a  horse-soldier 

Rheinthal,  the  valley  of 
the  Rhine 

Rhinegrave,  count  of  the 
Rhine  county,  a  district 
near  Wiesbaden 

Rhodes,  at  the  date  of  this 
novel,  was  garrisoned  by 
the  Knights  Hospitallers 
of  St.  John 

Rigadoon,  a  dance  with  a 
peculiar  hopping  step 

Ritter,  a  knight 

Roba  di  guadagno,  profit- 
able goods,  booty 

Roi  d' amour,  king  of  love, 

President  of  the  trouba- 
our  courts 

Romaunt,  a  story  or  tale 
in  verse 

Rote,  a  kind  of  harp  or 
viol,  played  by  turning 
a  wheel 

Roussillon,  Margaret  de 
(p.  363),  wife  of  Ray- 
mond of  Roussillon.  Af- 
ter she  had  partaken  of 
the  horrid  dish  of  her 
lover's  heart,  she  threw 
herself  from  a  balcony 
in  order  to  escape  the 
murderous  fury  of  her 
husband 

Rudesheimer,  or  Riideshei- 
mer,  a  variety  of  Rhine 
wine,  grown  at  Riide- 
sheim,  nearly  opposite 
to  Bingen 

Russwyl,  or  Ruswyl,  in 
the  canton,  and  west  of 
the  city  of  Lucerne.  See 
further  p,  46 ;  also  But- 
tisholz  and  Couci,  Ingel- 
ram  de 

St.  Francis''s  order  black 
friars  of  (p.  249).  The 
Franciscan  friars  wore 
gray  gowns  ;  it  was  the 
Dominicans  who  wore 
them  black 

St.  Gall,  or  Sankt  (p.  56) 
Gallen,  in  the  Swiss 
canton  of  St.  Gall,  a 
famous  seat  of  learning 
in  the  middle  ages 

St.  Jacob,  chapel  of  (p. 
56),  under  the  walls  of 
Zurich,  where  in  July 
1448  the  men  of    that 


town  were  routed  bj"  the 
Confedera  ted  Swiss. 
This  must  be  distin- 
guished from  the  heroic 
fight  at  St.  Jacob,  out- 
side Bale,  against  the 
French,  in  August  1444 

St.  Magnus  the  Martyr,  no 
doubt  the  Earl  of  Ork- 
ney, who  was  assassin- 
ated in  1115,  hardly  the 
8th  century  monk  of 
Fiissen  and  St.  Gall 

St.  Martha  and  the  Drag- 
on.   See  Tarrasque 

St.  Nicholas  (p.  289),  the 
patron  saint  of  thieves 
and  highway  robbers 

St.  Peter  of  the  Fetters. 
Compare  Acts  xii.  The 
chains  with  which  the 
Apostle  was  bound  were 
long  regarded  (at  Rome) 
with  almost  idolatrous 
devotion 

St.  Wendelin, ahermit and 
swineherd  of  the  district 
of  Treves,  in  the  7th  cen- 
tury 

Saltire-wise,  two  lines 
crossing  one  another 
diagonally  Hke  a  St.  An- 
drew's cross 

Samite,  a  heavy  silk  tex- 
tile 

Sanctum  sanctorum,  the 
most  private  apartment 

Sapperment  der  Teufel,  a 
German  oath 

Scabini,  sheriffs,  assessors 

Schaffhausen,  abyss  of 
(p.  255),  the  falls  of  the 
Rhine  at  Schaffhausen, 
shortly  after  it  emerges 
from  the  Lake  of  Con- 
stance 

Scharfgerichter,  or  scharf- 
richter,  executioner 

Schlaftrunk,  a  sleeping- 
draught 

Schoppen,  should  be  writ- 
ten schoffen,  the  initiates 
of  the  Vehmgerichte  or 
Vehme 

Schwarzbier,  black  beer 

Schwarzreiter,  a  black 
rider,  German  mercen- 
ary horse-soldier  wear- 
ing black  uniform 

Science,  joyous,  minstrelsy 

Sempach,  m  the  canton  of 
Lucerne;  there  the 
Swiss  defeated  the  Aus- 
trian nobility  in  1386 

Seven  Sleepers,  noble 
youths  of  Ephesus,  shut 
up  in  a  cave  during  the 
persecution  of  the  Chris- 
tians by  the  Roman  Em- 
peror Decius,  about  250 ; 
there  they  slept  until 
the  year  447,  when  they 


GLOSS  Aur 


476 


awakened  for  a  short 
period 

Sioylline  leaf,  the  oracu- 
lar or  precious  saying 

Sicilies,  both.  At  differ- 
ent periods  between  the 
years  1266  and  1713  the 
crown  of  Naples  and  the 
crown  of  Sicily  were 
worn  by  one  and  the 
same  ruler,  who  gov- 
erned under  the  title  of 
King  of  the  Two  Sicilies 

Siddons,  Sarah,  the  great 
tragic  actress  (1755-1831) 

Stadtholder,  an  imperial 
deputy,  governor 

Stauffacher,  one  of  the 
champions  of  Swiss  in- 
dependence, an  associ- 
ate of  William  Tell 

Steinernherz,  Francis 
(Franz)  von  Blutacker, 
equivalent  in  English  to 
Francis  Stonyheart  of 
Blood-acre 

Stell,  to  place,  fix 

Stoup,  a  drinking-cup 

Stradiots,  or  Stratiots, 
light  cavalry  recruited 
in  Albania  and  Mores 
(Greece) 

Strappado,  a  military  pun- 
ishment :  the  offender's 
hands  were  tied  behind 
his  back,  then  he  was 
lifted  up  by  them  to  a 
considerable  height,  and 
suddenly  let  fall 

Strickkind,  the  child  of  the 
cord,  the  prisoner  on 
trial  before  the  Vehmic 
tribunal 

Stube,  strictly,  a  living- 
room  containing  a  stove 
(Germ,  of  en) 

Stuhlherr,  lord  or  judge  of 
a  Vehmic  court 

Sundgau,  or  Upper  Alsace, 
the  southern  division  of 
Alsace 

Swabia,  an  old  duchy  and 
division  of  the  German 
empire,  now  embraced 
in  Wiirtemberg,  Baden, 
Bavaria,  and  Switzer- 
land 

Swan,  white,  sacred  to 
Orpheus,  the  god  of 
music,  and  so  of  min- 
strelsy 

Swiss,  spoke  in  (p.  216), 
the  only  language  pecu- 
liar to  Switzerland  is  the 
Romansch,  spoken  in  the 
canton  of  the  Grisons. 
French.  German,  and 
Italian  are  the  lan- 
guages of  the  bulk  of 
the  people 

Switzer,  a  native  of  Swit- 
zerland 


Talliage,  a  subsidy,  tax 

Tarasconne,  or  Tarascon, 
a  town  on  the  Rhone, 
about  15  miles  south- 
west of  Avignon 

Tarrasque,  or  Tarasque, 
the  name  of  the  dragon 
which  in  ancient  times 
terrorised  Tarascon,  and 
was  driven  out  and  into 
the  Rhone  by  Martha, 
sister  of  Mary  Magda- 
lene. King  Ren6  played 
the  Tarasque  in  the  an- 
nual masque  in  the  year 
1469 

Tete-du-pont,  the  defen- 
s  i  V  e  outwork  upon 
which  the  drawbridge 
rested  when  it  was  low- 
ered 

Thane,  one  in  rank  inter- 
mediate between  a  free- 
man and  a  great  noble 


"  The   style    of    King    of 
--     -      '  (p.    371  J, 

from    Henry    VI.,    Part 


Naples,''''    etc.    (] 


III.  Act  i.  sc.  4 

Thou,  use  of,  in  Germany 
(p.  280).  Annette  Veil- 
chen  would  almost  cer- 
tainly have  used  habitu- 
ally "  thou  "  and  "  thee  " 
to  Anne  of  Geierstein, 
they  being  members  of 
the  same  family  and  the 
period  the  15th  century  ; 
but  certainly  she  would 
not  have  used  it  to  a 
stranger  like  Arthur 
Philipson 

Tiers  etat,  the  third  es- 
tate or  representatives 
of  the  people 

Tisanne,  or  ptisan,  a  de- 
coction of  barley 

Trebizond,  Soldan  of,  a 
kingdom  in  the  north  of 
Asia  Minor,  ruled  over 
by  a  branch  of  the  Im- 
perial Byzantine  family 
of  the  Comneni  for  two 
hundred  and  fifty  years 
(till  1461) 

Treillage,  trellis-work 

Troubadour,  a  minstrel- 
poet  of  the  south  of 
France 

Turnpike-stair,  a  spiral  or 
winding  staircase 

Uri  (p.  189),  from  urus, 
the  Latin  name  for  the 
wild  ox 

Usiini  non  habeo,  I  do  not 
know  how  to  use  it 

Vade  retro,  get  thee  be- 
hind 

Vail,  to  doff , lower, take  off 

Vambrace,  the  piece  of 
armor  that  covered  the 
forearm 


Verfdmbt,  condemned  by 
the  Vehme,  outlawed 

Vestiary,  a  room  for  keep- 
ing vestments 

Visne,  venue,  the  district 
where  a  law  action  must 
be  tried 

Walloon  guard.  See  Glos- 
sary to  Quentin  Dur- 
ward, "  Black  Walloons" 

Wapentake,  an  old  sub- 
division of  the  English 
counties 

Warrand,  a  defender 

Wassail,  ale  or  wine 
sweetened  and  flavored 
with  spices  ;  revelry  ; 
wassail-song,  a  drink- 
i  n  g-s  o  n  g,  carousing- 
song 

Wein,  wine 

Welked,  or  whelk ed, 
marked  with  ridges  like 
a  whelk 

Wild  Huntsman,  a  spec- 
tral hunter,  who  sweeps 
through  the  air  with  a 
spectral  train  of  dogs 
and  evil  spirits 

Wimple,  a  shawl  worn  by 
women  out  of  doors 

Winkelried,  Arnold,  the 
hero  who,  in  the  battle 
of  Sempach  (q.v.),  gath- 
ered up  an  armful  of 
Austrian  spears  and 
buried  them  in  his  own 
bosom,  thus  opening  a 
path  for  the  Swiss 
through  the  close-locked 
ranks  of  the  enemy 

Wissenden,  ^hose  who 
know,  the  initiated 

Wroge,  or  vrage,  formal 
reports,  presentments 

Yungfrau,  or  Jungfrau, 
a  maiden  ;  the  title  long 
given  to  an  unmarried 
lady  of  noble  birth 

Yungherren,  or  Jungher- 
ren  (pi.  ;  sing.  Jung- 
herr),  or  Junker,  a  title 
given  to  young  Germans 
of  noble  birth 

Zecchin,  or  sequin,  a  Vene 
tian  gold  coin,  worth  9s 
to  10s. 

Zschokke,  Johann  H.  D., 
German  novelist,  who 
also  wrote  a  History  of 
the  Three  Leagues  in 
Sivitzerland  (1798) 

Zurich,  war  of  (1436-.50), 
between  that  canton  and 
the  canton  of  Schwyz 
and  its  allies  for  the 
possessions  of  the  last 
Count  of  Toggenburg,  in 
which  Zurich,  who  was 
assisted  by  Austria,  was 
disastrously  beaten 


INDEX  TO  ANNE  OF  GEIERSTEIN 


Agnes,  Queen,  159,  471 

Aix,  369  ;  King  Rene's  palace  at,  375 

Albert,  Emperor,  159,  471 

Alps,  2,  5 

Anne  of  Geierstein,  the  novel,  v 

Antonio,    the    guide,    4 ;    pleads    with 

Philipson,  17 
Apollyon,  Herman  of  Arnheim's  steed, 

126 
Arnheim,  Barons  of,  119 
Arnheim,  Herman  of,  121 ;  history  of, 

125,  282 
Arnheim,  Sybilla  of,  121,  134 
Arnheim  Castle,  267 
Asses,  Fostival  of,  379,  472 
Austria,  relations  with  the  Swiss,  2 


Baarenhauter,  295,  471 

Baden,  dungeon  in  castle,  463 

Bale,  81 ;  inhospitality  of,  84  ;  youth  of, 
rescue  the  Swiss  deputies,  194 

Bamberg,  Bishop  of,  132 

Barante,  Brugi^re  de,  quoted,  463 

Bartholomew,  the  guide,  213  ;  his  plot 
foiled,  225 

Berchtold  of  Offringen,  159,  471 

Berne,  canton  of,  41  ;  merchants  of,  75, 
154 

Biederman,  Arnold,  his  house  and  farm, 
32;  welcomes  Arthur  Philipson,  34; 
description  of  him,  35  ;  conversation 
with  Philipson,  40 ;  his  noble  descent, 
52  ;  interview  with  Schreckenwald,  57 ; 
stops  the  duel,  67 ;  refused  admit- 
tance into  Bale,  84  ;  reproves  his  son 
Ernest,  86  ;  his  respect  for  Philipson, 
145  ;  is  met  by  Arthur  Philipson,  186  ; 
conference  with  De  Hagenbach,  192  ; 
shut  up  in  the  dungeon,  196 ;  asks 
counsel  of  Philipson,  205  ;  addresses 
Charles  the  Bold,  252  ;  at  Nancy,  455, 
460 

Biederman,  Ernest,  reproved  by  his 
father,  86 

Biederman,  Rudiger,  47  ;  at  Graflfslust, 
104,  116 ;  bidden  get  the  Philipsons 
away,  200  ;  his  death,  457 

Biederman,  Sigismund,  96,  140 ;  reports 
having  seen  the  apparition,  140 ;  his 
devotion  to  Arthur  Philipson,  184 ; 
recovers  the  casket,  205 ;  describes 
the  battle  of  Granson,  405;  returns 
the  casket  a  second  time,  414  ;  in  Aix 


society,  416 ;  aids  Arthur  at  Nancy^ 

457 
Black  priest  of  St.  Paul's.    See  Geiers- 

tein,  Albert  of 
Block,  Martin,  345 
Blue  Knight.    See  Vaudemont,  Ferrand 

de 
Boisgelin,  lady  of,  397 
Bonstetten,  Nicholas,  76,  80,  92 ;  gives 

his  mule  to  Philipson,  146 ;  justifies 

himself,  200  ;  objects  to  ride  on  horse. 

back,  209 
Boy  Bishop,  379,  471 
Brisach,  148,  151 ;  invaded  by  the  youth 

of  Bale,  194 
Brockenberg,  279,  472 
Burgundy,  Duke  of.     See  Charles  the 

Bold 
Burgundy,  Estates  of,  344 
Buttisholz,  bow  of,  44  ;  battle  of,  46 

Cabestaing,  William,  363,  472 

Campo-basso,  Count  of,  328, 333 ;  speaks 
in  his  own  defence,  355  ;  his  doubtful 
aims,  437  ;  brings  news  of  Ferrand  de 
Vaudemont,  439  ;  makes  a  reconnais- 
sance, 443  ;  treachery  to  Duke  Charles, 
453,  456,  458 

Candia,  300,  472 

Caspar,  stable-master,  126 

Charles  the  Bold,  his  relations  with  the 
Swiss,  41,  71  ;  with  Edward  IV.  of 
England,  61,  71  ;  his  camp  near  Dijon, 
313  ;  interview  with  Philipson,  315 ; 
his  dreams  of  Provence,  320  ;  disguised 
as  a  Walloon,  330 ;  receives  the  Es- 
tates of  Burgundy.  344  ;  receives  the 
Swiss  deputies,  348 ;  interview  with 
Philipson,  358 ;  defeated  at  Granson, 
405  ;  at  Morat,  425  ;  his  despair,  429  ; 
roused  by  Philipson,  433  ;  summoned 
before  the  Vehme,  442 ;  his  death, 
456,  458,  468  ;  Des  Comines  on,  468 

Child  of  the  cord,  254 

Clarence,  George,  Duke  of,  817,  472 

Cologne,  Archbishop  of,  415 

Colvin,  Henry,  313  ;  entertains  Philip- 
son, 337  ;  sends  off  Arthur  Philipson, 
386  ;  relates  the  battle  of  Morat,  425  ; 
visits  the  outposts,  453  ;  killed,  45.'J 

Comines,  Philip  des.  432  ;  quoted,  468 

Compass,  mariner's,  8 

Contay,  Lord  de,  325,  431.  434,  449 

Corbey,  Free  Field  Court  of,  vi,  viii 


477 


478 


WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 


Cornwall,  chivalry  of,  104 
Couci,  Ingelram  de,  46,  472 
Craon,  Lord  de,  431 

Dannischemend,  the  Persian  magus,  127 

Dijon  Charles's  camp  near,  313  ;  the 
city,  340,  472.    See  also  Maire  of  Dijon 

Dom  Daniel,  277,  474 

Donnerhugel,  Rudolph,  37 ;  his  jealousy 
of  Arthur  Philipson,  47 ;  challenges 
him,  50  ;  duel  with  him,  63 ;  patrols 
round  Graffslust,  95 ;  invites  Arthur 
Philipson  to  join  the  league,  113;  his 
tale  of  the  Arnheims,  119  ;  is  met  by 
Arthur  Philipson,  184  ;  his  policy,  202  ; 
his  story  explained,  282  ;  replies  to 
Charles  the  Bold,  349  ;  challenges  the 
Burgundians,  351  ;  challenges  Arthur 
Philipson,  440 ;  slain  by  him,  444 

Donnerhugel,  Theodore,  39 

Double-ganger,  141,  463 

Dungeon,  German,  174,  455 

Edward  IV.  of  England,  61,  71 ;  his  in- 
vasion of  France,  308,  316 ;  makes 
peace  with  Louis  XI.,  358 

Einsiedlen,  Our  Lady  of,  12  ;  the  abbey, 
472 

Eresburgh,  vi,  472 

Executioner,  of  La  Ferette,  162,  198; 
office  of,  463 

Ferette,  La,  town  and  castle  of,  74 
Ferry,  Chapel  of  the,  215,  224 
Fete-Dieu,  379,  472 

Fire,  sacred,  of  the  Zoroastrians,  127 
Flying  Stag  Inn,  in  Strasburgh,  299 
Forest  Cantons,  3,  42,  55,  472 
Freyenbach,  56,  472 

Galilee,  475 

Garagoule,  Lou,  386 

Geierstein,  Albert  of,  53 ;  demands  back 
his  daughter,  59 ;  warns  De  Hagen- 
bach,  158  ;  liberates  Arthur  Philipson, 
176  ;  foils  Bartholomew,  225  ;  arrives 
at  the  inn,  243  ;  at  the  Vehmegericht, 
254 ;  speaks  for  the  Burgundian 
clergy,  344  ;  brings  a  letter  to  Arthur 
Philipson,  390  ;  interview  with  him, 
445  ;  appointed  to  kill  Duke  Charles, 
448 ;  his  own  death,  457 

Geierstein,  Anne  of,  rescues  Arthur 
Philipson,  24  ;  description  of  her,  28  ; 
her  manner  towards  Donnerhugel,  38; 
asks  for  the  bow  of  ButtizhoTz,  44; 
brought  to  Arnold  Biederman,  57 ; 
her  watchfulness  prevents  the  duel, 
69  ;  dedicates  the  pearls  to  Our  Lady 
of  Einsiedlen,  71 ;  at  Graffslust,  90,  93 ; 
apparition  of,  99,  107,  284  ;  her  ances- 
try, 119,  138 ;  leads  Arthur  Philipson 
from  the  dungeon,  176  ;  warns  him  on 
the  road,  216  ;  at  Arnheim  Castle,  269  ; 
interview  with  Arthur  Philipson,  278  ; 
comments  upon  Donnerhugel's  story, 
282;    keeps    Schreckenwald    in    his 

Elace,  289 :  travels  to  Strasburg,  293  ; 
er  marriage,  461 
Geierstein,  Castle  of,  12,  29 
Geierstein,  family  of,  51 
Geoffrey,  the  ostler,  281 


German  inn,  231 

Geysler,  or  Gessler,  199,  472 

Glossary,  471 

Goetz  of  Berlichingen,  story  of,  218 

Golden  Fleece,  order  of,  342 

Golden  Fleece  Inn,  231 

Graffslust,  85,  89 

Granson,  battle  of,  405 

Gratian,  Father,  begging  friar,  236,  240 

Guantes,  438,  469 

Hagenbach,  Archibald  de,  74 ;  consults 
with  Kilian,  152  ;  warned  by  the  priest 
of  St.  Paul's,  158 ;  his  conversation 
with  the  executioner,  162 ;  robs  and 
imprisons  the  Philipsons,  164  ;  appro- 
priates the  valuable  packet,  168 ;  in- 
sults the  Swiss  deputies,  192 ;  exe- 
cuted, 197 

Hagenbach,  Pierre  de,  execution  of,  463 

Hans,  the  boatman,  his  chapel,  215, 234 ; 
story  of,  221 

Hansa,  472 

Heilbroun,  154,  473 

Henry  V.  of  England,  308,  473 

Hermione,  the  Persian,  130,  283 

Hermitage  vineyard,  377,  473 

Hochspringen,  Duke  of,  138 

"  If  I  hit  mast,"  etc.,  48 
lUuminati,  466,  473 
Inn,  German,  231 
Introduction,  Author's,  v. 

Kilian,  Hagenbach's  squire,  152 ;  brings 
the  Philipsons  before  him,  164  ;  argues 
with  him,  170,  189 

Kirchhoff,  217,  221,  223 

Koenigsfeldt,  159,  473 

La  Ferette.    /S^ee  Ferette,  La 

Lammergeier,  21 

Landais,  Peter,  460,  478 

Laupen,  2,  478 

Laurenz.    See  Vaudemont,  Ferrand  de 

Liege,  153,  478 

Loretto,  245,  473 

Lorraine,  state  of,  319,  362,  366,  403,  438 

Louis  XI.,  his  astute  policy,  41  ;  his 
ministers,  172,  463  ;  makes  peace  with 
Edward  IV.,  358,  473  ;  declared  heir  to 
Provence,  423 

Love,  Parliament  of,  364,  467 

Lucerne,  3  ;  lake  of,  5 

Maire  of  Dijon,  341,  357 

Margaret,  widow  of  Henri  VI.,  in  Stras- 
burg cathedral,  301 ;  annoyed  by 
King  Rent's  levity,  378  ;  at  Mont  St. 
Victoire,  383  ;  interview  with  Arthur 
Philipson,  384;  welcomed  home  by 
King  Ren6,  396 ;  persuades  him  to 
resign  his  dominions,  399  ;  her  death, 
417 ;  funeral,  420 

Matthew  of  Doncaster,  45 

Mayor  of  Dijon.    See  Maire  of  Dijon 

"  Measures  of  good  and  evil,"  249 

Mengs,  John,  innkeeper,  234  ;  offended 
with  Philipson,  238,  241  ;  apologizes  to 
him,  246 

Montereau,  bridge  of,  359,  473 

Mont  l'H6ry,  324,  473 


INDEX  TO  ANNE  OF  GEIEBSTEIN 


47» 


Mont   St.  Victoire.     See  St.  Victoire, 

Mont 
Morat,  or  Murten,  battle  of,  425 
Myrebeau,  Sire  de,  345 

.  Nancy,  besieged  by  Charles,  441 ;  battle 
of,  454,  473 

Opal,  the  mystic,  131,  134,  136 
Oxford,  Earl  of.    See  Philipson,  John 

Palgrave,  Mr.  Francis,  quoted,  vi,  viii 

Parliament  of  Love,  364,  467 

Philipson,  Arthur,  traveling  in  the  Alps, 
3  ;  attempts  to  reach  Arnold  Bieder- 
man's,  13 ;  alarmed  by  the  lammer- 
geier,  21  ;  rescued  by  Anne  of  Geier- 
stein,  24;  shoots  the  bow  of  Butti- 
sholz,  47  ;  challenged  by  Donnerhugel, 
50 ;  duel  with  him,  63 ;  thoughts  of 
Anne  of  Geierstein.  78,  93,  98 ;  takes 
Sigismund's  post  as  sentinel,  96  ;  sees 
the  apparition  of  Anne  of  Geierstein, 
99,  107 ;  his  dislike  of  Donnerhugel, 
104  ;  invited  to  join  the  Swiss  youths, 
113 ;  is  told  the  history  of  the  Arn- 
heims,  119  ;  reports  to  his  father,  144  ; 
in  the  dungeon  of  La  Ferette,  174 ; 
led  out  of  it  by  Anne  of  Geierstein, 
176 ;  sent  to  warn  the  Swiss,  180 ; 
meets  Donnerhueel,  183  ;  meets  Ar- 
nold Biederman,  186  ;  seeks  his  father, 
195;  warned  by  Anne  of  Geierstein, 
216;  consulted  by  his  father,  217; 
separates  from  him,  224  ;  arrives  at 
Arnheim  Castle,  264 ;  his  interview 
with  Anne  of  Geierstein,  278 ;  dis- 
closes his  rank  to  her,  286 ;  accom- 
panies her  to  Strasburg,  «93 ;  meets 
Queen  Margaret,  301 ;  sets  ofiF  for 
Provence,  336  ;  his  audience  of  King 
Rene,  373  ;  visits  Queen  Margaret  at 
Mont  St.  Victoire,  384 ;  receives  his 
father's  letter,  389  ;  discovers  the  In- 
visible ink,  392  ;  is  told  who  the  Car- 
melite was,  412  ;  challenged  again  by 
Donnerhugel,  440 ;  slays  him,  444 ; 
conversation  with  Albert  of  Geier- 
stein, 445  ;  visits  the  outposts,  453  ; 
his  marriage,  461 

Philipson,  John,  traveling  as  a  mer- 
chant, 3;  his  anxiety  regarding  Ar- 
thur, 17 ;  reunited  with  him,  34 ;  his 
conversation  with  Arnold  Biederman, 
40 ;  stops  the  duel,  67 ;  gives  pearls 
to  Anne  of  Geierstein,  70  ;  resolves  to 
part  from  the  Swiss  envoys,  145  ; 
robbed  and  imprisoned  by  Hagen- 
bach,  164,  167  ;  rescued  from  the  dun- 
geon, 197 ;  in  counsel  with  the  Swiss 
envoys,  204  ;  recovers  the  casket,  205  ; 
is  suspicious  of  Bartholomew,  214  ; 
consults  with  Arthur,  217  ;  separates 
from  him,  224 ;  meets  the  priest  of 
St.  Paul's,  225 ;  arrives  at  the  inn, 
231  ;  offends  John  Mengs,  238,  241  ;  ar- 
raigned before  the  Vehme,  248,  254  ; 
meets  Queen  Margaret,  301  ;  his  in- 
terview with  Charles  the  Bold,  315  ; 
pleads  for  the  Swiss  deputies,  323, 
a31 ;  surprised  by  Duke  Charles,  330  ; 
another  interview  with  him,  358 ;  his 


letter  to  Arthur,  389 ;  attends  to 
Queen  Margaret's  funeral,  421  ;  rouses 
Duke  Charles,  45*3 ;  visits  the  out- 
posts, 453  ;  returns  to  England,  461 

Pilatre  (Pilatus),  Mount,  6 

Pontius  Pilate,  legend  of,  6 

Provence,  310,  363,  367  ;  Parliament  of, 
Love  in,  364,  467 

Public  Good,  war  of,  323,  474 

Ram's  Alley,  London,  241,  474 

Red  Land,  Red  Soil,  256,  259,  466,  474 

Rene,  King,  306  ;  Charles's  estimate  of, 
318 ;  account  of  him,  365 ;  his  chim- 
ney, 370  ;  in  the  throes  of  composi- 
tion, 372 ;  interview  with  Arthur, 
373  ;  his  fondness  for  pageants,  379  ; 
masqued  as  Solomon,  380  ;  welcomes 
home  his  daughter,  396 ;  resigns  his 
dominions,  400 

Rhine,  river,  83,  466  ;  valley  of,  212, 263 ; 
Han's  ferry,  215,  221 

Roussillon,  Margaret  de,  363,  474 

Roussillon,  Raymond  de,  363 

Russwyl,  4,  474 

St.  Cyr,  Hugh  de,  876 

St.  Jacob,  battle  of,  56,  474 

St.  Magnus  the  Martyr,  202,  474 

St.  Paul's,  black  priest  of.  See  Geier- 
stein Albert  of 

St.  Peter  of  the  Fetters,  196,  474 

St.  Victoire,  Mont,  377.  381 ;  monastery 
of ,  382  ;  oracle  of  Loh  Garagoule,  386 

Schaffhausen,  falls  of,  255,  474 

Scharfgerichter.  See  Steinernherz, 
Francis 

Schonfeldt,  Lieutenant,  155 

Schreckenwald,  Ital,  55,  288;  brings 
Anne  of  Geierstein  to  her  uncle,  57 ; 
reprimanded  by  her,  289 ;  conducts 
her  to  Strasburg,  294  ;  his  death,  457 

Secret  Tribunal.    See  Vehmegericht 

Sicilies,  Both,  306,  474 

Soleure,  merchants  of,  75, 154 

Steinernherz,  Francis,  executioner, 
162,  165  ;  beheads  his  own  master,  198 

Steinfeldt,  Baroness,  135,  284 

Stradiots,  440 

Strappado,  474 

Strasburg,  Flying  Stag  Inn,  290  ;  cathe- 
dral, 300 

Strickkind,  254 

Sturmthal,  Melchoir,  77,  89, 187 

Swabia,  54,  475 

Swiss,  relations  of,  with  Austria,  2; 
with  Charles  of  Burgundy,  41,  71  ; 
languages  of,  216,  475 ;  battle  of 
Granson,  405 ;  of  Morat,  425 ;  of 
Nancy,  455 

Swiss  envoys,  75 ;  refused  admittance  to 
Bale,  84  ;  warlike  inclinations,  76,  80, 
117 ;  Oxford  pleads  for  them,  323, 331 ; 
have  audience  of  Charles  the  Bold, 
348 

TARRASQue,  879,  475 

Thiebault,  the  Provencal,  838,  362  ;  his 
tales,  363  ;  in  attendance  upon  Arthur 
Philipson,  375,  377,  456  ;  his  account 
of  King  Rene,  378 

"  Thou,"  use  of,  by  Germans,  880,  47S 


480 


WA  VEBLET  NO VELS 


Trebizond,  Sultan  of,  284,  475 
Troubadours,  Provencal,  363,  466 

Urus.  horn  of,  18 

Vaudemont,  Ferrand  de,  as  the  Blue 
Knight  of  Bale,  111  ;  at  Brisach,  199  ; 
his  political  position,  366  ;  interrupts 
King  Ren6  and  Queen  Margaret,  403  ; 
his  military  operations,  438  ;  releases 
Arthur  Philipson,  444 

Vehmegericht,  Vehme,  Palgrave's  ac- 
count of,  vi,  viii ;  Author's,  249,  252  ; 
trial  of  Philipson  before,  249,  254  ;  re- 
lations with  Charles  the  Bold,  332, 
442 ;  origin  of  word,  466  ;  head  of,  468 


Veilchen,  Annette,  receives  Arthur 
Philipson,  264  ;  announces  his  arrival, 
269  ;  children  by  Anne  of  Geierstein, 
275,  281 ;  her  reflections,  293 ;  settled 
in  life,  461 

Vienne,  Archbishop  of,  343  ;  replies  to 
Donnerhugel,  350 ;  brings  tidings,  358 

Vulture,  Alpine  (lammergeier),  21 

Waldstetten,  Countess,  132,  284 
Winkelreid,  Arnold,  33,  475 
Wolf-fanger,  Donnerhugers  hound,  10( 
Wolves  in  Switzerland,  77 

Zimmerman,  Adam,  vi,  78,  80,  88,  tSU 
Zurich,  war  of,  43,  56,  475 


i 


TALES  OF  MY  LAKDLOED 

C!OLLECTED  AND  ARRANGED  BY 

JEDEDIAH  CLEISHBOTHAM 

«CHOOLMAST£R  AND  PARISH-CLERK  OF  GANDBRCLKVOB 


INTRODUCTORY  ADDRESS 
JEDEDIAH  CLEISHBOTHAM,  M.  A., 

TO  THE  LOVING  HEADER  WISHETH  HEALTH  AND  PROSPERITl 

It  would  ill  become  me,  whose  name  has  been  spread 
abroad  by  those  former  collections,  bearing  this  title  of 
Tales  of  my  Landlordy  and  who  have,  by  the  candid  voice  of 
a  numerous  crowd  of  readers,  been  taught  to  think  that 
I  merit  not  the  empty  fame  alone,  but  also  the  more  sub 
stantial  rewards,  of  successful  pencraft — it  would,  I  say,  ill 
become  me  to  suffer  this,  my  youngest  literary  babe,  and 
probably  at  the  same  time  the  last  child  of  my  old  age,  to 
pass  into  the  world  without  some  such  modest  apology  for  its 
defects  as  it  has  been  my  custom  to  put  forth  on  preceding 
occasions  of  the  like  nature.  The  world  has  been  sufficient- 
ly instructed,  of  a  truth,  that  I  am  not  individually  the 
person  to  whom  is  to  be  ascribed  the  actual  inventmg  or 
designing  of  the  scheme  upon  which  these  Tales,  which 
men  have  found  so  pleasing,  were  originally  constructed  ; 
as  also  that  neither  am  I  the  actual  workman  who,  fur- 
nished by  a  skilful  architect  with  an  accurate  plan, 
including  elevations  and  directions  both  general  and 
particular,  has  from  thence  toiled  to  bring  forth  and 
complete  the  intended  shape  and  proportion  of  each  di- 
vision of  the  edifice.  Nevertheless,  I  have  been  indisputably 
the  man  who,  in  placing  my  name  at  the  head  of  the 
undertaking,  have  rendered  myself  mainly  and  principally 
responsible  for  its  general  success.  When  a  ship  of  war 
goeth  forth  to  battle  with  a  crew,  consisting  of  sundry 
foremast-men  and  various  officers,  such  subordinate  persons 
are  not  said  to  gain  or  lose  the  vessel  which  they  have 
manned  or  attacked,  although  each  was  natheless  sufficiently 
active  in  his  own  department ;  but  it  is  forthwith  bruited 
and  noised  abroad,  without  further  phrase,  that  Captain 
Jedediah  Cleishbotham  hath  lost  such  a  seventy-four,  or 
won  that   which  by  the  united  exertions  of  all  thereto 

ix 


X  WA  VERLEY  NO VELS 

pertaining,  is  taken  from  the  enemy.  In  the  same  manner, 
shame  and  sorrow  it  were  if  I,  the  voluntary  captain  and 
founder  of  these  adventures,  after  having  upon  three  divers 
occasions  assumed  to  myself  the  emoluments  and  reputa- 
tion thereof,  should  now  withdraw  myself  from  the  risk  of 
failure  proper  to  this  fourth  and  last  outgoing.  No '  I 
will  rather  address  my  associates  in  this  bottom  with  the 
constant  spirit  of  Matthew  Prior^s  heroine : 

Did  I  but  purpose  to  embark  with  thee  ' 

On  the  smooth  surface  of  some  summer  sea, 
But  would  forsake  the  waves,  and  make  the  shore, 
When  the  winds  whistle,  and  the  billows  roar  ? 

As  little,  nevertheless,  would  it  become  my  years  and  station 
not  to  admit  without  cavil  certain  errors  which  may  justly 
be  pointed  out  in  these  concluding  Tales  of  my  Landlord — 
the  last,  and  it  is  manifest,  never  carefully  revised  or 
corrected,  handiwork  of  Mr.  Peter  Pattieson,  now  no  more  ; 
the  same  worthy  young  man  so  repeatedly  mentioned  in 
these  Introductory  Essays,  and  never  without  that  tribute 
to  his  good  sense  and  talents,  nay  even  genius  which  his  con- 
tributions to  this  my  undertaking  fairly  entitled  him  to  claim 
at  the  hands  of  his  surviving  friend  and  patron.  These  pages, 
I  have  said,  were  the  uUunus  labor  of  mine  ingenious  assis- 
tant ;  but  I  say  not,  as  the  great  Dr.  Pitcairne  of  his  hero, 
ultimus  atque  optwius.  Alas  !  even  the  giddiness  attendant 
on  a  journey  on  this  Manchester  railroad  is  not  so  peril- 
ous to  the  nerves  as  that  too  frequent  exercise  in  the 
merry-go-round  of  the  ideal  world,  whereof  the  tendency 
to  render  the  fancy  confused  and  the  judgment  inert  hath 
in  all  ages  been  noted,  not  only  by  the  erudite  of  the 
earth,  but  even  by  many  of  the  thick-witted  Ofelli 
themselves  ;  whether  the  rapid  pace  at  which  the  fancy 
moveth  in  such  exercitations,  where  the  wish  of  the  pen- 
man is  to  him  like  Prince  Houssain^s  tapestry,  in  the 
Eastern  fable,  be  the  chief  source  of  peril,  or  whether, 
without  reference  to  this  wearing  speed  of  movement,  the 
dwelling  habitually  in  those  realms  of  imagination  be  as 
little  suited  for  a  man's  intellect  as  to  breathe  for  any  con- 
siderable space  '^'^  the  difficult  air  of  the  mountain  top 'Ms 
to  the  physical  structure  of  his  outward  frame,  this 
question  belongeth  not  to  me  ;  but  certain  it  is,  that  we 
often  discover  in  the  works  of  the  foremost  of  this  order 
of  men  marks  of  bewilderment  and  confusion,  such  as  do 
not  so   frequently   occur    in   those   of   persons   to   whom 


INTRODUCTOBY  ADDBESS  xl 

nature    hath     conceded    fancy    weaker    of    wing    or  less 
ambitious  in  flight. 

It  is  affecting  to  see  the  great  Miguel  Cervantes  himself, 
even  like  the  sons  of  meaner  men,  defending  himself 
against  the  critics  of  the  day,  who  assailed  him  upon  such 
little  discrepancies  and  inaccuracies  as  are  apt  to  cloud  the 
progress  even  of  a  mind  like  his,  when  the-  evening  is  clos- 
ing around  it. 

"  It  is  quite  a  common  thing,"  says  Don  Quixote,  "  for  men  who 
have  gained  a  very  great  reputation  by  their  writings  before  they 
were  printed  quite  to  lose  it  afterwards,  or,  at  least,  the  greater 
part.     "The  reason   is   plain,"  answers    the   Bachelor  Carrasco ; 
"their  faults  are  more  easily  discovered  after  the  books  are  printed, 
as  being  then  more  read,  and  more  narrowly  examined,  especially 
if  the  author  has  been  much  cried  up  before,  for  then  the  severity 
of    the    scrutiny    is    sure    to  be    the    greater.     Those  who  have 
raised    themselves  a  name  by  their  own  ingenuity,  great  poets 
and  celebrated  historians,  are  commonly,  if  not  always,   envied 
by  a  set  of  men  who  delight  in  censuring  the  writings  of  others, 
though  they  could  never  produce  any  of  their  own.  "    "  That  is 
no  wonder, "  quoth  Don  Quixote;  "there  are  many  divines  that 
would  make  but  very  dull  preachers,  and  yet  are  quick  enough  at 
finding  faults    and  superfluities  in  other  men's  sermons."     "All 
this  is  true,"  says  Carrasco,  *'  and  therefore  I  could  wish  such  cen- 
surers  would  be  more  merciful  and  less  scrupulous,  and  not  dwell 
ungenerously  upon  small  spots  that  are  in  a  manner  but  so  many 
atoms  on  the  face  of  the  clear  sun  they  murmur  at.     If  aliquando 
dormitat  Homerus,  let  them  coi;sider  how  many  nights  he  kept 
himself  awake  to  bring  his  noble  works  to  light  as  little  darkened 
with  defects  as  might  be.     But,  indeed,  it  may  many  times  happen 
that  what  is  censured  for  a  fault  is  rather  an  ornament,  as  moles 
often  add  to  the  beauty  of  a  face.     When  all  is  said,  he  that  pub- 
lishes a  book  runs  a  great  risk,  since  nothing  can  be  so  unlikely  as 
that    he    should    have    composed  one    capable    of  securing   the 
approbation    of    every    reader."      "Sure,"    says    Don    Quixote, 
"that  which  treats  of  me  can  have  pleased  but  few?"    "Quite 
the   contrary,"  says    Carrasco;    "for    as  infinitus   est   numerus 
stuUorum,  so  an  infinite  number  have  admired    your    history. 
Only  some  there  are  who  have  taxed  the  author  with  want  of 
memory  or  sincerity,  because  he  forgot  to  give  an  account  who 
it  was  that  stole  Sancho's  Dapple,  for,that  particular  is  not  men- 
tioned there,  only  we  find,  by  the  story,  that  it  was  stolen  ;  and 
yet,  by  and  by,  we  find  him  riding  the  same  ass  again,  without 
any  previous  light  given  us  into  the  matter.     Then  they  say  that 
the  author  forgot  to  tell  the  reader  what  Sancho   did   with   the 
hundred  pieces  of  gold  he  found  in  the  portmanteau  in  the  Sierra 
Morena,  for  there  is  not  a  word  said  of  them  more ;   and  many 
people  have  a  great  mind  to  know  what  he  did  with  them  ;  and 
how  he  spent  them  ;  which  is  one  of   the  most  material  points 
in  which  the  work  is  defective"  [Part  II.  chap.  iii.]. 

How  amusingly  Sancho  is  made  to  clear  up  the  obscurities 


xU  WAVERLET  NOVELS 

thus  alluded  to  by  the  Bachelor  Carrasco  no  reader  can 
have  forgotten  ;  but  there  remained  enough  of  similar 
lacuncB,  inadvertencies,  and  mistakes,  to  exercise  the  inge- 
nuity of  those  Spanish  critics  who  were  too  wise  in  their  own 
conceit  to  profit  by  the  good-natured  and  modest  apology 
of  this  immortal  author. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that,  if  Cervantes  had  deigned  to 
use  it,  he  might  have  pleaded  also  the  apology  of  indifferent 
health,  under  which  he  certainly  labored  while  finishing  the 
second  part  of  Don  Quixote,  It  must  be  too  obvious  that  the 
intervals  of  such  a  malady  as  then  affected  Cervantes  could 
not  be  the  most  favorable  in  the  world  for  revising  lighter 
compositions,  and  correcting,  at  least,  those  grosser  errors 
and  imperfections  which  each  author  should,  if  it  were  but 
for  shame's  sake,  remove  from  his  work,  before  bringing  it 
forth  into  the  broad  light  of  day,  where  they  will  never 
fail  to  be  distinctly  seen,  nor  lack  ingenious  persons  who 
will  be  too  happy  in  discharging  the  office  of  pointing 
them  out. 

It  is  more  than  time  to  explain  with  what  purpose  we 
have  called  thus  fully  to  memory  the  many  venial  errors  of 
the  inimitable  Cervantes,  and  those  passages  in  which  he 
has  rather  defied  his  adversaries  than  pleaded  his  own  justi- 
fication ;  for  I  suppose  it  will  be  readily  granted  that  the  dif- 
ference is  too  wide  betwixt  that  great  wit  of  Spain  and 
ourselves  to  permit  us  to  use  a  buckler  which  was  rendered 
sufficiently  formidable  only  by  the  strenuous  hand  in  which 
it  was  placed. 

The  history  of  my  first  publications  is  sufficiently  well 
known.  Nor  did  I  relinquish  the  purpose  of  concluding 
these  Tales  of  my  Landlord,  which  had  been  so  remarkably 
fortunate ;  but  death,  which  steals  upon  us  all  with  an  in- 
audible foot,  cut  short  the  ingenious  young  man  to  whose 
memory  I  composed  that  inscription,  and  erected,  at  my 
own  charge,  that  monument  which  protects  his  remains,  by 
the  side  of  the  river  Gander,  which  he  has  contributed  so 
much  to  render  immortal,  and  in  a  place  of  his  own  selec- 
tion, not  very  distant  from  the  school  under  my  care.*  In 
a  word,  the  ingenious  Mr.  Pattieson  was  removed  from 
his  place. 

Nor  did  I  confine  my  care  to  his  posthumous  fame  alone, 
but  carefully  inventoried  and  preserved  the  effects  which  he 
left  behind  him,  namely,  the  contents  of  his  small  wardrobe, 

*  See  Old  Mortality,  vol.  vi.  p.  3,  for  some  ciroumstanoes  attend* 
Ing  this  erection. 


INTRODUCTORY  ADDRESS  xUi 

and  a  number  of  printed  books  of  somewhat  more  conse- 
quence, together  with  certain  wofull^  blurred  manuscripts 
discovered  in  his  repository.  On  looking  these  over,  1  found 
them  to  contain  two  tales  called  Count  Eoiert  of  Paris  and 
Castle  Dangerous ;  but  was  seriously  disappointed  to  per- 
ceive that  they  were  by  no  means  in  that  state  of  correctness 
which  would  induce  an  experienced  person  to  pronounce 
any  writing,  in  the  technical  language  of  bookcraft,  ''pre- 
pared for  the  press/^  There  were  not  only  hiatus  valde 
deflendi,  but  even  grievous  inconsistencies,  and  other  mis- 
takes, which  the  penman's  leisurely  revision,  had  he  been 
spared  to  bestow  it, would  doubtless  have  cleared  away.  After 
a  considerate  perusal,  no  question  flattered  myself  that 
these  manuscripts,  with  all  their  faults,  contained  here 
and  there  passages  which  seemed  plainly  to  intimate  that 
severe  indisposition  had  been  unable  to  extinguish  altogether 
the  brilliancy  of  that  fancy  which  the  world  had  been 
pleased  to  acknowledge  in  the  creations  of  Old  Mortality, 
The  Bride  of  Lammermoor,  and  others  of  these  naratives. 
But  I,  nevertheless,  threw  the  manuscripts  into  my  drawer, 
resolving  not  to  think  of  committing  them  to  the  Ballan- 
tynian  ordeal  until  I  could  either  obtain  the  assistance  of 
some  capable  person  to  supply  the  deficiencies  and  correct 
errors,  so  as  they  might  face  the  public  with  credit,  or  perhaps 
numerous  and  more  serious  avocations  might  permit  me  to 
dedicate  my  own  time  and  labor  to  that  task. 

While  I  was  in  this  uncertainty,  I  had  a  visit  from  a 
stranger,  who  was  announced  as  a  young  gentleman  desirous 
of  speaking  with  me  on  particular  business.  I  immediately 
augured  the  accession  of  a  new  boarder,  but  was  at  once 
checked  by  observing  that  the  outward  man  of  the  stranger 
was,  in  a  most  remarkable  degree,  what  mine  host  of  the  Sir 
William  Wallace,  in  his  phraseology,  calls  ''seedy.*'  His 
black  coat  had  seen  service  ;  the  waistcoat  of  gray  plaid  bore 
yet  stronger  marks  of  having  encountered  more  than  one 
campaign  ;  his  third  piece  of  dress  was  an  absolute  veteran 
compared  to  the  others  ;  his  shoes  were  so  loaded  with  mud 
as  ehowed  his  journey  must  have  been  pedestrian  ;  and  a  gray 
"  maud,"  which  fluttered  around  his  wasted  limbs,  completed 
such  an  equipment  as,  since  Juvenal's  days,  has  been  the 
livery  of  the  poor  scholar.  I  therefore  concluded  that  I 
beheld  a  candidate  for  the  vacant  office  of  usher,  and  pre- 
pared to  listen  to  his  proposals  with  the  dignity  becoming 
my  station  ;  but  what  was  my  surprise  when  I  found  I  had 
before  me,  in  this  rusty  student,  no  less  a  man  than  Paul, 


I 


xiv  WAVIIBLEY  NOVELS 

the  brother  of  Peter  Pattieson,  come  to  gather  in  his  brother's 
succession,  and  possessed,  it  seemed,  with  no  small  idea  of 
the  value  of  that  part  of  it  which  consisted  in  the  produc- 
tions of  his  pen. 

By  the  rapid  study  I  made  of  him,  this  Paul  was  a  sharp 
lad,  imbued  with  some  tincture  of  letters,  like  his  regretted 
brother,  but  totally  destitute  of  those  amiable  qualities  which 
had  often  induced  me  to  say  within  myself  that  Peter  was, 
like  the  famous  John  Gay — 

In  wit  a  man,  simplicity  a  child. 

He  set  little  by  the  legacy  of  my  deceased  assistant's  ward- 
robe, nor  did  the  books  hold  much  greater  value  in  his  eyes  ; 
but  he  peremptorily  demanded  to  be  put  in  possession  of  the 
manuscripts,  alleging,  with  obstinacy,  that  no  definite  bar- 
gain had  been  completed  between  his  late  brother  and  me,  and 
at  length  produced  the  opinion  to  that  effect  of  a  writer,  or 
man  of  business — a  class  of  persons  with  whom  I  have  always 
chosen  to  have  as  little  concern  as  possible. 

But  I  had  one  defense  left,  which  came  to  my  aid,  tanquam 
deus  ex  macMnd.  This  rapacious  Paul  Pattieson  could  not 
pretend  to  wrest  the  disputed  manuscripts  out  of  my  posses- 
sion, unless  upon  repayment  of  a  considerable  sum  of  money, 
which  I  had  advanced  from  time  to  time  to  the  deceased 
Peter,  and  particularly  to  purchase  a  small  annuity  for  his 
aged  mother.  These  advances,  with  the  charges  of  the 
funeral  and  other  expenses,  amounted  to  a  considerable  sum, 
which  the  poverty-struck  student  and  his  acute  legal  adviser 
equally  foresaw  great  difficulty  in  liquidating.  The  said  Mr. 
Paul  Pattieson,  therefore,  listened  to  a  suggestion,  which  I 
dropped,  as  if  by  accident,  that,  if  he  thought  himself  capable 
of  filling  his  brother's  place  of  carrying  the  work  through 
the  press,  I  would  make  him  welcome  to  bed  and  board 
within  my  mansion  while  he  was  thus  engaged,  only  requir- 
ing his  occasional  assistance  at  hearing  the  more  advanced 
scholars.  This  seemed  to  promise  a  close  of  our  dispute 
alike  satisfactory  to  all  parties,  and  the  first  act  of  Paul  was 
to  draw  on  me  for  a  round  sum,  under  pretense  that  his 
wardrobe  must  be  wholly  refitted.  To  this  I  made  no  ob- 
jection, though  it  certainly  showed  like  vanity  to  purchase 
garments  in  the  extremity  of  the  mode,  when  not  only  great 
part  of  the  defunct's  habiliments  were  very  fit  for  a  twelve- 
month's use,  but,  as  I  myself  had  been,  but  yesterday  as  it 
were,  equipped  in  a  becoming  new  stand  of  black  clothes, 
Mr.  Pattieson  would  have  been  welcome  to  the  use  of  such 


INTRODUCTOBT  ADDRESS  xt 

of  my  quondam  raiment  as  he  thought  suitable,  as  indeed 
had  always  been  the  case  with  his  deceased  brother. 

The  school,  I  must  needs  say,  came  tolerably  on.^  My 
youngster  was  very  smart,  and  seemed  to  be  so  active  in  his 
duty  of  usher,  if  I  may  so  speak,  that  he  even  overdid  his 
part  therein,  and  I  began  to  feel  myself  a  cipher  in  my  own 
school. 

I  comforted  myself  with  the  belief  that  the  publication 
was  advancing  as  fast  as  I  could  desire.  On  this  subject 
Paul  Pattieson,  like  ancient  Pistol,  ''talked  bold  words  at 
the  bridge, ''  and  that  not  only  at  our  house,  but  in  the  society 
of  our  neighbors,  amongst  whom,  instead  of  imitating  the 
retired  and  monastic  manner  of  his  brother  deceased,  he  be- 
came a  gay  visitor,  and  such  a  reveler,  that  in  process  of 
time  he  was  observed  to  villipend  the  modest  fare  which  had 
at  first  been  esteemed  a  banquet  by  his  hungry  appetite,  and 
thereby  highly  displeased  my  wife, who, with  justice,  applauds 
herself  for  the  plentiful,  cleanly,  and  healthy  victuals  where- 
with she  maintains  her  ushers  and  boarders. 

Upon  the  whole,  I  rather  hoped  than  entertained  a  sincere 
confidence  that  all  was  going  on  well,  and  was  in  that  un- 
pleasant state  of  mind  which  precedes  the  open  breach 
between  two  associates  who  have  been  long  jealous  of  each 
other,  but  are  as  yet  deterred  by  a  sense  of  mutual  interest 
from  coming  to  an  open  rupture. 

The  first  thing  which  alarmed  me  was  a  rumor  in  the 
village  that  Paul  Pattieson  intended,  in  some  little  space,  to 
undertake  a  voyage  to  the  Continent — on  account  of  his 
health,  as  was  pretented,  but,  as  the  same  report  averred, 
much  more  with  the  view  of  gratifying  the  curiosity  which 
his  perusal  of  the  classics  had  impressed  upon  him  than  for 
any  other  purpose.  I  was,  I  say,  rather  alarmed  at  this 
susurrus,  and  began  to  reflect  that  the  retirement  of  Mr. 
Pattieson,  unless  his  loss  could  be  supplied  in  good  time, 
was  like  to  be  a  blow  to  the  establishment ;  for,  in  truth, 
this  Paul  had  a  winning  way  with  the  boys,  especially  those 
who  were  gentle-tempered ;  so  that  1  must  confess  my 
doubts  whether,  in  certain  respects,  I  myself  could  have 
fully  supplied  his  place  in  the  school,  with  all  my  authority 
and  experience.  My  wife,  jealous,  as  became  her  station,  of 
Mr.  Pattieson'  sintentions,  advised  me  to  take  the  matter  up 
immediately,  and  go  to  the  bottom  at  once ;  and,  indeed,  I 
had  always  found  that  way  answered  best  with  my  boys. 

Mrs.  Cleishbotham  was  not  long  before  renewing  the  sub- 
ject ;  for,  like  most   of  the  race   of  Xantippe,  though  my 


xvi  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

helpmate  is  a  well-spoken  woman,  she  loves  to  thrust  in  her 
oar  where  she  is  not  able  to  pull  it  to  purpose.  '^  You  are  a 
sharp-witted  man,  Mr.  Cleishbotham,"  would  she  observe, 
"  and  a  learned  man,  Mr.  Cleishbotham,  and  the  school- 
master of  Gandercleuch,  Mr  Cleishbotham,  which  is  saying 
all  in  one  word  ;  but  many  a  man  almost  as  great  as  yourself 
has  lost  the  saddle  by  suffering  an  inferior  to  get  up  behind 
him  ;  and  though  with  the  world,  Mr.  Cleishbotham,  you 
have  the  name  of  doing  everything,  both  in  directing  the 
school  and  in  this  new  profitable  book  line  which  you  have 
taken  up,  yet  it  begins  to  be  the  common  talk  of  Gander- 
cleuch, both  up  the  water  and  down  the  water,  that  th« 
usher  both  writes  the  dominie's  books  and  teaches  the  domi. 
nie's  school.  Ay — ay,  ask  maid,  wife,  or  widow,  and  she'll 
tell  ye  the  least  gaitling  among  them  all  comes  to  Pau\ 
Pattieson  with  his  lesson  as  naturally  as  they  come  to  me  for 
their  four  hours,  puir  things  ;  and  never  ane  thinks  of  apply- 
ing to  you  aboot  a  kittle  turn,  or  a  crabbed  word,  or  about 
onything  else,  unless  it  were  for  licet  exire,  or  the  mending 
of  an  auld  pen." 

Now,  this  address  assailed  me  on  a  summer  evening,  when 
I  was  whiling  away  my  leisure  hours  with  the  end  of  a  cutty- 
pipe,  and  indulging  in  such  bland  imagination  as  the  nico- 
tian weed  is  wont  to  produce,  more  especially  in  the  case  of 
studious  persons,  devoted  musis  severiorihus.  I  was  naturally 
loth  to  leave  my  misty  sanctuary  ;  and  endeavored  to  silence 
the  clamor  of  Mrs.  Cleishbotham's  tongue,  which  has  some- 
thing in  it  peculiarly  shrill  and  penetrating. — "  Woman," 
said  I,  with  a  tone  of  domestic  authority  befitting  the  occa- 
sion, '•  res  tuas  agas — mind  your  washings  and  your  wring- 
ings,  your  stuffing  and  your  physicking,  or  whatever  con- 
cerns the  outward  person  of  the  pupils,  and  leava  the 
progress  of  their  education  to  my  usher,  Paul  Pattieson,  and 
myself." 

"  I  am  glad  to  see,"  added  the  accursed  woman  (that  I 
should  say  so  !),  ' '  that  ye  have  the  grace  to  ngme  him  fore- 
most, for  there  is  little  doubt  that  he  ranks  fipst  of  the  troop, 
if  ye  wad  but  hear  what  the  neighbors  speak — or  whisper." 

'*  "What  do  they  whisper,  thou  sworn  sister  of  the  Eume- 
nides  ?  "  cried  I,  the  irritating  cestrma  of  the  woman's  objur- 
gation totally  counterbalancing  the  sedative  effects  both  of 
pipe  and  pot. 

^'  Whisper  ! "  resumed  she  in  her  shrillest  note.  *'  Why, 
they  whisper  loud  eno?igh  for  me,  at  least,  to  hear  them, 
that  the  schoolmaster  of  Gandercleuch  is  turned  a  doited  auld 


INTBODUCTOR  Y  ADDRESS  xvil 

woman,  and  spends  all  his  time  in  tippling  strong  drink  with 
the  keeper  of  the  public-house,  and  leaves  school  and  book- 
making,  and  a'  the  rest  o%  to  the  care  of  his  usher  ;  and, 
also,  the  wives  in  Gandercleuch  say,  that  you  have  engaged 
Paul  Pattieson  to  write  a  new  book,  which  is  to  beat  a'  the 
lave  that  gaed  afore  it ;  and,  to  show  what  a  sair  lift  you 
have  o'  the  job,  you  didna  sae  muckle  as  ken  the  name  o't — 
no,  nor  whether  it  was  to  be  about  some  heathen  Greek  or 
the  Black  Douglas/' 

This  was  said  with  such  bitterness  that  it  penetrated  to 
the  verv  quick,  and  I  hurled  the  poor  old  pipe  like  one  of 
Homer  s  spears,  not  in  the  face  of  my  provoking  helpmate, 
though  the  temptation  was  strong,  but  into  the  river 
Gander,  which,  as  is  now  well  known  to  tourists  from  the 
uttermost  parts  of  the  earth,  pursues  its  quiet  meanders 
beneath  the  bank  on  which  the  schoolhouse  is  pleasantly 
situated  ;  and,  starting  up,  fixed  on  my  head  the  cocked  hat 
(the  pride  of  Messrs.  Grieve  and  Scott's  *  repository),  and, 
plunging  into  the  valley  of  the  brook,  pursued  my  way  up- 
wards, the  voice  of  Mrs.  Cleishbotham  accompanying  me  in 
my  retreat  with  something  like  the  angry  scream  of  triumph 
with  which  the  brood-goose  pursues  the  flight  of  some  un- 
mannerly cur  or  idle  boy  who  has  intruded  upon  her 
premises,  and  fled  before  her.  Indeed,  so  great  was  the  in- 
fluence of  this  clamor  of  scorn  and  wrath  which  hung  upon 
my  rear,  that,  while  it  rung  in  my  ears,  I  was  so  moved 
that  I  instinctively  tucked  the  skirts  of  my  black  coat  under 
my  arm,  as  if  I  had  been  in  actual  danger  of  being  seized 
on  by  the  grasp  of  the  pursuing  enemy.  Nor  was  it  till  I 
had  almost  reached  the  well-known  burial-place,  in  which 
it  was  Peter  Pattieson's  hap  to  meet  the  far-famed  per- 
sonage called  Old  Mortality,  that  I  made  a  halt  for  the 
purpose  of  composing  my  perturbed  spirits,  and  considering 
what  was  to  be  done  ;  for  as  yet  my  mind  was  agitated  by 
a  chaos  of  passions,  of  which  anger  was  predominant ;  and 
for  what  reason,  or  against  whom,  I  entertained  such  tu- 
multuous displeasure,  it  was  not  easy  for  me  to  determine. 

Nevertheless,  having  settled  my  cocked  hat  with  be- 
coming accuracy  on  my  well-powdered  wig,  and  suffered  it 
to  remain  uplifted  for  a  moment  to  cool  my  flushed  brow, 
having,  moreover,  readjusted  and  shaken  to  rights  the  skirts 
of  my  black  coat,  I  came  into  case  to  answer  to  my  own 
questions,  which,  till  these  maneuvers  had  been  sedately 
accomplished,  I  might  have  asked  myself  in  vain. 

*  A  well-known  firm  of  hatters  in  Edinburgh  {Laing), 


xvui  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

In  the  first  place,  therefore,  to  use  the  phrase  of  Mr. 
Docket,  the  writer  (that  is,  the  attorney)  of  our  village  of 
Gandercleuch,  I  became  satisfied  that  my  anger  was  di- 
rected against  all  and  sundry,  or,  in  law  Latin,  contra  omnes 
mortales,  and  more  particularly  against  the  neighborhood 
of  Gandercleuch,  for  circulating  reports  to  the  prejudice  of 
my  literary  talents,  as  well  as  my  accomplishments  as  a 
pedagogue,  and  transferring  the  fame  thereof  to  mine  own 
usher.  Secondly,  against  my  spouse,  Dorothea  Cleish- 
botham,  for  transferring  the  said  calumnious  reports  to  my 
ears  in  a  prerupt  and  unseemly  manner,  and  without  due 
respect  either  to  the  language  which  she  made  use  of  or  the 
person  to  whom  she  spoke,  treating  affairs  in  which  I  was 
so  intimately  concerned  as  if  they  were  proper  subjects  for 
jest  among  gossips  at  a  christening,  where  the  womankind 
claim  the  privilege  of  worshiping  the  Bona  Dea  according 
to  their  secret  female  rites.  Thirdly,  I  became  clear  that  I 
was  entitled  to  respond  to  any  whom  it  concerned  to  in- 
quire, that  my  wrath  was  kindled  against  Paul  Pattieson, 
my  usher,  for  giving  occasion  both  for  the  neighbors  of 
Gandercleuch  entertaining  such  opinions  and  for  Mrs. 
Oleishbotham  disrespectfully  urging  them  to  my  face,  since 
neither  circumstance  could  have  existed  without  he  had  put 
forth  sinful  misrepresentations  of  transactions  private  and 
confidential,  and  of  which  I  had  myself  entirely  refrained 
from  dropping  any  the  least  hint  to  any  third  person. 

This  arrangement  of  my  ideas  having  contributed  to 
soothe  the  stormy  atmosphere  of  which  they  had  been  the 
offspring  gave  reason  a  time  to  predominate,  and  to  ask  me, 
with  her  calm  but  clear  voice,  whether,  under  all  the  cir- 
cumstances, I  did  well  to  nourish  so  indiscriminate  an 
indignation  ?  In  fine,  on  closer  examination,  the  various 
splenetic  thoughts  I  had  been  indulging  against  other 
parties  began  to  be  merged  in  that  resentment  against  my 
perfidious  usher  which,  like  the  serpent  of  Moses,  swallowed 
up  all  subordinate  objects  of  displeasure.  To  put  myself 
at  open  feud  with  the  whole  of  my  neighbors,  unless  I  had 
been  certain  of  some  effectual  mode  of  avenging  myself 
upon  them,  would  have  been  an  undertaking  too  weighty 
for  my  means,  and  not  unlikely,  if  rashly  grappled  withal, 
to  end  in  my  ruin.  To  make  a  public  quarrel  with  my 
wife,  on  such  an  account  as  her  opinion  of  my  literary 
accomplishments,  would  sound  ridiculous ;  and,  besides, 
Mrs.  0.  was  sure  to  have  all  the  women  on  her  side,  who 
would  represent  her  as  a  wife  persecuted  by  her  husband 


INTBOD UCTOR  F  ADDRESS  xix 

for  offering  him  good  advice,  and  urging  it  upon  him  with 
only  too  enthusiastic  sincerity. 

There  remained  Paul  Pattieson,  undoubtedly,  the  most 
natural  and  proper  object  of  my  indignation,  since  I  might 
be  said  to  have  him  in  my  own  power,  and  might  punish  him 
by  dismissal,  at  my  pleasure.  Yet  even  vindictive  pro- 
ceedings against  the  said  Paul,  however  easy  to  be  enforced, 
might  be  productive  of  serious  consequences  to  my  own 
purse  ;  and  I  began  to  reflect,  with  anxiety,  that  in  this 
world  it  is  not  often  that  the  gratification  of  our  angry 
passions  lies  in  the  same  road  with  the  advancement  of  our 
interest,  and  that  the  wise  man,  the  vere  sapiens,  seldom 
hesitates  which  of  these  two  he  ought  to  prefer. 

I  recollected  also  that  I  was  quite  uncertain  how  far.  the 
present  usher  had  really  been  guilty  of  the  foul  acts  of 
assumption  charged  against  him. 

In  a  word,  I  began  to  perceive  that  it  would  be  no  light 
matter,  at  once,  and  without  maturer  perpending  of  sundry 
collateral  pu7ictiuncula,  to  break  up  a  joint-stock  adventure, 
or  society,  as  civilians  term  it,  which,  if  profitable  to  him, 
had  at  least  promised  to  be  no  less  so  to  me,  established  in 
years  and  learning  and  reputation  so  much  his  superior. 
Moved  by  which,  and  other  the  like  considerations,  I  resolved 
to  proceed  with  becoming  caution  on  the  occasion,  and  not, 
by  stating  my  causes  of  complaint  too  hastily  in  the  outset, 
exasperate  into  a  positive  breach  what  might  only  prove 
some  small  misunderstanding,  easily  explained  or  apologized 
for,  and  which,  like  a  leak  in  a  new  vessel,  being  once  dis- 
covered and  carefully  stopped,  renders  the  vessel  but  more 
seaworthy  than  it  was  before. 

About  the  time  that  I  had  adopted  this  healing  resolution, 
I  reached  the  spot  where  the  almost  perpendicular  face  of  a 
steep  hill  seems  to  determinate  the  valley,  or  at  least  divides 
it  into  two  dells,  each  serving  as  a  cradle  to  its  own  mountain- 
stream,  the  Gruffquack,  namely,  and  the  shallower  but  more 
noisy  Gusedub,  on  the  left  hand,  which,  at  their  union,  form 
the  Gander,  properly  so  called.  Each  of  these  little  valleys 
has  a  walk  winding  up  to  its  recesses,  rendered  more  easy  by 
the  labors  of  the  poor  during  the  late  hard  season,  and  one 
of  which  bears  the  name  of  Pattieson^s  Path,  while  the  other 
had  been  kindly  consecrated  to  my  own  memory  by  the  title 
of  the  Dominie's  Daidling-bit.  Here  I  made  certain  to  meet 
my  associate,  Paul  Pattieson,  for  by  one  or  other  of  these 
roads  he  was  wont  to  return  to  my  house  of  an  evening,  after 
his  lengthened  rambles. 


XX  WAVERLEY  NOVELIS 

I^or  was  it  long  before  I  espied  him  descending  the 
Gusedub  by  that  tortuous  path,  marking  so  strongly  the 
character  of  a  Scottish  glen.  He  was  easily  distinguished, 
indeed,  at  some  distance,  by  his  jaunty  swagger,  in  which 
he  presented  to  you  the  flat  of  his  leg,  like  the  manly 
knave  of  clubs,  apparently  with  the  most  perfect  content- 
ment, not  only  with  his  leg  and  boot,  but  with  every  part  of 
his  outward  man,  and  the  whole  fashion  of  his  garments, 
and,  one  would  almost  have  thought,  the  contents  of  his 
pockets. 

In  this,  his  wonted  guise,  he  approached  me,  where  I  was 
seated  near  the  meeting  of  the  waters,  and  I  could  not  but 
discern  that  his  first  impulse  was  to  pass  me  without  any 
prolonged  or  formal  greeting.  But,  as  that  would  not  have 
been  decent,  considering  the  terms  on  which  we  stood,  he 
seemed  to  adopt,  on  reflection,  a  course  directly  opposite  ; 
bustled  up  to  me  with  an  air  of  alacrity,  and,  I  may  add, 
impudence ;  and  hastened  at  once  into  the  middle  of  the 
important  affairs  which  it  had  been  my  purpose  to  bring 
under  discussion  in  a  manner  more  becoming  their  gravity. 
'*  I  am  glad  to  see  you,  Mr.  Cleishbotham,"  said  he,  with 
an  inimitable  mixture  of  confusion  and  effrontery  ;  "  the 
most  wonderful  news  which  has  been  heard  in  the  literary 
world  in  my  time — all  Gandercleuch  rings  with  it :  they 
positively  speak  of  nothing  else,  from  Miss  Buskbody's 
youngest  apprentice  to  the  minister  himself,  and  ask  each 
other  in  amazement  whether  the  tidings  are  true  or  false — 
to  be  sure  they  are  of  an  astounding  complexion,  especially 
to  you  and  me." 

"  Mr.  Pattieson,"  said  I,  '^  I  am  quite  at  a  loss  to  guess 
at  your  meaning.  Davus  sum,  non  (Edipus — I  am  Jedediah 
Cleishbotham,  schoolmaster  of  the  parish  of  Gandercleuch, 
no  conjurer,  and  neither  reader  of  riddles  nor  expounder  of 
enigmata." 

''  Well,''  replied  Paul  Pattieson,  ''  Mr.  Jedediah  Cleish- 
botham, schoolmaster  of  the  parish  of  Gandercleuch,  and  so 
forth,  all  I  have  to  inform  you  is,  that  our  hopeful  scheme 
is  entirely  blown  up.  The  tales,  on  publishing  which  we 
reckoned  with  so  much  confidence,  have  already  been  printed: 
they  are  abroad,  over  all  America,  and  the  British  papers  are 
clamorous." 

I  received  this  news  with  the  same  equanimity  with  which 
I  should  have  accepted  a  blow  addressed  to  my  stomach  by  a 
modern  gladiator,  with  the  full  energy  of  his  fist.  "  If  this 
be  correct  information,  Mr. Pattieson,"  said  I,  *'I  must  of 


INTBOD  UCTOB  Y  ABBBESS  x%\ 

necessity  suspect  you  to  be  the  person  who  have  supplied  the 
foreign  press  with  the  copy  which  the  printers  have  thus 
made  an  unscrupulous  use  of,  without  respect  to  the  rights 
of  the  undeniable  proprietors  of  the  manuscripts ;  and  I 
request  to  know  whether  this  American  production  embraces 
the  alterations  which  you  as  well  as  I  judged  necessary, 
before  the  work  could  be  fitted  to  meet  the  public  eye  ?  " 

To  this  my  gentleman  saw  it  necessary  to  make  a  direct 
answer,  for  my  manner  was  impressive  and  my  tone  decisive. 
His  native  audacity  enabled  him,  however, to  keep  his  ground, 
and  he  answered  with  firmness — 

''  Mr.  Oleishbotham,  in  the  first  place,  these  manuscripts, 
over  which  you  claim  a  very  doubtful  right,  were  never  given 
to  any  one  by  me,  and  must  have  been  sent  to  America  either 
by  yourself  or  by  some  one  of  the  various  gentlemen  to  whom 
I  am  well  aware,  you  have  afforded  opportunities  of  perus- 
ing my  brother's  MS.  remains.*' 

'^  Mr.  Pattieson,"  I  replied,  "  I  beg  to  remind  you  that  it 
never  could  be  my  intention,  either  by  my  own  hands  or 
through  those  of  another,  to  remit  these  manuscripts  to  the 
press  until,  by  the  alterations  which  I  meditated,  and  which 
you  yourself  engaged  to  make,  they  were  rendered  fit  for 
public  perusal." 

Mr.  Pattieson  answered  me  with  much  heat — ''  Sir,  I 
would  have  you  to  know  that,  if  I  accepted  your  paltry 
offer,  it  was  with  less  regard  to  its  amount  than  to  the  honor 
and  literary  fame  of  my  late  brother.  I  foresaw  that  if  I 
declined  it  you  would  not  hesitate  to  throw  the  task  into  in- 
capable hands,  or,  perhaps,  have  taken  it  upon  yourself,  the 
most  unfit  of  all  men  to  tamper  with  the  works  of  departed 
genius,  and  that,  God  willing,  I  was  determined  to  prevent ; 
but  the  justice  of  Heaven  has  taken  the  matter  into  its  own 
hands.  Peter  Pattieson's  last  labors  shall  now  go  down  to 
posterity  unscathed  by  the  scalping-knif  e  of  alteration  in  the 
hands  of  a  false  friend — shame  on  the  thought  that  the  un- 
natural weapon  could  ever  be  wielded  by  the  hand  of  a 
brother  \'' 

I  heard  this  speech  not  without  a  species  of  vertigo  or 
dizziness  in  my  head,  which  would  probably  have  struck  me 
lifeless  at  his  feet,  had  not  a  thought  like  that  of  the  old 
ballad — 

Earl  Percy  sees  my  fall, 

called  to^  my  recollection,  that  I  should  only  afford  an  addi- 
tional triumph  by  giving  way  to  my  feelings  in  the  presence 


xxil  WAVEBLET  NOVELS 

of  Mr.  Paul  Pattieson,  who,  I  could  not  doubt,  must  be  more 
or  less  directly  at  the  bottom  of  the  Transatlantic  publica- 
tion, and  had  in  one  way  or  another  found  his  own  interest 
in  that  nefarious  transaction. 

To  get  quit  of  his  odious  presence,  I  bid  him  an  uncere- 
monious good-night,  and  marched  down  the  glen  with  the 
air  not  of  one  who  has  j)arted  with  a  friend,  but  who  rather 
has  shaken  off  an  intrusive  companion.  On  the  road  I  pon- 
dered the  whole  matter  over  with  an  anxiety  which  did  not 
in  the  smallest  degree  tend  to  relieve  me.  Had  I  felt  ade- 
quate to  the  exertion,  I  might,  of  course,  have  supplanted 
this  spurious  edition  (of  which  the  literary  gazettes  are  al- 
ready doling  out  copious  specimens)  by  introducing  into  a 
copy,  to  be  instantly  published  at  Edinburgh,  adequate  cor- 
rection of  the  various  inconsistencies  and  imperfections 
which  have  already  been  alluded  to.  I  remember  the  easy 
victory  of  the  real  second  part  of  these  Tales  of  my  Landlord 
over  the  performance  sent  forth  by  an  interloper  under  the 
same  title,  and  why  should  not  the  same  triumph  be  repeated 
now  ?  There  would,  in  short,  have  been  a  pride  of  talent 
in  this  manner  of  avenging  myself,  which  would  have  been 
justifiable  in  the  case  of  an  injured  man ;  but  the  state  of 
my  health  has  for  some  time  been  such  as  to  render  any  at- 
tempt of  this  nature  in  every  way  imprudent. 

Under  such  circumstances,  the  last  *^ Remains"  of  Peter 
Pattieson  must  even  be  accepted  as  they  were  left  in  his  desk  ; 
and  I  humbly  retire  in  the  hope  that,  such  as  they  are,  they 
may  receive  the  indulgence  of  those  who  have  ever  been  but 
too  merciful  to  the  productions  of  his  pen,  and  in  all  respectar 
to  the  courteous  reader's  obliged  servant, 

J.  0. 
Gjlndebcleuch,  15th  Oct,  1831. 


PREFACE 


PREFACE 


Sir  Walter  Scott  transmitted  from  Naples,  in  February 
1832,  an  introduction  for  Castle  Dangerous  ;  but  if  he  ever 
wrote  one  for  a  second  edition  of  Count  Rohert  of  Paris,  it 
has  not  been  discovered  among  his  papers. 

Some  notes,  chiefly  extracts  from  the  books  which  he  had 
been  observed  to  consult  while  dictating  this  novel,  are  now 
appended  to  its  pages  ;  and  in  addition  to  what  the  Author 
had  given  in  the  shape  of  historical  information  respecting 
the  principal  real  persons  introduced,  the  reader  is  here 
presented  with  what  may  probably  amuse  him,  the  passage 
of  The  Alexiad  in  which  Anna  Comnena  describes  the 
incident  which  originally,  no  doubt,  determined  Sir  Walter's 
choice  of  a  hero. 

May,  A.  D.  1097. — As  for  the  multitude  of  those  who  advanced 
towards  the  great  city,  let  it  be  enough  to  say  that  they  were  as 
the  stars  in  the  heaven,  or  as  the  sand  upon  the  sea-shore.  They 
were,  in  the  words  of  Homer,  as  many  as  the  leaves  and  flowers  of 
spring.  But  for  the  names  of  the  leaders,  though  they  are  present 
in  my  memory,  I  will  not  relate  them.  The  numbers  of  these 
would  alone  deter  me,  even  if  my  language  furnished  the  means  of 
expressing  their  barbarous  sounds  ;  and  for  what  purpose  should  I 
afflict  my  readers  with  a  long  enumeration  of  the  names  of  those 
whose  visible  presence  gave  so  much  horror  to  all  that  beheld  them  ? 
As  soon,  therefore,  as  they  approached  the  Great  City,  they  occupied 
the  station  appointed  for  them  by  the  Emperor,  near  to  the 
monastery  of  Cosmidius.  But  this  multitude  were  not,  like  the 
Hellenic  one  of  old,  to  be  restrained  and  governed  by  the  loud  voices 
of  mine  heralds :  they  required  the  constant  superintendence 
of  chosen  and  valiant  soldiers  to  keep  them  from  violating  the 
commands  of  the  Emperor. 

He  meantime  labored  to  obtain  from  the  other  leaders  that 
acknowledgment  of  his  supreme  authority  which  had  already  been 
drawn  from  Godfrey  \VovTo<ppk']  himself.  But,  notwithstanding  the 
willingness  of  some  to  accede  to  this  proposal,  and  their  assistance 
in  working  on  the  minds  of  their  associates,  the  Emperor's  en- 
deavors had  little  success,  as  the  majority  were  looking  for  the 
arrival  of  Bohemund  [BaifiovvTog] ,  in  whom  they  placed  their  chief 
confidence,  and  resorted  to  every  art  with  the  view  of  gaining  time. 
The  Emperor,  whom  it  was  not  easy  to  deceive,  penetrated  their 
motives ;  and  by  granting  to  one  powerful  person  demands  which 

XXV 


xxvi  WA\  SRLEY  NOVELS 

had  been  supposed  out  of  all  bounds  of  expectation,  and  by  resort- 
ing to  a  variety  of  other  devices,  he  at  length  prevailed,  and  won 
general  assent  to  the  following  of  the  example  of  Godfrey,  who 
also  was  sent  for  in  person  to  assist  in  this  business. 

All,  therefore,  being  assembled,  and  Godfrey  among  them,  the 
oath  was  taken  ;  but  when  all  was  finished,  a  certain  noble  among 
these  counts  had  the  audacity  to  seat  himself  on  the  throne  of  the 
Emperor.  [ToA/f^aaf  TLq  evye^?jg  elg  tov  aKifinoda  rov  BaaiMug  iKadiaev.^ 
The  Emperor  restrained  himself  and  said  nothing,  for  he  was  well 
acquainted  of  old  with  the  nature  of  the  Latins.  But  the  Count 
Baldwin  [BaXdovlvog],  stepping  forth  and  seizing  him  by  the  hand, 
dragged  him  thence,  and  with  many  reproaches  said,  "It  becomes 
thee  not  to  do  such  things  here  especially  after  having  taken  the 
oath  of  fealty  [toiovtov  .  .  .  notTJaai  dov'Aelav  tiS  (3a(nXel  Koi  ravra 
vnoaxofj.£v(f].  It  is  not  the  custom  of  the  Roman  emperors  to  permit 
any  of  their  inferiors  to  sit  beside  them,  not  even  of  such  as  are 
born  subjects  of  their  empire ;  and  it  is  necessary  to  respect  the 
customs  of  the  country."  But  he,  answering  nothing  to  Baldwin, 
stared  yet  more  fixedly  upon  the  Emperor,  and  muttered  to  himself 
something  in  his  own  dialect,  which,  being  interpreted,  w-as  to 
this  effect — "  Behold,  what  rustic  fellow  [x^P'^tv^-]  is  this,  to  be 
seated  alone  while  such  leaders  stand  around  him  !  The  movement 
of  his  lips  did  not  escape  the  Emperor,  who  called  to  him  one  that 
understood  the  Latin  dialect,  and  inquired  what  words  the  man 
had  spoken.  When  he  heard  them,  the  Emperor  said  nothing  to  the 
other  Latins,  but  kept  the  thing  to  himself.  When,  however,  the 
business  was  all  over, he  called  near  to  him  by  himself  that  swelling 
and  shameless  Latin  [vrpTjXdcppova  Aarlvou  ekeIvov  kuI  avai6?j],  and  asked 
of  him,  who  he  was,  of  what  lineage,  and  from  what  region  he  had 
come.  "lam  a  Frank,"  said  he,  "  of  pure  blood,  of  the  nobles. 
One  thing  I  know,  that,  where  three  roads  meet  in  the  place  from 
which  I  came,  there  is  an  ancient  church,  in  which  whosover  has 
the  desire  to  measure  himself  against  another  in  single  combat 
prays  God  to  help  him  therein,  and  afterwards  abides  the  coming 
of  one  willing  to  encounter  him.  At  that  spot  long  time  did  I 
remain,  but  the  man  bold  enough  to  stand  against  me  I  found  not." 
Hearing  these  words,  the  Emperor  said,  "  If  hitherto  thou  hast 
sought  battles  in  vain,  the  time  is  at  hand  which  will  furnish  thee 
with  abundance  of  them.  And  I  advise  thee  to  place  thyself 
neither  before  the  phalanx  nor  in  its  rear,  but  to  stand  fast  in  the 
midst  of  thy  fellow-soldiers  ;  for  of  old  time  I  am  well  acquainted 
with  the  warfare  of  the  Turks."  With  such  advice  he  dismissed 
not  only  this  man,  but  the  rest  of  those  who  were  about  to  depart 
on  that  expedition. — Alexiad,  Book  x.  pp.  237,  238. 

Ducange,  as  is  mentioned  in  the  novel,  identifies  the 
church  thus  described  by  the  crusader  with  that  of  Our  Lady 
of  Soissons,  of  which  a  French  poet  of  the  days  of  Louis  VII. 

Veiller  y  vont  encor  li  pelerin. 

Oil  qui  bataille  veulent  fere  et  foumir. 

DUCANGE  in  Alexiad,  p.  801. 

The  Princess  Anna  Comnena,  it  may  be  proper  to  observe. 


PREFACE  xxvii 

was  born  on  the  first  of  December,  1083,  and  was  conse- 
quently in  her  fifteenth  year  when  the  chiefs  of  the  first 
crusade  made  their  appearance  in  her  father's  court.  Even 
then,  however,  it  is  not  improbable  that  she  might  have 
been  the  wife  of  Nicephorus  Briennius,  whom,  many  years 
after  his  death,  she  speaks  of  in  her  history  as  rdv  kfiou 
Kaiaapa^  and  in  other  terms  equally  affectionate.  The  bitter- 
ness with  which  she  uniformly  mentions  Bohemund  Count 
of  Tarentum,  afterwards  Prince  of  Antioch,  has,  however, 
been  ascribed  to  a  disappointment  in  love ;  and  on  one 
remarkable  occasion  the  princess  certainly  expressed  great 
contempt  of  her  husband.  I  am  aware  of  no  other  authori- 
ties for  the  liberties  taken  with  this  lady's  conjugal  character 
in  the  novel. 

Her  husband,  Nicephorus  Briennius,  was  the  grandson 
[son,  perhaps  nephew]  of  the  person  of  that  name  who 
figures  in  history  as  the  rival,  in  a  contest  for  the  imperial 
throne,  of  JSTicephorus  Botoniates.  He  was,  on  his  marriage 
with  Anna  Comnena,  invested  with  the  rank  of  panhyperse- 
lastos,  or  omnium  augustissimus ;  but  Alexius  deeply 
offended  him  by  afterwards  recognizing  the  superior  and 
simpler  dignity  of  a  sebastos.  His  eminent  qualities,  both 
in  peace  and  war,  are  acknowledged  by  Gibbon  ;  and  he  has 
left  us  four  books  of  Memoirs,  detailing  the  early  part  of  his 
father-in-law's  history,  and  valuable  as  being  the  work  of  an 
eye-witness  of  the  most  important  events  which  he  describes. 
Anna  Comnena  appears  to  have  considered  it  her  duty  to 
take  up  the  task  which  her  husband  had  not  lived  to  complete; 
and  hence  The  Alexiad — certainly,  with  all  its  defects,  the 
first  historical  work  that  has  as  yet  proceeded  from  a  female 
pen. 

The  life  of  the  Emperor  Alexius,  says  Gibbon,  has  been  delineated 
by  [the  pen  of]  a  favorite  daughter,  who  was  inspired  by  a  tender 
regard  for  his  person  and  a  laudable  zeal  to  perpetuate  his  virtues. 
Conscious  of  the  just  suspicion  of  her  readers,  the  Princess  Anna 
Comnena  repeatedly  protests  that,  besides  her  personal  knowledge, 
she  had  searched  the  discourse  and  writings  of  the  most  respect- 
able veterans ;  that,  after  an  interval  of  thirty  years,  forgotten  by, 
and  forgetful  of,  the  world,  her  mournful  solitude  was  inaccessible 
to  hope  and  fear ;  and  that  truth,  the  naked,  perfect  truth,  was 
more  dear  and  sacred  than  the  memory  of  her  parent.  Yet,  instead 
of  the  simplicity  of  style  and  narrative  which  wins  our  belief,  an 
elaborate  affectation  of  rhetoric  and  science  betrays  in  every  page 
the  vanity  of  a  female  author.  The  genuine  character  of  Alexius 
is  lost  in  a  vague  constellation  of  virtues  ;  and  the  perpetual  strain 
of  panegyric  and  apology  awakens  our  jealousy  to  question  the 
veracity  oi  the  historian  and  the  merit  of  the  hero.    We  cannotj 


xxviii  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

however,  refuse  her  judicious  and  important  remark,  that  the  dis- 
orders of  the  times  were  the  misfortune  and  the  glory  of  Alexius; 
and  that  every  calamity  which  can  afflict  a  declining  empire  was 
accumulated  on  his  reign  by  the  justice  of  Heaven  and  the  vices  of 
his  predecessors.  In  the  east,  the  victorious  Turks  had  spread, 
from  Persia  to  the  Hellespont,  the  reign  of  the  Koran  and  the 
Crescent;  the  west  was  invaded  by  the  adventurous  valor  of  the 
Normans;  and,  in  the  moments  of  peace,  the  Danube  poured  forth 
new  swarms,  who  had  gained  in  the  science  of  war  what  they  had 
lost  in  the  ferociousness  of  manners.  The  sea  was  not  less  hostile 
than  the  land  ;  and,  while  the  frontiers  were  assaulted  by  an  open 
enemy,  the  palace  was  distracted  with  secret  treason  and  conspir- 
acy. 

On  a  sudden,  the  banner  of  the  Cross  was  displayed  by  the 
Latins  ;  Europe  was  precipitated  on  Asia;  and  Constantinople  had 
almost  been  swept  away  by  this  impetuous  deluge.  In  the  tempest 
Alexius  steered  the  imperial  vessel  with  dexterity  and  courage.  At 
the  head  of  his  armies,  he  was  bold  in  action,  skilful  in  stratagem, 
patient  of  fatigue,  ready  to  improve  his  advantages,  and  rising 
from  his  defeats  with  inexhaustible  vigor.  The  discipline  of  the 
camp  was  revived,  and  a  new  generation  of  men  and  soldiers  was 
created  by  the  example  and  the  precepts  of  their  leader.  In  his 
intercourse  with  the  Latins,  Alexius  was  patient  and  artful ;  his 
discerning  eye  pervaded  the  new  system  of  an  unknown  world.  .  . 

The  increase  of  the  male  and  female  branches  of  his  family 
adorned  the  throne  and  secured  the  succession ;  but  their  princely 
luxury  and  pride  offended  the  patricians,  exhausted  the  revenue, 
and  insulted  the  misery  of  the  people.  Anna  is  a  faithful  witness 
that  his  happiness  was  destroyed,  and  his  health  was  broken,  by  the 
cares  of  a  public  life  ;  the  patience  of  Constantinople  was  fatigued 
by  the  length  and  severity  of  his  reign  ;  and  before  Alexius  expired, 
he  had  lost  the  love  and  reverence  of  his  subjects.  The  clergy 
could  not  forgive  his  application  of  the  sacred  riches  to  the  defense 
of  the  state  ;  but  they  applauded  his  theological  learning  and  ardent 
zeal  for  the  orthodox  faith,  which  he  defended  with  his  tongue, 
his  pen,  and  his  sword.  .  .  .  Even  the  sincerity  of  his  moral  and 
religious  virtues  was  suspected  by  the  persons  who  had  passed 
their  lives  in  his  familiar  confidence.  In  his  last  hours,  when  he 
was  pressed  by  his  wife  Irene  to  alter  the  succession,  he  raised  his 
head  and  breathed  a  pious  ejaculation  on  the  vanity  of  this  world. 
The  indignant  reply  of  the  Empress  may  be  inscribed  as  an  epitaph 
on  his  tomb—"  You  die  as  you  have  lived— an  hypocrite." 

It  was  the  wish  of  Irene  to  supplant  the  eldest  of  her  surviving 
sons  in  favor  of  her  daughter,  the  Princess  Anna,  whose  philosophy 
would  not  have  refused  the  weight  of  a  diadem.  But  the  order  of 
male  succession  was  asserted  by  the  friends  of  their  country  ;  the 
lawful  heir  drew  the  royal  signet  from  the  finger  of  his  insensible 
or  conscious  father,  and  the  empire  obeyed  the  master  of  the  palace. 
Anna  Comnena  was  stimulated  by  ambition  and  revenge  to 
conspire  against  the  life  of  her  brother  ;  and  when  the  design  was 
prevented  by  the  fears  or  scruples  of  her  husband,  she  passionately 
exclaimed  that  nature  had  mistaken  the  two  sexes,  and  had 
endowed  Breennius  with  the  soul  of  a  woman.  .  .  .  After  the  dis- 
covery of  her  treason,  the  life  and  fortune  of  Anna  were  justly 
forfeited  to  the  laws.    Her  life  was  spared  by  the  clemency  of  the 


PREFACE  xxix 

Bmperor  ;  but  he  visited  the  pomp  and  treasures  of  her  palace,  and 
bestowed  the  rich  confiscation  on  the  most  deserving  of  his  friends. 
— History  of  the  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,  chap,  xlviii. 

The  year  of  Anna's  death  is  nowhere  recorded.  She  appears 
to  have  written  The  Alexiad  in  a  convent ;  and  to  have  spent 
nearly  thirty  years  in  this  retirement  before  her  book  was 
published. 

For  accurate  particulars  of  the  public  events  touched  on 
in  Count  Robert  of  Paris,  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  above 
quoted  author,  chapters  xlviii,  and  Iviii,  and  to  the  first 
volume  of  Mills's  History  of  the  Crusades.* 

J.  G.  L[ockhartJ. 
London,  1st  March  1833. 

*  The  article  "  Chivalry  "  in  the  Encyclopcedia  Britannica,  Supplement  to  3d 
4th,  and  5th,  editions,  written  by  Soott,  will  also  be  found  to  contain  an  interesfr 
iug  allusion  to  the  chief  incident  in  chapter  ix,  of  the  novel  {Laing). 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS 


CHAPTER  I 

Leontius.  That  power  that  kindly  spreads 

The  clouds,  a  signal  of  impending  showers, 
To  warn  the  wandering  linnet  to  the  shade, 
Beheld  without  concern  expiring  Greece, 
And  not  one  prodigy  foretold  our  fate. 

Demetrius.     A  thousand  horrid  prodigies  foretold  it. 
A  feeble  government,  eluded  laws, 
A  factious  populace,  luxurious  nobles. 
And  all  the  maladies  of  sinking  states. 
When  public  villainy,  too  strong  for  justice, 
Shows  his  bold  front,  the  harbinger  of  ruin. 
Can  brave  Leontius  call  for  airy  wonders, 
Which  cheats  interpret,  and  which  fools  regard? 

Irene,  Act  I. 

The  close  observers  of  vegetable  nature  have  remarked  that, 
when  a  new  graft  is  taken  from  an  aged  tree,  it  possesses  in- 
deed in  exterior  form  the  appearance  of  a  youthful  shoot, 
but  has  in  fact  attained  to  the  same  state  of  maturity,  or 
even  decay,  which  has  been  reached  by  the  parent  stem. 
Hence,  it  is  said,  arises  the  general  decline  and  death  that 
about  the  same  season  is  often  observed  to  spread  itself 
through  individual  trees  of  some  particular  species,  all  of 
which,  deriving  their  vital  powers  from  the  parent  stock, 
are  therefore  incapable  of  protracting  their  existence  longer 
than  it  does. 

In  the  same  manner,  efforts  have  been  made  by  the  mighty 
of  the  earth  to  transplant  large  cities,  states,  and  communi- 
ties by  one  great  and  sudden  exertion,  expecting  to  secure 
to  the  new  capital  the  wealth,  the  dignity,  the  magnificent 
decorations  and  unlimited  extent  of  the  ancient  city  which 
they  desire  to  renovate ;  while,  at  the  same  time,  they  hope 
to  begin  a  new  succession  of  ages  from  the  date  of  the  new 
structure,  to  last,  they  imagine,  as  long,  and  with  as  much 

1 


2  WAVEBLET  NOVELS 

fame,  as  its  predecessor,  which  the  founder  hopes  his  new 
metropolis  may  replace  in  &\\  its  youthful  glories.  But  na- 
ture has  her  laws,  which  seem  to  apply  to  the  social  as  well 
as  the  vegetable  system.  It  appears  to  be  a  general  rule 
that  what  is  to  last  long  should  be  slowly  matured  and  grad- 
ually improved,  while  every  sudden  effort,  however  gigantic, 
to  bring  about  the  speedy  execution  of  a  plan  calculated  to 
endure  for  ages  is  doomed  to  exhibit  symptoms  of  prema- 
ture decay  from  its  very  commencement.  Thus,  in  a  beau- 
tiful Oriental  tale,  a  dervise  explains  to  the  sultan  how  he 
had  reared  the  magnificent  trees  among  which  they  walked 
by  nursing  their  shoots  from  the  seed ;  and  the  prince's 
pride  is  damped  when  he  reflects  that  those  plantations,  so 
simply  raised,  were  gathering  new  vigor  from  each  return- 
ing sun,  while  his  own  exhausted  cedars,  which  had  been 
transplanted  by  one  violent  effort,  were  drooping  their 
majestic  heads  in  the  Valley  of  Orez.* 

It  has  been  allowed,  I  believe,  by  all  men  of  taste,  many 
of  whom  have  been  late  visitants  of  Constantinople,  that,  if 
it  were  possible  to  survey  the  whole  globe  with  a  view  to 
fixing  a  seat  of  universal  empire,  all  who  are  capable  of 
making  such  a  choice  would  give  their  preference  to  the 
city  of  Constantine,  as  including  the  great  recommendations 
of  beauty,  wealth,  security,  and  eminence.  Yet,  with  all 
these  advantages  of  situation  and  climate,  and  with  all  the 
architectural  splendor  of  its  churches  and  halls,  its  quarries 
of  marble,  and  its  treasure-houses  of  gold,  the  imperial 
founder  must  himself  have  learned  that,  although  he  could 
employ  all  these  rich  materials  in  obedience  to  his  own  wish, 
it  was  the  mind  of  man  itself,  those  intellectual  faculties 
refined  by  the  ancients  to  the  highest  degree,  which  had 
produced  the  specimens  of  talent  at  which  men  paused  and 
wondered,  whether  as  subjects  of  art  or  of  moral  labor. 
The  power  of  the  Emperor  might  indeed  strip  other  cities 
of  their  statues  and  their  shrines,  in  order  to  decorate  that 
which  he  had  fixed  upon  as  his  new  capital ;  but  the  men 
who  had  performed  great  actions,  and  those,  almost  equally 
esteemed,  by  whom  such  deeds  were  celebrated,  in  poetry, 
in  painting,  and  in  music,  had  ceased  to  exist.  The  nation, 
though  still  the  most  civilized  in  the  world,  had  passed  be- 
yond that  period  of  society  when  the  desire  of  fair  fame  is 
of  itself  the  sole  or  chief  motive  for  the  labor  of  the  histo- 
rian or  the  poet,  the  painter  or  the  statuary.     The  slavish 

*Tale  of  "  Mirglip  the  Persian,"  in  the  Tales  of  the  Genii  [by  Sir 
Charles  Morell,  1765]. 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  8 

and  despotic  constitution  introduced  into  the  empire  had 
long  since  entirely  destroyed  that  public  spirit  which  ani- 
mated the  free  history  of  Eome,  leaving  nothing  but  feeble 
recollections,  which  produced  no  emulation. 

To  speak  as  of  an  animated  substance,  if  Constantine  could 
have  regenerated  his  new  metropolis,  by  transfusing  into  it 
the  vital  and  vivifying  principles  of  Old  Rome,  that  brilliant 
spark  no  longer  remained  for  Constantinople  to  borrow  or 
for  Rome  to  lend. 

In  one  most  important  circumstance,  the  state  of  the 
capital  of  Constantine  had  been  totally  changed,  and  un- 
speakably to  its  advantage.  The  world  was  now  Christian, 
and,  with  the  pagan  code,  had  got  rid  of  its  load  of  dis- 
graceful superstition.  Nor  is  there  the  least  doubt  that  the 
better  faith  produced  its  natural  and  desirable  fruits  in 
society,  in  gradually  ameliorating  the  hearts  and  taming  the 
passions  of  the  people.  But  while  many  of  the  converts 
were  turning  meekly  towards  their  new  creed,  some,  in  the 
arrogance  of  their  understanding,  were  limiting  the  Scrip- 
tures by  their  own  devices,  and  others  failed  not  to  make 
religious  character  or  spiritual  rank  the  means  of  rising  to 
temporal  power.  Thus  it  happened  at  this  critical  period 
that  the  effects  of  this  great  change  in  the  religion  of  the 
country,  although  producing  an  immediate  harvest,  as  well 
as  sowing  much  good  seed  which  was  to  grow  hereafter,  did 
not,  in  the  4th  century,  flourish  so  as  to  shed  at  once  that 
predominating  influence  which  its  principles  might  have 
taught  men  to  expect. 

Even  the  borrowed  splendor  in  which  Constantine  decked 
his  city  bore  in  it  something  which  seemed  to  mark  prema- 
ture decay.  The  imperial  founder,  in  seizing  upon  the  an- 
•cient  statues,  pictures,  obelisks,  and  works  of  art,  acknowl- 
edged his  own  incapacity  to  supply  their  place  with  the 
productions  of  later  genius  ;  and  when  the  world,  and  par- 
ticularly Rome,  was  plundered  to  adorn  Constantinople,  the 
Emperor,  under  whom  the  work  was  carried  on,  might  be 
compared  to  a  prodigal  youth,  who  strips  an  aged  parent  of 
her  youthful  ornaments,  in  order  to  decorate  a  flaunting 
paramour,  on  whose  brow  all  must  consider  them  as  mis- 
placed. 

Constantinople,  therefore,  when  in  324  it  first  arose  in 
imperial  majesty  out  of  the  humble  Byzantium,  showed, 
even  in  its  birth,  and  amid  its  adventitious  splendor,  as  we 
have  already  said,  some  intimations  of  that  speedy  decay  to 
which  the  whole  civilized  world,  then  limited  within  the 


i 


4  WA  VEELET  NOVELS 

Roman  empire,  was  internally  and  imperceptibly  tending. 
Nor  was  it  many  ages  ere  these  prognostications  of  declen- 
sion were  fully  verified. 

In  the  year  1080  [1081],  Alexius  Comnenus*  ascended  the 
throne  of  the  Empire — that  is,  he  was  declared  sovereign  of 
Constantinople,  its  precincts  and  dependencies  ;  nor,  if  he 
was  disposed  to  lead  a  life  of  relaxation,  would  the  savage 
incursions  of  the  Scythians  or  the  Hungarians  frequently 
disturb  the  imperial  slumbers,  if  limited  to  his  own  capital. 
It  may  be  supposed  that  this  safety  did  not  extend  much 
farther  ;  for  it  is  said  that  the  Empress  Pulcheria  had  built 
a  church  to  the  Virgin  Mary  as  remote  as  possible  from  the 
gate  of  the  city,  to  save  her  devotions  from  the  risk  of  being 
interrupted  by  the  hostile  yell  of  the  barbarians,  and  the 
reigning  emperor  had  constructed  a  palace  near  the  same 
spot,  and  for  the  same  reason. 

Alexius  Comnenus  was  in  the  condition  of  a  monarch  who 
rather  derives  consequence  from  the  wealth  and  importance 
of  his  predecessors,  and  the  great  extent  of  their  original 
dominions,  than  from  what  remnants  of  fortune  had  de- 
scended to  the  present  generation.  This  emperor,  except 
nominally,  no  more  ruled  over  his  dismembered  provinces 
than  a  half-dead  horse  can  exercise  power  over  those  limbs 
on  which  the  hooded  crow  and  the  vulture  have  already 
begun  to  settle  and  select  their  prey. 

In  different  parts  of  his  territory  different  enemies  arose, 
who  waged  successful  or  dubious  war  against  the  Emperor  ; 
and  of  the  numerous  nations  with  whom  he  was  engaged  in 
hostilities,  whether  the  Franks  from  the  west,  the  Turks 
advancing  from  the  east,  the  Cumans  and  Scythians  pouring 
their  barbarous  numbers  and  unceasing  storm  of  arrows  from 
the  north,  and  the  Saracens,  or  the  tribes  into  which  they 
were  divided,  pressing  from  the  south,  there  was  not  one 
for  whom  the  Grecian  empire  did  not  spread  a  tempting 
repast.  Each  of  these  various  enemies  had  their  own  par- 
ticular habits  of  war,  and  a  way  of  maneuvering  in  battle 
peculiar  to  themselves.  But  the  Roman,  as  the  unfortunate 
subject  of  the  Greek  empire  was  still  called,  was  by  far  the 
weakest,  the  most  ignorant,  and  most  timid  who  could  be 
dragged  into  the  field  ;  and  the  Emperor  was  happy  in  his 
own  good  luck  when  he  found  it  possible  to  conduct  a  defen- 
sive war  on  a  counter-balancing  principle,  making  use  of  the 
Scythian  to  repel  the  Turk,  or  of  both  these  savage  peoples 

♦See  Gibbon,  chajp.  xlviii.,  for  the  origin  and  early  history  oi 
the  house  of  Comneni. 


COUNT  BOBEBT  OF  PABIS  S 

to  drive  back  the  fiery-footed  Frank,  whom  Peter  the  Her- 
mit had,  in  the  time  of  Alexius,  waked  to  double  fury  by  the 
powerful  influence  of  the  crusades. 

If,  therefore,  Alexius  Oomnenus  was,  during  his  anxious 
seat  upon  the  throne  of  the  East,  reduced  to  use  a  base  and 
truckling  course  of  policy,  if  he  was  sometimes  reluctant  to 
fight  whea  he  had  a  conscious  doubt  of  the  valor  of  his 
troops,  if  he  commonly  employed  cunning  and  dissimulation 
instead  of  wisdom,  and  perfidy  instead  of  courage,  his  ex- 
pedients were  the  disgrace  of  the  age  rather  than  his  own. 

Again,  the  Emperor  Alexius  may  be  blamed  for  affecting 
a  degree  of  state  which  was  closely  allied  to  imbecility.  He 
was  proud  of  assuming  in  his  own  person,  and  of  bestowing 
upon  others,  the  painted  show  of  various  orders  of  nobility, 
even  now,  when  the  rank  within  the  prince's  gift  was  be- 
come an  additional  reason  for  the  free  barbarian  despising 
the  imperial  noble.  That  the  Greek  court  was  encumbered 
with  unmeaning  ceremonies,  in  order  to  make  amends  for 
the  want  of  that  veneration  which  ought  to  have  been  called 
forth  by  real  worth  and  the  presence  of  actual  power,  was 
not  the  particular  fault  of  that  prince,  but  belonged  to  the 
system  of  the  government  of  Constantinople  for  ages.  Indeed, 
in  its  trumpery  etiquette,  which  provided  rules  for  the  most 
trivial  points  of  a  man's  behavior  during  the  day,  the  Greek 
empire  resembled  no  existing  power  in  its  minute  follies 
except  that  of  Pekin ;  both,  doubtless,  being  influenced  by 
the  same  vain  wish  to  add  seriousness  and  an  appearance  of 
importance  to  objects  which,  from  their  trivial  nature,  could 
admit  no  such  distinction. 

Yet  thus  far  we  must  justify  Alexius,  that,  humble  as 
were  the  expedients  he  had  recourse  to,  they  were  more  use- 
ful to  his  empire  than  the  measures  of  a  more  proud  and 
high-spirited  prince  might  have  proved  in  the  same  circum- 
stances. He  was  no  champion  to  break  a  lance  against  the 
breastplate  of  his  Prankish  rival,  the  famous  Bohemond  of 
Antioch,*  but  there  were  many  occasions  on  which  he 
hazarded  his  life  freely ;  and,  so  far  as  we  can  see  from  a 
minute  perusal  of  his  achievements,  the  Emperor  of  Greece 
was  never  so  dangerous  *^^  under  shield"  as  when  anyfoeman 
desired  to  stop  him  while  retreating  from  a  conflict  in  which 
he  had  been  worsted. 

But,  besides  that  he  did  not  hesitate,  according  to  the 
custom  of  the  time,  at  least  occasionally,  to  commit  his 
person  to  the  perils  of  close  combat,  Alexius  also  possessed 
•  See  Note  1. 


«  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

such  knowledge  of  a  general's  profession  as  is  required  in 
our  modern  days.  He  knew  how  to  occupy  military  positions 
to  the  best  advantage,  and  often  covered  defeats,  or  im- 
proved dubious  conflicts,  in  a  manner  highly  to  the  disap- 
pointment of  those  who  deemed  that  the  work  of  war 
was  done  only  on  the  field  of  battle. 

If  Alexius  Comnenus  thus  understood  the  evolutions  of 
war,  he  was  still  better  skilled  in  those  of  politics,  where, 
soaring  far  above  the  express  purpose  of  his  immediate 
negotiation,  the  Emperor  was  sure  to  gain  some  important 
and  permanent  advantage  ;  though  very  often  he  was  ulti- 
mately defeated  by  the  unblushing  fickleness  or  avowed 
treachery  of  the  barbarians,  as  the  Greeks  generally  termed 
all  other  nations,  and  particularly  those  tribes  (they  can 
hardly  be  termed  states)  by  which  their  own  empire  was 
surrounded. 

We  may  conclude  our  brief  character  of  Comnenus  by  say- 
ing that,  had  he  not  been  called  on  to  fill  the  station  of  a 
monarch  who  was  under  the  necessity  of  making  himself 
dreaded,  as  one  who  was  exposed  to  all  manner  of  conspir- 
acies, both  in  and  out  of  his  own  family,  he  might,  in  all 
probability,  have  been  regarded  as  an  honest  and  humane 
prince.  Certainly  he  showed  himself  a  good-natured  man, 
and  dealt  less  in  cutting  off  heads  and  extinguishing  eyes 
than  had  been  the  practise  of  his  predecessors,  who  gener- 
ally took  this  method  of  shortening  the  ambitious  views  of 
competitors. 

It  remains  to  be  mentioned,  that  Alexius  had  his  full  share 
of  the  superstition  of  the  age,  which  he  covered  with  a 
species  of  hypocrisy.  It  is  even  said  that  his  wife,  Irene, 
who,  of  course,  was  best  acquainted  with  the  real  character 
of  the  Emperor,  taxed  her  dying  husband  with  practising, 
in  his  last  moments,  the  dissimulation  which  had  been  his 
companion  during  life.*  He  took  also  a  deep  interest  in  all 
matters  respecting  the  church,  where  heresy,  which  the  Em- 
peror held,  or  affected  to  hold,  in  great  horror,  appeared  to 
him  to  lurk.  Nor  do  we  discover  in  his  treatment  of  the 
Manichaeans  or  Paulicians  that  pity  for  their  speculative 
errors  which  modern  times  might  think  had  been  well  pur- 
chased by  the  extent  of  the  temporal  services  of  these  unfor- 
tunate sectaries.  Alexius  knew  no  indulgence  for  those  who 
misinterpreted  the  mysteries  of  the  church  or  of  its  doctrines  ; 
and  the  duty  of  defending  religion  against  schismatics  was, 
in  his  opinion,  as  peremptorily  demanded  from  him  as  that 
*  See  Gibbon,  chap,  xlviii. 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS 


of  protecting  tlie  empire  against  the  numberless  tribes  of 
barbarians  who  were  encroaching  on  its  boundaries  on  every 
side. 

Such  a  mixture  of  sense  and  weakness,  of  meanness  and 
dignity,  of  prudent  discretion  and  poverty  of  spirit,  which 
last,  in  the  European  mode  of  viewing  things,  approached 
to  cowardice,  formed  the  leading  traits  of  the  character  of 
Alexius  Comnenus,  at  a  period  when  the  fate  of  Greece,  and 
all  that  was  left  in  that  country  of  art  and  civilization,  were 
trembling  in  the  balance,  and  likely  to  be  saved  or  lost 
according  to  the  abilities  of  the  Emperor  for  playing  the 
very  difficult  game  which  was  put  into  his  hands. 

These  few  leading  circumstances  will  recall,  to  any  one 
who  is  tolerably  well  read  in  history,  the  peculiarities  of  the 
period  at  which  we  have  found  a  resting-place  for  the 
foundation  of  our  story. 


CHAPTER  n 

Othus,  ^  This  superb  successor 

Of  the  earth's  mistress,  as  thou  vainly  speakest. 
Stands  midst  these  ages  as,  on  the  wide  ocean, 
The  last  spared  fragment  of  a  spacious  land. 
That  in  some  grand  and  awful  ministration 
Of  mighty  nature  has  engulfed  been, 
Doth  lift  aloft  its  dark  and  rocky  cliffs 
O'er  the  wild  waste  around,  and  sadly  frowns 
In  lonely  majesty. 

Constantine  Paleologus,  Scene  I. 

Oun  scene  in  the  capital  of  the  Eastern  Empire  opens  at 
what  is  termed  the  Golden  Gate  of  Constantinople ;  and  it 
may  be  said  in  passing,  that  this  splendid  epithet  is  not  so 
lightly  bestowed  as  may  be  expected  from  the  inflated  lan- 
guage of  the  Greeks,  which  throws  such  an  appearance  of 
exaggeration  about  them,  their  buildings,  and  monuments. 
The  massive,  and  seemingly  impregnable,  walls  with 
which  Constantine  surrounded  the  city  were  greatly  im- 
proved and  added  to  by  Theodosius,  called  the  Great.  A 
triumphal  arch,  decorated  with  the  architecture  of  a  better, 
though  already  a  degenerate,  age,  and  serving,  at  the  same 
time,  as  an  useful  entrance,  introduced  the  stranger  into  the 
city.  On  the  top,  a  statue  of  bronze  represented  Victory, 
the  goddess  who  had  inclined  the  scales  of  battle  in  favor  of 
Theodosius  ;  and,  as  the  artist  determined  to  be  wealthy  if 
he  could  not  be  tasteful,  the  gilded  ornaments  with  which 
the  inscriptions  were  set  off  readily  led  to  the  popular  name 
of  the  gate.  Figures  carved  in  a  distant  and  happier  period 
of  the  art  glanced  from  the  walls,  without  assorting  happily 
with  the  taste  in  which  these  were  built.  The  more  modern 
ornaments  of  the  Golden  Gate  bore,  at  the  period  of  our 
story,  an  aspect  very  different  from  those  indicating  the 
"  conquest  brought  back  to  the  city "  and  **  the  eternal 
peace,"  which  the  flattering  inscriptions  recorded  as  having 
been  extorted  by  the  sword  of  Theodosius.  Four  or  five 
military  engines,  for  throwing  darts  of  the  largest  size, 
were  placed  upon  the  summit  of  the  arch  ;  and  what  had 
been  originally  designed  as  a  specimen  of  architectural  em- 
bellishment was  now  applied  to  the  purposes  of  defense. 

8 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARI8  9 

It  was  the  hour  of  evening,  and  the  cool  and  refreshing 
breeze  from  the  sea  inclined  each  passenger,  whose  business 
was  not  of  a  very  urgent  description,  to  loiter  on  his  way, 
and  cast  a  glance  at  the  romantic  gateway,  and  the  various 
interesting  objects  of  nature  and  art  which  the  city  of 
Constantinople  *  presented,  as  well  to  the  inhabitants  as  to 
strangers. 

One  individual,  however,  seemed  to  indulge  viore  wonder 
and  curiosity  than  could  have  been  expected  from  a  native 
of  the  city,  and  looked  upon  the  rarities  around  with  a 
quick  and  startled  eye,  that  marked  an  imagination  awak- 
ened by  sights  that  were  new  and  strange.  The  appearance 
of  this  person  bespoke  a  foreigner  of  military  habits,  who 
seemed,  from  his  complexion,  to  have  his  birthplace  far 
from  the  Grecian  metropolis,  whatever  chance  had  at  pres- 
ent brought  him  to  the  Golden  Gate,  or  whatever  place  he 
filled  in  the  Emperor's  service. 

This  young  man  was  about  two-and-twenty  years  old,  re- 
markably finely-formed  and  athletic — qualities  well  under- 
stood by  the  citizens  of  Constantinople,  whose  habits  of 
frequenting  the  public  games  had  taught  them  at  least  an 
acquaintance  with  the  human  person,  and  where,  in  the 
select  of  their  own  countrymen,  they  saw  the  handsomest 
specimens  of  the  human  race. 

These  were,  however,  not  generally  so  tall  as  the  stranger 
at  the  Golden  Gate,  while  his  piercing  blue  eyes,  and  the 
fair  hair  which  descended  from  under  a  light  helmet  gaily 
ornamented  with  silver,  bearing  on  its  summit  a  crest  re- 
sembling a  dragon  in  the  act  of  expanding  its  terrible  jaws, 
intimated  a  Northern  descent,  to  which  the  extreme  purity 
of  his  complexion  also  bore  witness.  His  beauty,  however, 
though  he  was  eminently  distinguished  both  in  features  and 
in  person,  was  not  liable  to  the  charge  of  effeminacy.  From 
this  it  was  rescued  both  by  his  strength  and  by  the  air  of 
confidence  and  self-possession  with  which  the  youth  seemed 
to  regard  the  wonders  around  him,  not  indicating  the  stupid 
and  helpless  gaze  of  a  mind  equally  inexperienced  and  in- 
capable of  receiving  instruction,  but  expressing  the  bold 
intellect  which  at  once  understands  the  greater  part  of  the 
information  which  it  receives,  and  commands  the  spirit  to 
toil  in  search  of  the  meaning  of  that  which  it  has  not  com- 
prehended, or  may  fear  it  has  misinterpreted.  This  look  of 
awakened  attention  and  intelligence  gave  interest  to  the 
young  barbarian;  and  while  the  bystanders  were  amazed 
*  See  Note  2. 


10  WAVERLET  NOVELS 

that  a  savage  from  some  unknown  or  remote  corner  of  the 
universe  should  possess  a  noble  countenance  bespeaking  a 
mind  so  elevated,  they  respected  him  for  the  composure  with 
which  he  witnessed  so  many  things,  the  fashion,  the  splen- 
dor, nay,  the  very  use,  of  which  must  have  been  recently 
new  to  him. 

The  young  man's  personal  equipments  exhibited  a  singu- 
lar  mixture  of  splendor  and  effeminacy,  and  enabled  the  ex- 
perienced spectators  to  ascertain  his  nation,  and  the  capac- 
ity in  which  he  served.  We  have  already  mentioned  the 
fanciful  and  crested  helmet  which  was  a  distinction  of  the 
foreigner,  to  which  the  reader  must  add  in  his  imagination 
a  small  cuirass  or  breastplate  of  silver,  so  sparingly  fashioned 
as  obviously  to  afford  little  security  to  the  broad  chest,  on 
which  it  rather  hung  like  an  ornament  than  covered  as  a 
buckler ;  nor,  if  a  well-thrown  dart  or  strongly-shod  arrow 
should  alight  full  on  this  rich  piece  of  armor,  was  there 
much  hope  that  it  could  protect  the  bosom  which  it  par- 
tially shielded. 

Erom  betwixt  the  shoulders  hung  down  over  the  back 
what  had  the  appearance  of  a  bearskin  ;  but,  when  more 
closely  examined,  it  was  only  a  very  skilful  imitation  of  the 
spoils  of  the  chase,  being  in  reality  a  surcoat  composed  of 
strong  shaggy  silk,  so  woven  as  to  exhibit,  at  a  little  dis- 
tance, no  inaccurate  representation  of  a  beards  hide.  A 
light  crooked  sword,  or  scimitar,  sheathed  in  a  scabbard  of 
gold  and  ivory,  hung  by  the  left  side  of  the  stranger,  the 
ornamented  hilt  of  which  appeared  much  too  small  for  the 
large-jointed  hand  of  the  young  Hercules  who  was  thus 
gaily  attired.  A  dress,  purple  in  color,  and  sitting  close  to 
the  limbs,  covered  the  body  of  the  soldier  to  a  little  above 
the  knee  ;  from  thence  the  knees  and  legs  were  bare  to  the 
calf,  to  which  the  reticulated  strings  of  the  sandals  rose 
from  the  instep,  the  ligatures  being  there  fixed  by  a  golden 
coin  of  the  reigning  emperor,  converted  into  a  species  of 
clasp  for  the  purpose. 

But  a  weapon  which  seemed  more  particularly  adapted  to 
the  young  barbarian's  size,  and  incapable  of  being  used  by  a 
man  of  less  formidable  limbs  and  sinews,  was  a  battle-ax, 
the  firm  iron-guarded  staff  of  which  was  formed  of  tough 
elm,  strongly  inlaid  and  defended  with  brass,  while  many  a 
plate  and  ring  were  indented  in  the  handle,  to  hold  the 
wood  and  the  steel  parts  together.  The  ax  itself  was  com- 
posed of  two  blades,  turning  different  ways,  with  a  sharp 
steel  spike  projecting  from  between  them.     The  steel  part. 


COUNT  BOBERT  OF  PARIS  U 

both  spike  and  blade,  was  burnished  as  bright  as  a  mirror  ; 
and  though  its  ponderous  size  must  have  been  burdensome 
to  one  weaker  than  himself,  yet  the  young  soldier  carried  it 
as  carelessly  along  as  if  it  were  but  a  feather's  weight.  It 
was,  indeed,  a  skilfully  constructed  weapon,  so  well  bal- 
anced, that  it  was  much  lighter  in  striking  and  in  recovery 
chan  he  who  saw  it  in  the  hands  of  another  could  easily 
Jiave  believed. 

The  carrying  arms  of  itself  showed  that  the  military  man 
was  a  stranger.  The  native  Greeks  had  that  mark  of  a 
civilized  people,  that  they  never  bore  weapons  during  the 
time  of  peace,  unless  the  wearer  chanced  to  be  numbered 
among  those  whose  military  profession  and  employment  re- 
quired them  to  be  always  in  arms.  Such  soldiers  bv  pro- 
fession were  easily  distinguished  from  the  peaceful  citizens ; 
and  it  was  with  some  evident  show  of  fear,  as  well  as  dislike, 
that  the  passengers  observed  to  each  other  that  the  stranger 
was  a  Varangian,  an  expression  which  intimated  a  barbarian 
of  the  imperial  body-guard. 

To  supply  the  deficiency  of  valor  among  his  own  subjects, 
and  to  procure  soldiers  who  should  be  personally  dependent 
on  the  Emperor,  the  Greek  sovereigns  had  been,  for  a  great 
many  years,  in  the  custom  of  maintaining  in  their  pay,  as 
near  their  person  as  they  could,  the  steady  services  of  a  select 
number  of  mercenaries  in  the  capacity  of  body-guards,  which 
were  numerous  enough,  when  their  steady  discipline  and  in- 
flexible loyalty  were  taken  in  conjunction  with  their  personal 
strength  and  indomitable  courage,  to  defeat  not  only  any 
traitorous  attempt  on  the  imperial  person,  but  to  quell  open 
rebellions,  unless  such  were  supported  by  a  great  proportion 
of  the  military  force.  Their  pay  was  therefore  liberal ;  their 
rank  and  established  character  for  prowess  gave  them  a 
degree  of  consideration  among  the  people,  whose  reputation 
for  valor  had  not  for  some  ages  stood  high  ;  and  if,  as  for- ' 
eigners,  and  the  members  of  a  privileged  body,  the  Varan- 
gians were  sometimes  employed  in  arbitrary  and  unpopular 
services,  the  natives  were  so  apt  to  fear,  while  they  disliked, 
them,  that  the  hardy  strangers  disturbed  themselves  but 
little  about  the  light  in  which  they  were  regarded  by  the 
inhabitants  of  Constantinople.  Their  dress  and  accouter- 
ments,  while  within  the  city,  partook  of  the  rich,  or  rather 
gaudy,  costume  which  we  have  described,  bearing  only  a 
sort  of  affected  resemblance  to  that  M^hich  the  Varangians 
wore  in  their  native  forests.  But  the  individuals  of  this 
select  corps  were,  when  their  services  were  required  beyond 


12  WAVEBLET  NOVELS 

the  city,  furnished  with  armor  and  weapons  more  resembling 
those  which  they  were  accustomed  to  wield  in  their  own 
country,  possessing  much  less  of  the  splendor  of  war,  and  a 
far  greater  portion  of  its  effective  terrors ;  and  thus  they 
were  summoned  to  take  the  field. 

This  body  of  Varangians  (which  term  is,  according  to  one 
interpretation,  merely  a  general  expression  for  barbarians) 
was,  in  an  early  age  of  the  empire,  formed  of  the  roving  and 
piratical  inhabitants  of  the  North,  whom  a  love  of  adventure, 
the  greatest  perhaps  that  ever  was  indulged,  and  a  contempt 
of  danger,  which  never  had  a  parallel  in  the  history  of  human 
nature,  drove  forth  upon  the  pathless  ocean.  '^  Piracy," 
says  Gibbon,  with  his  usual  spirit,  ^'  was  the  exercise,  the 
trade,  the  glory,  and  the  virtue  of  the  Scandinavian  youth. 
Impatient  of  a  bleak  climate  and  narrow  limits,  they  started 
from  the  banquet,  grasped  their  arms,  sounded  their  horn, 
ascended  their  vessels,  and  explored  every  coast  that  promised 
either  spoil  or  settlement."  * 

The  conquests  made  in  France  and  Britain  by  these  wild 
sea-kings,  as  they  were  called,  have  obscured  the  remem- 
brance of  other  Northern  champions,  who,  long  before  the 
time  of  Comnenus,  made  excursions  as  far  as  Constantinople, 
and  witnessed  with  their  own  eyes  the  wealth  and  the  weak- 
ness of  the  Grecian  empire  itself.  Numbers  found  their  way 
thither  through  the  pathless  wastes  of  Russia ;  others  navi- 
gated the  Mediterranean  in  their  sea-serpents,  as  they  termed 
their  piratical  vessels.  The  emperors,  terrified  at  the  ap- 
pearance of  these  daring  inhabitants  of  the  frozen  zone,  had 
recourse  to  the  usual  policy  of  a  rich  and  unwarlike  people, 
bought  with  gold  the  service  of  their  swords,  and  thus  formed 
a  corps  of  satellites  more  distinguished  for  valor  than  the 
famed  Praetorian  Bands  of  Rome,  and,  perhaps  because  fewer 
in  number,  unalterably  loyal  to  their  new  princes. 

But,  at  a  later  period  of  the  empire,  it  began  to  be  more 
difficult  for  the  emperors  to  obtain  recruits  for  their  favorite 
and  selected  corps,  the  Northern  nations  having  now  in  a 
great  measure  laid  aside  the  piratical  and  roving  habits  which 
had  driven  their  ancestors  from  the  straits  of  Elsinore  to  those 
of  Sestos  and  Abydos.  The  corps  of  the  Varangians  must 
therefore  have  died  out,  or  have  been  filled  up  with  less  worthy 
materials  had  not  the  conquests  made  by  the  Normans  in  the 
far  distant  west  sent  to  the  aid  of  Comnenus  a  large  body  of 

*  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire^  vol.  x.,  chapter  Iv.  p. 
221,  8vo  edition. 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  13 

the  dispossessed  inhabitants  of  the  islands  of  Britain,  and 
particularly  of  England,  who  furnished  recruits  to  his  chosen 
body-guard.  These  were,  in  fact,  Anglo-Saxons ;  but,  in 
the  confused  idea  of  geography  received  at  the  court  of  Con- 
stantinople, they  were  naturally  enough  called  Anglo-Danes, 
as  their  native  country  was  confounded  with  the  Thule  of 
the  ancients,  by  which  expression  the  archipelago  of  Zetland 
and  Orkney  is  properly  to  be  understood,  though,  according 
to  the  notions  of  the  Greeks,  it  comprised  either  Denmark 
or  Britain.  The  emigrants,  however,  spoke  a  language  not 
very  dissimilar  to  the  original  Varangians,  and  adopted  the 
name  the  more  readily,  that  it  seemed  to  remind  them  of 
their  unhappy  fate,  the  appellation  being  in  one  sense  ca- 
pable of  being  interpreted  as  exiles.  Excepting  one  or  two 
chief  commanders,  whom  the  Emperor  judged  worthy  of 
such  high  trust,  the  Varangians  were  officered  by  men  of 
thir  own  nation  ;  and  with  so  many  privileges,  being  joined 
by  many  of  their  countrymen  from  time  to  time,  as  the  cru- 
sades, pilgrimages,  or  discontent  at  home  drove  fresh  sup- 
plies of  the  Anglo-Saxons,  or  Anglo-Danes,  to  the  east,  the 
Varangians  subsisted  in  strength  to  the  last  days  of  the 
Greek  empire,  retaining  their  native  language,  along  with 
the  unblemished  loyalty  and  unabated  martial  spirit  which 
characterized  their  fathers. 

This  account  of  the  Varangian  Guard  *  is  strictly  histori- 
cal and  might  be  proved  by  reference  to  the  Byzantine  his- 
torians ;  most  of  whom,  and  also  Villehardouin's  account  of 
the  taking  of  the  city  of  Constantinople  by  the  Franks  and 
Venetians,  make  repeated  mention  of  this  celebrated  and 
singular  body  of  Englishmen,  forming  a  mercenary  guard 
attendant  on  the  person  of  the  Greek  emperors. 

Having  said  enough  to  explain  why  an  individual  Varan- 
gian should  be  strolling  about  the  Golden  Gate,  we  may 
proceed  in  the  story  which  we  have  commenced. 

Let  it  not  be  thought  extraordinary  that  this  soldier  of 
the  life-guard  should  be  looked  upon  with  some  degree  of 
curiosity  by  the  passing  citizens.  It  must  be  supposed  that, 
from  their  peculiar  duties,  they  were  not  encouraged  to  hold 
frequent  intercourse  or  communication  with  the  inhabitants  ; 
and,  besides  that  they  had  duties  of  police  occasionally  to 
exercise  amongst  them,  whicli  made  them  generally  more 
dreaded  than  beloved,  they  were  at  the  same  time  conscious 
that  their  high  pay,  splendid  appointments,  and  immediate 
dependence  on  the  emperor  were  subjects  of  envy  to  the 
*  See  Note  ? 


14  WA VEELBT  NOVELS 

other  forces.  They,  therefore,  kept  mnch  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  their  own  barracks,  and  were  seldom  seen  straggling 
remote  from  them,  unless  they  had  a  commission  of  govern- 
ment entrusted  to  their  charge. 

This  being  the  case,  it  was  natural  that  a  people  so  curi- 
ous as  the  Greeks  should  busy  themselves  in  eyeing  the 
stranger  as  he  loitered  in  one  spot,  or  wandered  to  and  fro, 
like  a  man  who  either  could  not  find  some  place  which  he 
was  seeking,  or  had  failed  to  meet  some  person  with  whom 
he  had  an  appointment,  for  which  the  ingenuity  of  the  pas- 
sengers found  a  thousand  different  and  inconsistent  reasons. 
^'^A  Varangian,^'  said  one  citizen  to  another,  ''and  upon 
duty — ahem  !     Then  I  presume  to  say  in  your  ear " 

''  What  do  you  imagine  is  his  object  ?^'  inquired  the  party 
to  whom  this  information  was  addressed. 

^'  Gods  and  goddesses  !  do  you  think  I  can  tell  you  ?  But 
suppose  that  he  is  lurking  here  to  hear  what  folk  say  of  the 
Emperor,"  answered  the  qtddunc  of  Constantinople. 

''  That  is  not  likely,"  said  the  querist :  ''  these  Varan- 
gians do  not  speak  our  language,  and  are  not  extremely  well 
fitted  for  spies,  since  few  of  them  pretend  to  any  intelligible 
notion  of  the  Grecian  tongue.  It  is  not  likely,  I  think,  that 
the  Emperor  would  employ  as  a  spy  a  man  who  did  not  un- 
derstand the  language  of  the  country." 

''  But  if  there  are,  as  all  men  fancy,"  answered  the  politi- 
cian, ''  persons  among  these  barbarian  soldiers  who  can  speak 
almost  all  languages,  you  will  admit  that  such  are  excel- 
lently qualified  for  seeing  clearly  around  them,  since  they 
possess  the  talent  of  beholding  and  reporting,  while  no  one 
has  the  slightest  idea  of  suspecting  them." 

''  It  may  well  be,"  replied  his  companion  ;  ^'  but,  since  we 
see  so  clearly  the  fox^s  foot  and  paws  protruding  from  be- 
neath the  seeming  sheep's  fleece,  or  rather,  by  your  leave, 
the  hearts  hide,  yonder,  had  we  not  better  be  jogging  home- 
ward, ere  it  be  pretended  we  have  insulted  a  Varangian 
Guard?" 

This  surmise  of  danger  insinuated  by  the  last  speaker,  who 
was  a  much  older  and  more  experienced  politician  than  his 
friend,  determined  both  on  a  hasty  retreat.  They  adjusted 
their  cloaks,  caught  hold  of  each  other's  arm,  and,  speaking 
fast  and  thick  as  they  started  new  subjects  of  suspicion,  they 
sped,  close  coupled  together,  towards  their  habitations  in  a 
different  and  distant  quarter  of  the  town. 

In  the  meantime,  the  sunset  was  nigh  over  ;  and  the  long 
shadows  of  the  walls,  bulwarks,  and  arches  were  projecting 


COUNT  BOBERT  OF  PARIS  15 

from  the  westward  in  deeper  and  blacker  shade.  The  Var- 
angian seemed  tired  of  the  short  and  lingering  circle  in 
which  he  had  now  trodden  for  more  than  an  hour,  and  in 
•which  he  still  loitered  like  an  unliberated  spirit,  which  can- 
not leave  the  haunted  spot  till  licensed  by  the  spell  which 
has  brought  it  hither.  Even  so  the  barbarian,  casting  an 
impatient  glance  to  the  sun,  which  was  setting  in  a  blaze  of 
light  behind  a  rich  grove  of  cypress-trees,  looked  for  some 
accommodation  on  the  benches  of  stone  which  were  placed 
under  shadow  of  the  triumphal  arch  of  Theodosius,  drew 
the  ax,  which  was  his  principal  weapon,  close  to  his  side, 
wrapped  his  cloak  about  him,  and,  though  his  dress  was  not 
in  other  respects  a  fit  attire  for  slumber,  any  more  than  the 
place  well  selected  for  repose,  yet  in  less  than  three  minutes 
he  was  fast  asleep.  The  irresistible  impulse  which  induced 
him  to  seek  for  repose  in  a  place  very  indifferently  fitted  for 
the  purpose  might  be  weariness  consequent  upon  the  mili- 
tary vigils  which  had  proved  a  part  of  his  duty  on  the 
preceding  evening.  At  the  same  time,  his  spirit  was  so 
alive  within  him,  even  while  he  gave  way  to  this  transient 
fit  of  oblivion,  that  he  remained  almost  awake  even  with  shut 
eyes,  and  no  hound  ever  seemed  to  sleep  more  lightly  than 
our  Anglo-Saxon  at  the  Golden  Gate  of  Constantinople. 

And  now  the  slumberer,  as  the  loiterer  had  been  before, 
was  the  subject  of  observation  to  the  accidental  passengers. 
Two  men  entered  the  porch  in  company.  One  was  a  some- 
what slight-made  but  alert-looking  man,  by  name  Lysi- 
machus,  and  by  profession  a  designer.  A  roll  of  paper  in 
his  hand,  with  a  little  satchel  containing  a  few  chalks,  or 
pencils,  completed  his  stock-in-trade  ;  and  his  acquaintance 
with  the  remains  of  ancient  art  gave  him  a  power  of  talking 
on  the  subject  which  unfortunately  bore  more  than  due  pro- 
portion to  his  talents  of  execution.  His  companion,  a 
magnificent-looking  man  in  form,  and  so  far  resembling  the 
young  barbarian,  but  more  clownish  and  peasant-like  in  the 
expression  of  his  features,  was  Stephanos  the  wrestler,  well- 
known  in  the  palestra. 

*'  Stop  here,  my  friend,"  said  the  artist,  producing  his 
pencils,  ''  till  I  make  a  sketch  for  my  youthful  Hercules." 

''  I  thought  Hercules  had  been  a  Greek,"  said  the  wrestler. 
"This  sleeping  animal  is  a  barbarian." 

The  tone  intimated  some  offense,  and  the  designer  has- 
tened to  soothe  the  displeasure  which  he  had  thoughtlessly 
excited.  Stephanos,  known  by  the  surname  of  Castor,  who 
was  highly  distinguished  for  gymnastic  exercises,  was  a  sort 


16  WA  VERLET  NO VEL8 

of  palron  to  the  little  artist,  and  not  unlikely  by  his  own 
reputation  to  bring  the  talents  of  his  friend  into  notice. 

*'  Beauty  and  strength/^  said  the  adroit  artist,  '*  are  of  no 
particular  nation ;  and  may  our  muse  never  deign  me  her 
prize,  but  it  is  my  greatest  pleasure  to  compare  them  as 
existing  in  the  uncultivated  savage  of  the  North  and  when 
they  are  found  in  the  darling  of  an  enlightened  people,  who 
has  added  the  height  of  gymnastic  skill  to  the  most  distin- 
guished natural  qualities,  such  as  we  can  now  only  see  in  the 
works  of  Phidias  and  Praxiteles,  or  in  our  living  model  of 
the  gymnastic  champions  of  antiquity." 

**  Nay,  I  acknowledge  that  the  Varangian  is  a  proper 
man,"  said  the  athletic  hero,  softening  his  tone  ;  "  but  the 
pool  savage  hath  not,  perhaps  in  his  lifetime,  had  a  single 
drop  of  oil  on  his  bosom.  Hercules  instituted  the  Isthmian 
games " 

"  But,  hold  !  what  sleeps  he  with,  wrapt  so  close  in  his 
bearskin  ?"  said  the  artist.     *'  Is  it  a  club  ?  " 

'^^ Away — away,  my  friend  ! "  cried  Stephanos,  as  they 
looked  closer  on  the  sleeper.  *^  Do  you  not  know  that  is  the 
instrument  of  their  barbarous  office  ?  They  do  not  war  with 
swords  or  lances,  as  if  destined  to  attack  men  of  flesh  9.nd 
blood,  but  with  maces  and  axes,  as  if  they  were  to  hack 
limbs  formed  of  stone  and  sinews  of  oak.  I  will  wager  my 
crown  (of  withered  parsley)  that  he  lies  here  to  arrest  some 
distinguished  commander  who  has  offended  the  government  ! 
He  would  not  have  been  thus  formidably  armed  otherwise. 
Away — away,  good  Lysimachus  ;  let  us  respect  the  slumbers 
of  the  bear." 

So  saying,  the  champion  of  the  palestra  made  off  with 
less  apparent  confidence  than  his  size  and  strength  might 
have  inspired. 

Others,  now  thinly  straggling,  passed  onward  as  the 
evening  closed,  and  the  shadows  of  the  cypress-trees  fell 
darker  around.  Two  females  of  the  lower  rank  cast  their 
eyes  on  the  sleeper.  *'  Holy  Maria  ! "  said  one,  ^'^  if  he 
does  not  put  me  in  mind  of  the  Eastern  tale,  how  the 
genie  brought  a  gallant  young  prince  from  his  nuptial 
chamber  in  Egypt,  and  left  him  sleeping  at  the  gate  of 
Damascus.  I  will  awake  the  poor  lamb^  Jest  he  catch 
harm  from  the  night  dew." 

^'  Harm  ! "  answered  the  older  and  crosser-looking  woman. 
*'^Ay,  such  harm  as  the  cold  water  of  the  Cydnus  does  to  the 
wild  swan.  A  lamb !  Ay,  forsooth  !  Why,  he^s  a  wolf  or 
a  bear,  at  least  a  Varangian,  and  no  modest  matron  would 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PABIS  17 

exchange  a  word  with  such  an  unmannered  barbarian.  FU 
tell  you  what  one  of  these  English  Danes  did  to  me " 

So  saying,  she  drew  on  her  companion,  who  followed  with 
some  reluctance,  seeming  to  listen  to  her  gabble,  while  she 
looked  back  upon  the  sleeper. 

The  total  disappearance  of  the  sun,  and  nearly  at  the  same 
time  the  departure  of  the  twilight,  which  lasts  so  short  a 
time  in  that  tropical  region — one  of  the  few  advantages 
which  a  more  temperate  climate  possesses  over  it  being  the 
longer  continuance  of  that  sweet  and  placid  light — gave 
signal  to  the  warders  of  the  city  to  shut  the  folding  leaves 
of  the  Golden  Gate,  leaving  a  wicket  lightly  bolted  for  the 
passage  of  those  whom  business  might  have  detained  too 
late  without  the  walls,  and  indeed  for  all  who  chose  to  pay  a 
small  coin.  The  position  and  apparent  insensibility  of  the 
Varangian  did  not  escape  those  who  had  charge  of  the  gate, 
of  whom  there  was  a  strong  guard  which  belonged  to  the 
ordinary  Greek  forces. 

"  By  Castor  and  by  Pollux,"  said  the  centurion,  for  the 
Greeks  swore  by  the  ancient  deities,  although  they  no  longer 
worshiped  them,  and  preserved  those  military  distinctions 
with  which  ''  the  steady  Eoman^s  shook  the  world,"  al- 
though they  were  altogether  degenerated  from  their  original 
manners — "  by  Castor  and  Pollux,  comrades,  we  cannot 
gather  gold  in  this  gate  according  as  its  legend  tells  us,  yet 
it  will  be  our  fault  if  we  cannot  glean  a  goodly  crop  of  silver  ; 
and  though  the  golden  age  be  the  most  ancient  and  honorable, 
yet  in  this  degenerate  time  it  is  much  if  we  see  a  glimpse  of 
the  inferior  metal." 

"  Unworthy  are  we  to  follow  the  noble  centurion  Harpax," 
answered  one  of  the  soldiers  of  the  watch,  who  showed  the 
shaven  head  and  the  single  tuft  *  of  a  Mussulman,  ^'^  if  we  do 
not  hold  silver  a  sufficient  cause  to  bestir  ourselves,  when 
there  has  been  no  gold  to  be  had — as,  by  the  faith  of  an 
honest  man,  I  think  we  can  hardly  tell  its  color — whether 
out  of  the  imperial  treasury  or  obtained  at  the  expense  of 
individuals,  for  many  long  moons  !" 

"But  this  silver,"  said  the  centurion,  "thou  shalt  see 
with  thine  own  eye,  and  hear  it  ring  a  knell  in  the  purse 
which  holds  our  common  stock." 

"  Which  did  hold  it,  as  thou  wouldst  say,  most  valiant 
commander,"  replied  the  inferior  warder  ;  "  but  what  that 
purse  holds  now,  save  a  few  miserable  oboli  for  purchasing 

*  One  tuft  is  left  on  the  shaven  crown  of  the  Moslem,  for  the 
angel  to  grasp  by,  when  conveying  him  to  Paradise. 
2 


18  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

certain  pickled  pot-herbs  and  salt  fish,  to  relish  our  allow- 
ance of  stummed  wine,  I  cannot  tell,  but  willingly  give  my 
share  of  the  contents  to  the  devil,  if  either  purse  or  platter 
exhibits  symptom  of  any  age  richer  than  the  age  of  copper/' 

*^  I  will  replenish  our  treasury,''  said  the  centurion,  ''were 
our  stock  yet  lower  than  it  is.  Stand  up  close  by  the  wicket, 
my  masters.  Bethink  you,  we  are  the  Imperial  Guards,  or 
the  guards  of  the  Imperial  City,  it  is  all  one,  and  let  us  have 
no  man  rush  past  us  on  a  sudden  ;  and  now  that  we  are  on 

our  guard,  I  will  unfold  to  you But  stop,"  said  the 

valiant  centurion,  "are  we  all  here  true  brothers  ?  Do  all 
well  understand  the  ancient  and  laudable  customs  of  our 
watch — keeping  all  things  secret  which  concern  the  profit 
and  advantage  of  this  our  vigil,  and  aiding  and  abetting  the 
common  cause,  without  information  or  treachery  ?  " 

''You  are  strangely  suspicious  to-night,"  answered  the 
sentinel.  "Methinkswe  have  stood  by  you  v,dthout  tale- 
telling  in  matters  which  were  more  weighty.  Have  you 
forgot  the  passage  of  the  jeweler,  which  was  neither  the  gold 
nor  silver  age  ;  but  if  there  were  a  diamond  one " 

"  Peace,  good  Ismail  the  Infidel,"  said  the  centurion — 
"  for,  I  thank  Heaven,  we  are  of  all  religions,  so  it  is  to  be 
hoped  we  must  have  the  true  one  amongst  us — peace,  I  say  ; 
it  is  unnecessary  to  prove  thou  canst  keep  new  secrets  by 
ripping  up  old  ones.  Come  hither,  look  through  the  wicket 
to  the  stone  bench  on  the  shady  side  of  the  grand  porch — tell 
me,  old  lad,  what  dost  thou  see  there  ?  " 

"  A  man  asleep,"  said  Ismail.  '*  By  Heaven,  I  think,  from 
what  I  can  see  by  the  moonlight,  that  it  is  one  of  those  bar- 
barians, one  of  those  island  dogs,  whom  the  Emperor  sets 
such  store  by  ! " 

"  And  can  thy  fertile  brain,"  said  the  centurion,  "  spin 
nothing  out  of  his  present  situation  tending  towards  our 
advantage  ?" 

"Why,  ay,"  said  Ismail;  "they  have  large  pay,  though 
they  are  not  only  barbarians,  but  pagan  dogs,  in  comparison 
with  us  Moslems  and  Nazarenes.  That  fellow  hath  besotted 
himself  with  liquor,  and  hath  not  found  his  way  home  to  his 
barracks  in  good  time.  He  will  be  severely  punished,  un- 
less we  consent  to  admit  him ;  and  to  prevail  on  us  to  do  so, 
he  must  empty  the  contents  of  his  girdle." 

"  That,  at  least — that,  at  least,"  answered  the  soldiers  of 
the  city  watch,  but  carefully  suppressing  their  voices,  though 
they  spoke  in  an  eager  tone. 

"  And  is  that  all  that  you  would  make  of  such  an  oppor- 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  19 

tunity?''  said  Harpax,  scornfully.  ''No — no,  comrades. 
If  this  outlandish  animal  indeed  escape  us,  he  must  at  least 
leave  his  fleece  behind.  See  you  not  the  gleams  from  his 
headpiece  and  his  cuirass  ?  I  presume  these  betoken  sub- 
stantial silver,  though  it  may  be  of  the  thinnest.  There  lies 
the  silver  mine  I  spoke  of,  ready  to  enrich  the  dexterous 
hands  who  shall  labor  it." 

''  But,''  said  timidly  a  young  Greek,  a  companion  of  their 
watch  lately  enlisted  in  the  corps,  and  unacquainted  with 
their  habits,  ''  still  this  barbarian,  as  you  call  him,  is  a  sol- 
dier of  the  Emperor ;  and  if  we  are  convicted  of  depriving 
him  of  his  arms,  we  shall  be  justly  punished  for  a  military 
crime." 

''  Hear  to  a  new  Lycurgus  come  to  teach  us  our  duty  ! " 
said  the  centurion.  "  Learn  first,  young  man,  that  the  me- 
tropolitan cohort  never  can  commit  a  crime,  and  learn  next, 
of  course,  that  they  can  never  be  convicted  of  one.  Sup- 
pose we  found  a  straggling  barbarian,  a  Varangian  like  this 
glumberer,  perhaps  a  Frank,  or  some  other  of  these  foreign- 
ers bearing  unpronounceable  names,  while  they  dishonor 
us  by  putting  on  the  arms  and  apparel  of  the  real  Eoman 
soldier,  are  we,  placed  to  defend  an  important  post,  to  ad- 
mit a  man  so  suspicious  within  our  postern,  when  the  event 
may  probably  be  to  betray  both  the  Golden  Gate  and  the 
hearts  of  gold  who  guard  it — to  have  the  one  seized  and  the 
throats  of  the  others  handsomely  cut  ?  " 

''  Keep  him  outside  the  gate,  then,''  replied  the  novice, 
*'  if  you  think  him  so  dangerous.  For  my  part,  I  should 
not  fear  him,  were  he  deprived  of  that  huge  double-edged 
ax,  which  gleams  from  under  his  cloak,  having  a  more 
deadly  glare  than  the  comet  which  astrologers  prophesy 
such  strange  things  of." 

''  Nay,  then,  we  agree  together,"  answered  Harpax,  "  and 
you  speak  like  a  youth  of  modesty  and  sense  ;  and  I  promise 
you  the  state  will  lose  nothing  in  the  despoiling  of  this  same 
barbarian.  Each  of  these  savages  hath  a  double  set  of  ac- 
couterments,  the  one  wrought  with  gold,  silver,  inlaid  work, 
and  ivory,  as  becomes  their  duties  in  the  prince's  household  ; 
the  other  fashioned  of  triple  steel,  strong,  weighty,  and  ir- 
resistible. Now,  in  taking  from  this  suspicious  character 
his  silver  helmet  and  cuirass,  you  reduce  him  to  his  proper 
weapons,  and  you  will  see  him  start  up  in  arms  fit  for 
duty." 

'*  Yes,"  said  the  novice  ;  "but  I  do  not  see  that  this  rea- 
soning will  do  more  than  warrant  our  stripping  the  Varangian 


20  WAVEELEY  NOVELS 

of  his  armor,  to  be  afterwards  heedf ully  returned  to  him  on 
the  morrow,  if  he  prove  a  true  man.  How,  I  know  not,  but 
T  had  adopted  some  idea  that  it  was  to  be  confiscated  for  our 
joint  behoof." 

*' Unquestionably," said  Harpax  ;  ''for  such  has  been  the 
rule  of  our  watch  ever  since  the  days  of  the  excellent  cen- 
turion Sisyphus,  in  whose  time  it  first  was  determined  that 
all  contraband  commodities,  or  suspicious  weapons,  or  the 
like,  which  were  brought  into  the  city  during  the  night- 
watch,  should  be  uniformly  forfeited  to  the  use  of  the  sol- 
diery of  the  guard  ;  and  where  the  Emperor  finds  the  goods 
or  arms  unjustly  seized,  I  hope  he  is  rich  enough  to  make  it 
up  to  the  sufferer." 

''  But  still — but  still,"  said  Sebastes  of  Mitylene,  the  young 
Greek  aforesaid,  "  were  the  Emperor  to  discover " 

"  Ass  !"  replied  Harpax,  ''  he  cannot  discover,  if  he  had 
all  the  eyes  of  Argus's  tail.  Here  are  twelve  of  us,  sworn, 
according  to  the  rules  of  the  watch,  to  abide  in  the  same 
story.  Here  is  a  barbarian,  who,  if  he  remembers  anything 
of  the  matter — which  I  greatly  doubt,  his  choice  of  a  lodging 
arguing  his  familiarity  with  the  wine-pot — tells  but  a  wild  tale 
of  losing  his  armor,  which  we,  my  masters  (looking  round 
to  his  companions),  deny  stoutly — I  hope  we  have  courage 
enough  for  that — and  which  party  will  be  believed  ?  The 
companions  of  the  watch,  surely  ! " 

''  Quite  the  contrary,"  said  Sebastes.  ''  I  was  born  at  a 
distance  from  hence  ;  yet,  even  in  the  island  of  Mitylene, 
the  rumor  had  reached  me  that  the  cavaliers  of  the  city- 
guard  of  Constantinople  were  so  accomplished  in  falsehood 
that  the  oath  of  a  single  barbarian  would  outweigh  the 
Christian  oath  of  the  whole  body,  if  Christian  some  of  them 
are — for  example,  this  dark  man  with  a  single  tuft  on  his 
head." 

''  And  if  it  were  even  so,"  said  the  centurion,  with  a 
gloomy  and  sinister  look,  ''  there  is  another  way  of  making 
the  transaction,  a  safe  one." 

Sebastes,  fixing  his  eye  on  his  commander,  moved  his 
hand  to  the  hilt  of  an  Eastern  poniard  which  he  wore,  as  if 
to  penetrate  his  exact  meaning.  The  centurion  nodded  in 
acquiescence. 

*'  Young  as  I  am,"  said  Sebastes,  ''  I  have  been  already  a 
pirate  five  years  at  sea,  and  a  robber  three  years  now  in  the 
hills,  and  it  is  the  first  time  I  have  seen  or  heard  a  man  hesi- 
tate, in  such  a  case,  to  take  the  only  part  which  is  worth  a 
brave  man's  while  to  resort  to  in  a  pressing  affair." 


COUNT  BOBEBT  OF  PABIS  21 

Harpax  struck  his  hand  into  that  of  the  soldier,  as  sharing 
his  uncompromising  sentiments  ;  but  when  he  spoke  it  was 
in  a  tremulous  voice. 

*'  How  shall  we  deal  with  him  V*  said  he  to  Sebastes,  who, 
from  the  most  raw  recruit  in  the  corps,  had  now  risen  to  the 
highest  place  in  his  estimation. 

'^  Anyhow,"  returned  the  islander  ;  '^  I  see  bows  here  and 
shafts,  and  if  no  other  person  can  use  them " 

^'  They  are  not,"  said  the  centurion,  "  the  regular  arms  of 
our  corps." 

''  The  fitter  you  to  guard  the  gates  of  a  city,"  said  the 
young  soldier  with  a  horse-laugh,  which  had  something  in- 
sulting in  it.  '^  Well — be  it  so.  I  can  shoot  like  a  Scythian," 
he  proceeded  :  "  nod  but  with  your  head,  one  shaft  shall 
crash  among  the  splinters  of  his  skull  and  his  brains,  the 
second  shall  quiver  in  his  heart." 

"  Bravo,  my  noble  comrade  !"  said  Harpax,  in  a  tone  of 
affected  rapture,  always  lowering  his  voice,  however,  as 
respecting  the  slumbers  of  the  Varangian.  ^^  Such  were  the 
robbers  of  ancient  days,  the  Diomedes,  Corynetes,  Synnes, 
Scyrons,  Procrustes,  whom  it  required  demigods  to  bring  to 
what  was  miscalled  justice,  and  whose  compeers  and  fellows 
will  remain  masters  of  the  continent  and  the  Isles  of  Greece, 
until  Hercules  and  Theseus  shall  again  appear  upon  earth. 
Nevertheless,  shoot  not,  my  valiant  Sebastes — draw  not  the 
bow,  my  invaluable  Mitylenian ;  you   may  wound  and  not 

"  I  am  little  wont  to  do  so,"  said  Sebastes,  again  repeating 
the  hoarse,  chuckling,  discordant  laugh,  which  grated  upon 
the  ears  of  the  centurion,  though  he  could  hardly  tell  the 
reason  why  it  was  so  uncommonly  unpleasant. 

''  If  I  look  not  about  me,"  was  his  internal  reflection,  "  we 
shall  have  two  centurions  of  the  watch  instead  of  one.  This 
Mitylenian,  or  be  he  who  the  devil  will,  is  a  bow's  length 
beyond  me.  I  must  keep  my  eye  on  him."  He  then  spoke 
aloud,  in  a  tone  of  authority.  ''  But  come,  young  man,  it 
is  hard  to  discourage  a  young  beginner.  If  you  have  been 
such  a  rover  of  wood  and  river  as  you  tell  us  of,  you  know 
how  to  play  the  sicarius :  there  lies  your  object,  drunk  or 
asleep,  we  know  not  which— you  will  deal  with  him  in  either 
case." 

"  Will  you  give  me  no  odds  to  stab  a  stupefied  or  drunken 
man,  most  noble  centurion  ?"  answered  the  Greek.  '^  You 
would  perhaps  love  the  commission  yourself  ?  "  he  continued, 
somewhat  ironically. 


82  WAVERLET  NOVELS 

**  Do  as  you  are  directed,  friend/'  said  Harpax,  pointing 
to  the  turret  staircase  which  led  down  from  the  battlement 
to  the  arched  entrance  underneath  the  porch. 

*'  He  has  the  true  cat-like,  stealthy-pace/'  half-muttered 
the  centurion,  as  his  sentinel  descended  to  do  such  a  crime 
as  he  was  posted  there  to  prevent.  '^  This  cockerel's  comb 
must  be  cut,  or  he  will  become  king  of  the  roost;  But  let 
ns  see  if  his  hand  be  as  resolute  as  his  tongue  ;  then  we  will 
consider  what  term  to  give  to  the  conclusion." 

As  Harpax  spoke  between  his  teeth,  and  rather  to  himself 
than  any  of  his  companions,  the  Mitylenian  emerged  from 
under  the  archway,  treading  on  tiptoe,  yet  swiftly,  with  an 
admirable  mixture  of  silence  and  celerity.  His  poniard, 
drawn  as  he  descended,  gleamed  in  his  hand,  which  was  held 
a  little  behind  the  rest  of  his  person,  so  as  to  conceal  it. 
The  assassin  hovered  less  than  an  instant  over  the  sleeper, 
as  if  to  mark  the  interval  between  the  ill-fated  silver  corslet 
and  the  body  which  it  was  designed  to  protect,  when,  at 
the  instant  the  blow  was  rushing  to  its  descent,  the  Varan- 
gian started  up  at  once,  arrested  the  armed  hand  of  the 
assassin,  by  striking  it  upward  with  the  head  of  his  battle-ax; 
and,  while  he  thus  parried  the  intended  stab,  struck  the 
Greek  a  blow  heavier  than  Sebastes  had  ever  learned  at  the 
'pancration,  which  left  him  scarce  the  power  to  cry  *'  help" 
to  his  comrades  on  the  battlements.  They  saw  what  had 
happened,  however,  and  beheld  the  barbarian  set  his  foot  on 
their  companion,  and  blandish  high  his  formidable  weapon, 
the  whistling  sound  of  which  made  the  old  arch  ring  omi- 
nously, while  he  paused  an  instant,  with  his  weapon  upheaved, 
ere  he  gave  the  finishing  blow  to  his  enemy.  The  warders 
made  a  bustle,  as  if  some  of  them  would  descend  to  the 
assistance  of  Sebastes,  without,  however,  appearing  very 
eager  to  do  so,  when  Harpax,  in  a  rapid  whisper,  command- 
ed them  to  stand  fast. 

'*  Each  man  to  his  place, ^'  he  said,  "happen  what  may. 
Yonder  comes  a  captain  of  the  guard  ;  the  secret  is  our  own, 
if  the  savage  has  killed  the  Mitylenian,  as  I  well  trust,  for 
he  stirs  neither  hand  nor  foot.  But  if  he  lives,  my  com- 
rades, make  hard  your  faces  as  flint ;  he  is  but  one  man,  we 
are  twelve.  We  know  nothing  of  his  purpose,  save  that  he 
went  to  see  wherefore  the  barbarian  slept  so  near  the 
post." 

While  the  centurion  thus  bruited  his  purpose  in  busy  in- 
sinuation to  the  companions  of  his  watch,  the  stately  figure 
of  a  tall  soldier,  richly  armed,  and  presenting  a  lofty  crest, 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  23 

which  glistened  as  he  stepped  from  the  open  moonlight  into 
the  shade  of  the  vault,  became  visible  beneath.  A  whisper 
passed  among  the  warders  on  the  top  of  the  gate. 

^'  Draw  bolt,  shut  gate,  come  of  the  Mitylenian  what 
will/'  said  the  centurion  ;  *'  we  are  lost  men  if  we  own  him. 
Here  comes  the  chief  of  the  Varangian  axes,  the  Follower 
himself.  *' 

"  Well,  Hereward,"  said  the  officer  who  came  last  upon  the 
scene,  in  a  sort  of  lingua  franca,  generally  used  by  the  bar- 
barians of  the  guard,  **  hast  thou  caught  a  night-hawk  ?  " 

"Ay,  by  St.  George  !  "  answered  the  soldier  ;  *'  and  yet, 
in  my  country,  we  would  call  him  but  a  kite.''' 

*'  What  is  he  ?  "  said  the  leader. 

"  He  will  tell  you  that  himself,"  replied  the  Varangian, 
'*  when  I  take  my  grasp  from  his  windpipe.'' 

"  Let  him  go,  then,"  said  the  officer. 

The  Englishman  did  as  he  was  commanded.  But,  escap- 
ing as  soon  as  he  felt  himself  at  liberty,  with  an  alertness 
which  could  scarce  have  been  anticipated,  the  Mitylenian 
rushed  out  at  the  arch,  and,  availing  himself  of  the  com- 
plicated ornaments  which  had  originally  graced  the  exterior 
of  the  gateway,  he  fled  around  buttress  and  projection,  closely 
pursued  by  the  Varangian,  who,  cumbered  with  his  armor, 
was  hardly  a  match  in  the  course  for  the  light-footed  Grecian, 
as  he  dodged  his  pursuer  from  one  skulking-place  to  another. 
The  officer  laughed  heartily  as  the  two  figures,  like  shadows 
appearing,  and  disappearing  as  suddenly,  held  rapid  flight 
and  chase  around  the  arch  of  Theodosius. 

"  By  Hercules  !  it  is  Hector  pursued  round  the  walls  of 
Ilion  by  Achilles,"  said  the  officer  ;  "  but  my  Pelides  will 
scarce  overtake  the  son  of  Priam.  What,  ho  !  goddess-borr 
— son  of  the  white-footed  Thetis  !  But  the  allusion  is  lost 
on  the  poor  savage.  Halloo,  Hereward  !  I  say,  stop — know 
thine  own  most  barbarous  name."  These  last  words  were 
muttered  ;  then  raising  his  voice,  "  Do  not  outrun  thy  wind, 
good  Hereward.  Thou  mayst  have  more  occasion  for  breath 
to-night." 

"  If  it  had  been  my  leader's  will,"  answered  the  Varan- 
gian, coming  back  in  sulky  mood,  and  breathing  like  one 
who  had  been  at  the  top  of  his  speed,  '*  I  would  have  had 
him  as  fast  as  ever  greyhound  held  hare,  ere  I  left  off  the 
chase.  Were  it  not  for  this  foolish  armor,  which  encumbers 
without  defending  one,  I  would  not  have  made  two  bounds 
without  taking  him  by  the  throat." 

"  As  well  as  it  is,"  said  the  officer,  who  was,  in  fact,  the 


I 


24  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

Acoiilouthos,  or  Follower,  so  called  because  it  was  the  duty 
of  this  highly-trusted  officer  of  the  Varangian  Guards  con- 
stantly to  attend  on  the  person  of  the  Emperor.  *^  But  let 
us  now  see  by  what  means  we  are  to  regain  our  entrance 
through  the  gate  ;  for  if,  as  I  suspect,  it  was  one  of  those 
warders  who  was  willing  to  have  played  thee  a  trick,  his 
companions  may  not  let  us  enter  willingly." 

'^  And  is  it  not/'  said  the  Varangian,  ''your  valor's  duty 
to  probe  this  want  of  discipline  to  the  bottom  ?'' 

"  Hush  thee  here,  my  simple-minded  savage  !  I  have 
often  told  you,  most  ignorant  Hereward,  that  the  skulls  of 
those  who  come  from  your  cold  and  muddy  Boeotia  of  the 
North  are  fitter  to  bear  out  twenty  blows  with  a  sledge-ham- 
mer than  turn  off  one  witty  or  ingenious  idea.  But  follow 
me,  Hereward,  and  although  I  am  aware  that  showing  the 
fine  meshes  of  Grecian  policy  to  the  coarse  eye  of  an  un- 
practised barbarian  like  thee  is  much  like  casting  pearls  be- 
fore swine,  a  thing  forbidden  in  the  Blessed  Gospel,  yet,  as 
thou  hast  so  good  a  heart  and  so  trusty,  as  is  scarce  to  be  met 
with  among  my  Varangians  themselves,  I  care  not  if,  while 
thou  art  in  attendance  on  my  person,  I  endeavor  to  indoctri- 
nate thee  in  some  of  that  policy  by  which  I  myself,  the  Fol- 
lower, the  chief  of  the  Varangians,  and  therefore  erected  by 
their  axes  into  the  most  valiant  of  the  valiant,  am  content  to 
guide  myself,  although  every  way  qualified  to  bear  me  through 
the  cross-currents  of  the  court  by  main  pull  of  oar  and  press 
of  sail — a  condescension  in  me,  to  do  that  by  policy  which  no 
man  in  this  imperial  court,  the  chosen  sphere  of  superior 
wits,  could  so  well  accomplish  by  open  force  as  myself. 
What  think'st  thou,  good  savage  ?  " 

^'  I  know,''  answered  the  Varangian,  who  walked  about  a 
step  and  a  half  behind  his  leader,  like  an  orderly  of  the  pres- 
ent day  behind  his  officer's  shoulder,  ''  I  should  be  sorry 
to  trouble  my  head  with  what  I  could  do  by  my  hands,  at 
once." 

''  Did  I  not  say  so  ?"  replied  the  Follower,  who  had  now 
for  some  minutes  led  the  way  from  the  Golden  Gate,  and 
was  seen  gliding  along  the  outside  of  the  moonlight  walls, 
as  if  seeking  an  entrance  elsewhere.  "  Lo,  such  is  the  stuff 
of  what  you  call  your  head  is  made  !  Your  hands  and  arms 
are  perfect  Achitophels  compared  to  it.  Hearken  to  me, 
thou  most  ignorant  of  all  animals — but,  for  that  very  reason, 
thou  stoutest  of  confidants  and  bravest  of  soldiers — I  will 
tell  thee  the  very  riddle  of  this  night-work,  and  yet,  even 
then,  I  doubt  if  thou  canst  understand  me." 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  25 

"  It  is  my  present  duty  to  try  to  comprehend  your  valor/ 
said  the  Varangian — '^  I  would  say  your  policy,  since  you 
condescend  to  expound  it  to  me.  As  for  your  valor/'  he 
added,  ''  I  should  be  unlucky  if  I  did  not  think  I  understand 
its  length  and  breadth  already/' 

The  Greek  general  colored  a  little,  but  replied,  with  un- 
altered voice,  ^^  True,  good  Hereward.  We  have  seen  each 
other  in  battle. " 

Hereward  here  could  not  suppress  a  short  cough,  which, 
to  those  grammarians  of  the  day  who  were  skilful  in  apply- 
ing the  use  of  accents,  would  have  implied  no  peculiar 
eulogium  on  his  officer's  military  bravery.  Indeed,  during 
their  whole  intercourse,  the  conversation  of  the  general,  in 
spite  of  his  tone  of  affected  importance  and  superiority,  dis- 
played an  obvious  respect  for  his  companion,  as  one  who,  in 
many  points  of  action,  might,  if  brought  to  the  test,  prove 
a  more  effective  soldier  than  himself.  On  the  other  hand, 
when  the  powerful  Northern  warrior  replied,  although  it 
was  with  all  observance  of  discipline  and  duty,  yet  the  dis- 
cussion might  sometimes  resemble  that  between  an  ignorant 
macaroni  officer,  before  the  Duke  of  York's  reformation  of 
the  British  army,  and  a  steady  sergeant  of  the  regiment  in 
which  they  both  served.  There  was  a  consciousness  of 
superiority,  disguised  by  external  respect,  and  half  admitted 
by  the  leader. 

*^  You  will  grant  me,  my  simple  friend,"  continued  the 
chief,  in  the  same  tone  as  before,  "in  order  to  lead  thee  by 
a  short  passage  into  the  deepest  principle  of  policy  which 
pervades  this  same  court  of  Constantinople,  that  the  favor 
of  the  Emperor  (here  the  officer  raised  his  casque,  and  the 
soldier  made  a  semblance  of  doing  so  also),  who — be  the 
place  where  he  puts  his  foot  sacred  ! — is  the  vivifying  prin- 
ciple of  the  sphere  in  which  we  live,  as  the  sun  itself  is  that 
of  humanity " 

"I  have  heard  something  like  this  said  by  our  tribunes," 
said  the  Varangian. 

"It  is  their  duty  so  to  instruct  you,"  answered  the  leader  ; 
"  and  I  trust  that  the  priests  also,  in  their  sphere,  forget 
not  to  teach  my  Varangians  their  constant  service  to  their 
emperor." 

"  They  do  not  omit  it,"  replied  the  soldier,  "  though  we 
of  the  exiles  know  our  duty." 

"  God  forbid  I  should  doubt  it,"  said  the  commander  of 
the  battle-axes.  "  All  I  mean  is  to  make  thee  understand, 
my  dear  Hereward,  that  as  there  are,  though  perhaps  such 


26  WAVERLET  NOVELS 

do  not  exist  in  tliy  dark  and  gloomy  climate,  a  race  of  insects 
which  are  born  in  the  first  rays  of  the  morning  and  expire 
with  those  of  sunset,  thence  called  by  us  ephemerce,  as  endur- 
ing one  day  only,  such  is  the  case  of  a  favorite  at  court, 
while  enjoying  the  smiles  of  the  Most  Sacred  Emperor. 
And  happy  is  he  whose  favor,  rising  as  the  person  of  the 
sovereign  emerges  from  the  level  space  which  extends  around 
the  throne,  displays  itself  in  the  first  imperial  blaze  of  glory, 
and  who,  keeping  his  post  during  the  meridian  splendor  of 
the  crown,  has  only  the  fate  to  disappear  and  die  with  the 
last  beam  of  imperial  brightness/* 

"  Your  valor,"  said  the  islander,  '^  speaks  higher  language 
than  my  Northern  wits  are  able  to  comprehend.  Only,  me- 
thinks,  rather  than  part  with  life  at  the  sunset,  I  would, 
since  insect  I  must  needs  be,  become  a  moth  for  two  or 
three  dark  hours. ^' 

''Such  is  the  sordid  desire  of  the  vulgar,  Hereward," 
answered  the  Follower,  with  assumed  superiority,  "  who  are 
contented  to  enjoy  life,  lacking  distinction  ;  whereas  we,  on 
the  other  hand — we  of  choicer  quality,  who  form  the  nearest 
and  innermost  circle  around  the  Imperial  Alexius,  in  which 
he  himself  forms  the  central  point,  are  watchful,  to  woman's 
jealousy,  of  the  distribution  of  his  favors,  and  omit  no 
opportunity,  whether  by  leaguing  with  or  against  each  other, 
to  recommend  ourselves  individually  to  the  peculiar  light  of 
his  countenance." 

''  I  think  I  comprehend  what  you  mean,"  said  the  guards- 
man ;  ''  although  as  for  living  such  a  life  of  intrigue — but 
that  matters  not." 

'*  It  does  indeed  matter  not,  my  good  Hereward,"  said  his 
officer,  ''  and  thou  art  lucky  in  having  no  appetite  for  the 
life  I  have  described.  Yet  have  I  seen  barbarians  rise  high 
in  the  empire,  and  if  they  have  not  altogether  the  flexibility 
— the  malleability,  as  it  is  called — that  happy  ductility 
which  can  give  way  to  circumstances,  I  have  yet  known 
those  of  barbaric  tribes,  especially  if  bred  up  at  court  from 
their  youth,  who  joined  to  a  limited  portion  of  this  flexile 
quality  enough  of  a  certain  tough  durability  of  temper, 
which,  if  it  does  not  excel  in  availing  itself  of  opportunity, 
has  no  contemptible  talent  at  creating  it.  But  letting  com- 
parisons pass,  it  follows,  from  this  emulation  of  glory — that 
is,  of  royal  favor — amongst  the  servants  of  the  imperial  and 
most  sacred  court,  that  each  is  desirous  of  distinguishing 
himself  by  showing  to  the  Emperor,  not  only  that  he  fully 
understands  the  duties  of  his  own  employments,  but  that  h© 


CO  TINT  R  OBER  T  OF  PA  RIS  21 

is  capable,  in  case  of  necessity,  of  discharging  those  of 
others." 

''  I  understand,"  said  the  Saxon  ;  "  and  thence  it  happens 
that  the  under-ministers,  soldiers,  and  assistants  of  the  great 
crown-officers  are  perpetually  engaged,  not  in  aiding  each 
other,  but  in  acting  as  spies  on  their  neighbors'  actions  ?  " 

"Even  so,"  answered  the  commander;  "it  is  but  few 
days  since  I  had  a  disagreeable  instance  of  it.  Every  one, 
however  dull  in  the  intellect,  hath  understood  this  much, 
that  the  great  Protospathaire,*  which  title  thou  knowest 
signifies  the  general-in-chief  of  the  forces  of  the  empire, 
hath  me  at  hatred,  because  I  am  the  leader  of  those  redoubt- 
able Varangians,  who  enjoy,  and  well  deserve,  privileges  ex- 
empting them  from  the  absolute  command  which  he  pos- 
sesses over  all  other  corps  of  the  army — an  authority  which 
becomes  Nicanor,  notwithstanding  the  victorious  sound  of 
his  name,  nearly  as  well  as  a  war-saddle  would  become  a 
bullock." 

"How!  "said  the  Varangian,  "does  the  Protospathaire 
pretend  to  any  authority  over  the  noble  exiles  !  By  the  red 
dragon,  under  which  we  will  live  and  die,  we  will  obey  no 
man  alive  but  Alexius  Comnenus  himself,  and  our  own 
officers  ! " 

^'  Eightly  and  bravely  resolved,"  said  the  leader  ;  "  but, 
my  good  Hereward,  let  not  your  just  indignation  hurry 
you  so  far  as  to  name  the  Most  Sacred  Emperor  without 
raising  your  hand  to  your  casque,  and  adding  the  epithets  of 
his  lofty  rank." 

"  I  will  raise  my  hand  often  enough  and  high  enough," 
said  the  Norseman,  "  when  the  Emperor's  service  requires 
it." 

"  I  dare  be  sworn  thou  wilt,"  said  Achilles  Tatius,  the 
commander  of  the  Varangian  Imperial  Body-Guard,  who 
thought  the  time  was  unfavorable  for  distinguishing  him- 
self by  insisting  on  that  exact  observance  of  etiquette  which 
was  one  of  his  great  pretensions  to  the  name  of  a  soldier. 
"  Yet,  were  it  not  for  the  constant  vigilance  of  your  leader, 
my  child,  the  noble  Varangians  would  be  trod  down,  in  the 
common  mass  of  the  army,  with  the  heathen  cohorts  of 
Huns,  Scythians,  or  those  turbaned  infidels  the  renegade 
Turks  ;  and  even  for  this  is  your  commander  here  in  peril, 
because  he  vindicates  his  axmen  as  worthy  of  being  prized 
above  the  paltry  shafts  of  the  Eastern  tribes  and  the  javB' 

*  Literally,  the  First  Swordsman. 


28  WA VERLEY  NOVELS 

lins  of  the  Moors,  which  are  only  fit  to  be  playthings  for 
children." 

"  You  are  exposed  to  no  danger/'  said  the  soldier,  closing 
up  to  Achilles  in  a  confidential  manner,  "from  which  these 
axes  can  protect  you." 

"  Do  I  not  know  it  ?  "  said  Achilles.  '^  But  it  is  to  your 
arm  alone  that  the  Follower  of  his  Most  Sacred  Majesty  now 
entrusts  his  safety." 

"  In  aught  that  a  soldier  may  do,"  answered  Hereward  ; 
^'  make  your  own  computation,  and  then  reckon  this  single 
arm  worth  two  against  any  man  the  Emperor  has,  not  being 
of  our  own  corps." 

"  Listen,  my  brave  friend,"  continued  Achilles.  "  This 
Nicanor  was  daring  enough  to  throw  a  reproach  on  our 
noble  corps,  accusing  them — gods  and  goddesses  ! — of  plun- 
dering in  the  field,  and,  yet  more  sacrilegious,  of  drinking 
the  precious  wine  which  was  prepared  for  his  Most  Sacred 
Majesty's  own  blessed  consumption.  I,  the  sacred  person 
of  the  Emperor  being  present,  proceeded,  as  thou  mayest 
well  believe " 

'*To  give  him  the  lie  in  his  audacious  throat !"  burst  in 
the  Varangian  ;  "  named  a  place  of  meeting  somewhere  in 
the  vicinity,  and  called  the  attendance  of  your  poor  follower. 
Hereward  of  Hampton,  who  is  your  bond-slave  for  life  long, 
for  such  an  honor  !  I  wish  only  you  had  told  me  to  get 
my  work-day   arms  ;   but,  however,    I  have   my  battle-ax, 

and "    Here  his  companion  seized  a  moment  to  break 

in,  for  he  was  somewhat  abashed  at  the  lively  tone  of  the 
young  soldier. 

*^Hush  thee,  my  son,"  said  Achilles  Tatius — "speak low, 
my  excellent  Hereward.  Thou  mistakest  this  thing.  With 
thee  by  my  side,  I  would  not,  indeed,  hesitate  to  meet  five 
such  as  Nicanor  ;  but  such  is  not  the  law  of  this  most  hal- 
lowed empire,  nor  the  sentiments  of  the  three  times  illus- 
trious prince  who  now  rules  it.  Thou  art  debauched,  my 
soldier,  with  the  swaggering  stories  of  the  Franks,  of  whom 
we  hear  more  and  more  every  day." 

"  I  would  not  willingly  borrow  anything  from  those  whom 
you  call  Franks,  and  we  Normans,"  answered  the  Varan- 
gian, in  a  disappointed,  dogged  tone. 

"  Why,  listen,  then,"  said  the  officer,  as  they  proceeded  on 
their  walk — "  listen  to  the  reason  of  the  thing,  and  consider 
whether  such  a  custom  can  obtain,  as  that  which  they  term 
the  duello,  in  any  country  of  civilization  and  common  sense, 
to  say  nothing  of  one  which  is  blessed  with  the  dominatiou 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  29 

of  the  most  rare  Alexius  Comnenus.  Two  great  lords,  or 
high  officers,  quarrel  in  the  court,  and  before  the  reverend 
person  of  the  Emperor.  They  dispute  about  a  point  of 
fact.  Now,  instead  of  each  maintaining  his  own  opinion, 
by  argument  or  evidence,  suppose  they  had  adopted  the 
custom  of  these  barbarous  Franks — '  Why,  thou  liest  in  thy 
throat,'  says  the  one  ;  '  And  thou  liest  in  thy  very  lungs/ 
says  another  ;  and  they  measure  forth  the  lists  of  battle  in 
the  next  meadow.  Each  swears  to  the  truth  of  his  quarrel, 
though  probably  neither  well  knows  precisely  how  the  fact 
stands.  One,  perhaps  the  hardier,  truer,  and  better  man  of 
the  two,  the  Follower  of  the  Emperor,  and  father  of  the 
Varangians — for  death,  my  faithful  follower,  spares  no  man 
— lies  dead  on  the  ground,  and  the  other  comes  back  to  pre- 
dominate in  the  court,  where,  had  the  matter  been  inquired 
into  by  the  rules  of  common  sense  and  reason,  the  victor,  as 
he  is  termed,  would  have  been  sent  to  the  gallows.  And 
yet  this  is  the  law  of  arms,  as  your  fancy  pleases  to  call  it, 
friend  Hereward  ! " 

"  May  it  please  your  valor,"  answered  the  barbarian, 
"  there  is  a  show  of  sense  in  what  you  say  ;  but  you  will 
sooner  convince  me  that  this  blessed  moonlight  is  the  black- 
ness of  a  wolf's  mouth  than  that  I  ought  to  hear  myself 
called  liar  without  cramming  the  epithet  down  the  speaker's 
throat  with  the  spike  of  my  battle-ax.  The  lie  is  to  a  man 
the  same  as  a  blow,  and  a  blow  degrades  him  into  a  slave 
and  a  beast  of  burden,  if  endured  without  retaliation." 

'^  Ay,  there  it  is  !"  said  Achilles  ;  *^  could  I  but  get  you 
to  lay  aside  that  inborn  barbarism,  which  leads  you,  other- 
wise the  most  disciplined  soldiers  who  serve  the  Sacred 
I     Emperor,  into  such  deadly  quarrels  and  feuds " 

^'  Sir  captain,"  said  the  Varangian,  in  a  sullen  tone, 
"take  my  advice,  and  take  the  Varangians  as  you  have 
them  ;  for,  believe  my  word  that,  if  you  could  teach  them 
to  endure  reproaches,  bear  the  lie,  or  tolerate  stripes,  you 
would  hardly  find  them,  when  their  discipline  is  completed, 
worth  the  single  day's  salt  which  they  cost  to  his  Holiness, 
if  that  be  his  title.  I  must  tell  you,  moreover,  valorous  sir, 
that  the  Varangians  will  little  thank  their  leader,  who 
heard  them  called  marauders,  drunkards,  and  what  not,  and 
repelled  not  the  charge  on  the  spot." 

"Now,  if  I  knew  not  the  humors  of  my  barbarians," 
thought  Tatius,  in  his  own  mind,  "I  should  bring  on  my- 
self a  quarrel  with  these  untamed  islanders,  who  the 
Emperor  thinks  can  be  so  easily  kept  in  discipline.     But  I 


so  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

will  settle  this  sport  presently."  Accordingly,  he  addressed 
the  Saxon  in  a  soothing  tone. 

'^  My  faithful  soldier,"  he  proceeded  aloud,  ^^  we  Romans, 
according  to  the  custom  of  our  ancestors,  set  as  much  glory 
on  actually  telling  the  truth  as  you  do  in  resenting  the  im- 
putation of  falsehood ;  and  I  could  not  with  honor  return 
a  charge  of  falsehood  upon  Nicanor,  since  what  he  said  was 
substantially  true." 

^'  What !  that  we  Varangians  were  plunderers,  drunkards, 
and  the  like  ?  "  said  Hereward,  more  impatient  than  before. 

'^No,  surely,  not  in  that  broad  sense,"  said  Achilles; 
**but  there  was  too  much  foundation  for  the  legend." 

'*  When  and  where  ?  "  asked  the  Anglo-Saxon. 

"You  remember,"  replied  his  leader,  '^the  long  march 
near  Laodicea,  where  the  Varangians  beat  off  a  cloud  of 
Turks,  and  retook  a  train  of  the  imperial  baggage  ?  You 
know  what  was  done  that  day — how  you  quenched  your 
thirst,  I  mean  ?  " 

"  I  have  some  reason  to  remember  it,"  said  Hereward  of 
Hampton  ;  "  for  we  were  half  choked  with  dust,  fatigue, 
and,  which  was  worst  of  all,  constantly  fighting  with  our 
faces  to  the  rear,  when  we  found  some  firkins  of  wine  in 
certain  carriages  which  were  broken  down  ;  down  our 
throats  it  went,  as  if  it  had  been  the  best  ale  in  Southamp- 
ton." 

"  Ah,  unhappy  !  "  said  the  Follower;  "saw  you  not  that 
the  firkins  were  stamped  with  the  thrice  excellent  grand 
butler's  own  inviolable  seal,  and  set  apart  for  the  private  use 
of  his  Imperial  Majesty's  most  sacred  lips  ?  " 

"  By  good  St.  George  of  Merry  England,  worth  a  dozen 
of  your  St.  George  of  Cappadocia,  I  neither  thought  nor 
cared  about  the  matter,"  answered  Hereward.  "  And  I 
know  your  valor  drank  a  mighty  draught  yourself  out  of  my 
head-piece ;  not  this  silver  bauble,  but  my  steel-cap,  which 
is  twice  as  ample.  By  the  same  token,  that  whereas  before 
you  were  giving  orders  to  fall  back,  you  were  a  changed 
man  when  you  had  cleared  your  throat  of  the  dust,  and 
cried,  '  Bide  the  other  brunt,  my  brave  and  stout  boys  of 
Britain!'" 

"Ay,"  said  Achilles,  "I  know  I  am  but  too  apt  to  be 
venturous  in  action.  But  you  mistake,  good  Hereward : 
the  wine  I  tasted  in  the  extremity  of  martial  fatigue  was 
not  that  set  apart  for  his  Sacred  Majesty's  own  peculiar 
mouth,  but  a  secondary  sort,  preserved  for  the  grand  butler 
himself,  of  which,  as  one  of  the  great  officers  of  the  house- 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  31 

hold,  I  might  right  lawfully  partake  ;  the  chance  was 
nevertheless  sinfully  unhappy/' 

^'  On  my  life/'  replied  Hereward,  ^ '  I  cannot  see  the  in- 
felicity of  drinking  when  we  are  dying  of  thirst/' 

''  But  cheer  up,  my  noble  comrade/'  said  Achilles,  after  he 
had  hurried  over  his  own  exculpation,  and  without  noticing 
the  Varangian's  light  estimation  of  the  crime,  "  his  Impe- 
rial Majesty,  in  his  ineffable  graciousness,  imputes  these  ill- 
advised  draughts  as  a  crime  to  no  one  who  partook  of  them. 
He  rebuked  the  Protospathaire  for  fishing  up  this  accusa- 
tion, and  said,  when  he  had  recalled  the  bustle  and  confu- 
sion of  that  toilsome  day,  ^  I  thought  myself  well  off  amid 
that  seven  times  heated  furnace  when  we  obtained  a  draught 
of  the  barley-wine  drank  by  my  poor  Varangians  ;  and  I  drank 
their  health,  as  well  I  might,  since,  had  it  not  been  for  their 
services,  I  had  drunk  my  last ;  and  well  fare  their  hearts, 
though  they  quaffed  my  wine  in  return  ! '  And  with  that 
he  turned  off,  as  one  who  said,  '  I  have  too  much  of  this, 
being  a  finding  of  matter  and  ripping  up  of  stories  against 
Achilles  Tatius  and  his  gallant  Varangians.'" 

*'  Now,  may  God  bless  his  honest  heart  for  it !"  said  Here- 
ward,  with  more  downright  heartiness  than  formal  respect. 
'^  I'll  drink  to  his  health  in  what  I  put  next  to  my  lips  that 
quenches  thirst,  whether  it  may  be  ale,  wine,  or  ditch- 
water." 

"Why,  well  said,  but  speak  not  above  thy  breath,  and 
remember  to  put  thy  hand  to  thy  forehead  when  naming,  or 
even  thinking  of,  the  Emperor.  Well,  thou  knowest,  Here- 
ward,  that,  having  thus  obtained  the  advantage,  I  knew  that 
the  moment  of  a  repulsed  attack  is  always  that  of  a  success- 
ful charge  ;  and  so  I  brought  against  the  Protospathaire, 
Nicanor,  the  robberies  which  have  been  committed  at  the 
Golden  Gate,  and  other  entrances  of  the  city,  where  a  mer- 
chant was  but  of  late  kidnapped  and  murdered,  having  on 
him  certain  jewels,  the  property  of  the  Patriarch." 

"Ay!   indeed?"    said  the  Varangian;  "and  what  said 

Alex I  mean  the  Most  Sacred  Emperor,  when  he  heard 

such  things  said  of  the  city  warders,  though  he  had  himself 
given,  as  we  say  in  our  land,  the  fox  the  geese  to  keep  ?  " 

"  It  may  be  he  did,"  replied  Achilles  ;  "  but  he  is  a  sove- 
reign of  deep  policy,  and  was  resolved  not  to  proceed  against 
these  treacherous  warders,  or  their  general,  the  Protospa- 
thaire, without  decisive  proof.  His  Sacred  Majesty,  there- 
fore, charged  me  to  obtain  specific  circumstantial  proof  by 
thy  means." 


82  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

''  And  that  I  would  liave  managed  in  two  minutes,  had 
you  not  called  me  off  the  chase  of  yon  cut-throat  vagabond. 
But  his  Grace  knows  the  word  of  a  Varangian,  and  I  can 
assure  him  that  either  lucre  of  my  silver  gaberdine,  which 
they  nickname  a  cuirass,  or  the  hatred  of  my  corps,  would 
be  sufficient  to  incite  any  of  these  knaves  to  cut  the  throat 
of  a  Varangian  who  appeared  to  be  asleep.  So  we  go,  I 
suppose,  captain,  to  bear  evidence  before  the  Emperor  to 
this  night's  work  ?  " 

''  No,  my  active  soldier  hadst  thou  taken  the  runaway 
villain,  my  first  act  must  have  been  to  set  him  free  again  ; 
and  my  present  charge  to  you  is,  to  forget  that  such  an  ad- 
venture has  ever  taken  place/' 

''  Ha  \"  said  the  Varangian  ;  '^  this  is  a  change  of  policy 
indeed  ! " 

*'  Why,  yes,  brave  Here  ward  ;  ere  I  left  the  palace  this 
night,  the  Patriarch  made  overtures  of  reconciliation  be- 
twixt me  and  the  Protospathaire,  which,  as  our  agreement 
is  of  much  consequence  to  the  state,  I  could  not  very  well 
reject,  either  as  a  good  soldier  or  a  good  Christian.  All 
offenses  to  my  honor  are  to  be  in  the  fullest  degree  repaid, 
for  which  the  Patriarch  interposes  his  warrant.  The  Empe- 
ror, who  will  rather  wink  hard  than  see  disagreements,  loves 
better  the  matter  should  be  slurred  over  thus.'* 

"And  the  reproaches   upon   the  Varangians "    said 

Hereward. 

"  Shall  be  fully  retracted  and  atoned  for,"  answered  Achil- 
les ;  *^  and  a  weighty  donative  in  gold  dealt  among  the  corps 
of  the  Anglo-Danish  axemen.  Thou,  my  Hereward,  mayst 
be  distributor  ;  and  thus,  if  well  managed,  mayst  plate  thy 
battle-ax  with  gold.*' 

"  I  love  my  ax  better  as  it  is,''  said  the  Varangian.  '^  My 
father  bore  it  against  the  robber  Normans  at  Hastings. 
Steel  instead  of  gold  for  my  money." 

"  Thou  mayst  make  thy  choice,  Hereward,"  answered  his 
officer  ;  "  only,  if  thou  art  poor,  say  the  fault  was  thine 
own." 

But  here,  in  the  course  of  their  circuit  round  Constantino- 
ple, the  officer  and  the  soldier  came  to  a  very  small  wicket 
or  sally-port,  opening  on  the  interior  of  a  large  and  massive 
advanced  work,  which  terminated  an  entrance  to  the  city 
itself.  Here  the  officer  halted,  and  made  his  obedience,  as 
a  devotee  who  is  about  to  enter  a  chanel  of  X)eculiar  sanctity 


CHAPTER  III 

Here,  youth,  thy  foot  unbrace, 

Here,  youth,  thy  brow  unbraid, 
Each  tribute  that  may  grace 

The  threshold  here  be  paid. 
Walk  with  the  stealthy  pace 

Which  Nature  teaches  deer, 
When,  echoing  in  the  chase, 

The  hunter's  horn  they  hear. 

The  Court. 

Before  entering,  Achilles  Tatius  made  various  gesticula- 
tions, which  were  imitated  roughly  and  awkv/ardly  by  the 
unpractised  Varangian,  whose  service  with  his  corps  had  been 
almost  entirely  in  the  field,  his  routine  of  duty  not  having, 
till  very  lately,  called  him  to  serve  as  one  of  the  garrison  of 
Constantinople.  He  was  not,  therefore,  acquainted  with  the 
minute  observances  which  the  Greeks,  who  were  the  most 
formal  and  ceremonious  soldiers  and  courtiers  in  the  world, 
rendered  nat  merely  to  the  Greek  emperor  in  person,  but 
throughout  the  sphere  which  peculiarly  partook  of  his  in- 
fluence. 

Achilles,  having  gesticulated  after  his  own  fashion,  at 
length  touched  the  door  with  a  rap,  distinct  at  once  and 
modest.  This  was  thrice  repeated,  when  the  captain  whis- 
pered to  his  attendant,  '^  The  interior  ! — for  thy  life,  do  as 
thou  seest  me  do."  At  the  same  moment  he  started  back, 
and  stooping  his  head  on  his  breast,  with  his  hands  over  his 
eyes,  as  if  to  save  them  from  being  dazzled  by  an  expected 
burst  of  light,  awaited  the  answer  to  his  summons.  The 
Anglo-Dane,  desirous  to  obey  his  leader,  imitating  him  as 
near  as  he  could,  stood  side  by  side  in  the  posture,  of  Oriental 
humiliation.  The  little  portal  opened  inwards,  when  no 
burst  of  light  was  seen,  but  four  of  the  Varangians  were 
made  visible  in  the  entrance,  holding  each  his  battle-ax,  as 
if  about  to  strike  down  the  intruders  who  had  disturbed  the 
silence  of  their  watch. 

*' Acoulouthos,"  said  the  leader,  by  way  of  password. 

"  Tatius  and  Acoulouthos,"  murmured  the  warders,  as  a 
countersign. 

Each  sentinel  sunk  his  weaDon. 
3  33 


34  WA VERLE Y  NOVEL S 

Achilles  then  reared  his  stately  crest,  with  a  conscious  dig- 
nity at  making  this  display  of  court  influence  in  the  eyes  of 
his  soldiers.  Hereward  observed  an  undisturbed  gravity,  to 
the  surprise  of  his  officer,  who  marveled  in  his  own  mind 
how  he  could  be  such  a  barbarian  as  to  regard  with  apathy  a 
scene  which  had  in  his  eyes  the  most  impressive  and  peculiar 
awe.  This  indifference  he  imputed  to  the  stupid  insensi- 
bility of  his  companion. 

They  passed  on  between  the  sentinels,  who  wheeled  back- 
ward in  file,  on  each  side  of  the  portal,  and  gave  the  strangers 
entrance  to  a  long  narrow  plank,  stretched  across  the  city 
moat,  which  was  here  drawn  within  the  inclosure  of  an  ex- 
ternal rampart,  projecting  beyond  the  principal  wall  of  the 
city. 

'^  Thi^,"  he  whispered  to  Hereward,  "  is  called  the  Bridge 
of  Peril,  and  it  is  said  that  it  has  been  occasionally  smeared 
with  oil,  or  strewed  with  dried  peas,  and  that  the  bodies  of 
men,  known  to  have  been  in  company  with  the  Emperor's 
most  sacred  person,  have  been  taken  out  of  the  Golden  Horn,* 
into  which  the  moat  empties  itself. '^ 

"  I  would  not  have  thought,"  said  the  islander,  rising  his 
voice  to  its  usual  rough  tone,  "  that  Alexius  Comnenus ' 

''  Hush,  rash  and  regardless  of  your  life  !  "  said  Achilles 
Tatius  ;  *'  to  awaken  the  daughter  of  the  imperial  arch  f  is  to 
incur  deep  penalty  at  all  times,  but  when  a  rash  delinquent 
has  disturbed  her  with  reflections  on  his  Most  Sacred  High- 
ness the  Emperor,  death  is  a  punishment  far  too  light  for 
the  effrontery  which  has  interrupted  her  blessed  slumber. 
Ill  hath  been  my  fate,  to  have  positive  commands  laid  on 
me,  enjoining  me  to  bring  into  the  sacred  precincts  a  creature 
who  hath  no  more  of  the  salt  of  civilization  in  him  than  to 
keep  his  mortal  frame  from  corruption,  since  of  all  mental 
culture  he  is  totally  incapable.  Consider  thyself,  Hereward, 
and  bethink  thee  what  thou  art, — by  nature  a  poor  barbarian 
— thy  best  boast  that  thou  hast  slain  certain  Mussulmans  in 
thy  sacred  master^s  quarrel  ;  and  here  art  thou  admitted  into 
the  inviolable  inclosure  of  the  Blacquernal,  and  in  the  hear- 
ing not  only  of  the  royal  daughter  of  the  imperial  arch,  which 
means,"  said  the  eloquent  leader,  "the  echo  of  the  sublime 
vaults,  but — Heaven  be  our  guide  ! — for  what  I  know,  within 
the  natural  hearing  of  the  sacred  ear  itself  ! " 

"  Well,  my  captain,"  replied  the  Varangian,  *'  I  cannot 

*  The  harbor  of  Constantinople. 

f  The  '  daughter  of  the  arch'  was  a  courtly  expression  for  the  echo, 
as  we  find  explained  by  the  courtly  commander  himself. 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  35 

presume  to  speak  my  mind  after  the  fashion  of  the  place  ; 
but  I  can  easily  suppose  I  am  but  ill  qualified  to  converse  in 
the  presence  of  the  court,  nor  do  I  mean  therefore  to  say  a 
word  till  1  am  spoken  to,  unless  when  I  shall  see  no  better 
company  than  ourselves.  To  be  plain,  I  find  difficulty  in 
modeling  my  voice  to  a  smoother  tone  than  nature  has  given 
it ;  so,  henceforth,  my  brave  captain,  I  will  be  mute,  unless 
when  you  give  me  a  sign  to  speak/^ 

''  You  will  act  wisely,^'  said  the  captain.  "  Here  be 
certain  persons  of  high  rank,  nay,  some  that  have  been  born 
in  the  purple  itself,  that  will,  Hereward — alas,  for  thee  ! — • 
prepare  to  sound  with  thelineof  their  courtly  understanding 
the  depths  of  thy  barbarous  and  shallow  conceit.  Do  not, 
therefore,  then,  join  their  graceful  smiles  with  thy  inhuman 
bursts  of  cachinnation,  with  which  thou  art  wont  to  thunder 
forth  when  opening  in  chorus  with  thy  messmates. '* 

''  I  tell  thee  I  will  be  silent, '^  said  the  Varangian,  moved 
somewhat  beyond  his  mood.  ^'If  you  trust  my  word,  so  ;  if 
you  think  I  am  a  jackdaw  that  must  be  speaking,  whether 
in  or  out  of  place  and  purpose,  I  am  contented  to  go  back 
again,  and  therein  we  can  end  the  matter." 

Achilles,  conscious  perhaps  that  it  was  his  best  policy  not 
to  drive  his  subaltern  to  extremity,  lowered  his  tone  some- 
what in  reply  to  the  uncourtly  note  of  the  soldier,  as  if 
allowing  something  for  the  rude  manners  of  one  whom  he 
considered  as  not  easily  matched  among  the  Varangians 
themselves  for  strength  and  valor — qualities  which,  in 
despite  of  Hereward^s  discourtesy,  Achilles  suspected  in  his 
heart  were  fully  more  valuable  than  all  those  nameless  graces 
which  a  more  courtly  and  accomplished  soldier  might 
possess. 

The  expert  navigator  of  the  intricacies  of  the  imperial 
residence  carried  the  Varangian  through  two  or  three  small 
complicated  courts,  forming  a  part  of  the  extensive  palace  of 
the  Blacquernal,*  and  entered  the  building  itself  by  a  side- 
door,  watched  in  like  manner  by  a  sentinel  of  the  Varangian 
Guard,  whom  they  passed  on  being  recognized.  In  the 
next  apartment  was  stationed  the  Court  of  Guard,  where 
were  certain  soldiers  of  the  same  corps  amusing  themselves 
at  games  somewhat  resembling  the  modern  draughts  and 
dice,  while  they  seasoned  their  pastime  with  frequent  appli- 
cations to  deep  flagons  of  ale,  which  were  furnished  to  them 
while  passing  away  their  hours  of  duty.     Some  glances  passed 

*  This  palace  derived  its  name  irom  the  neighboring  Blachernian  gate  and 

bridge. 


36  WA  VEBLEY  NO  VEL8 

between  Hereward  and  his  comrades,  and  lie  would  have 
joined  them,  or  at  least  spoke  to  them ;  for,  since  the 
adventure  of  the  Mitjlenian,  Hereward  had  rather  thought 
himself  annoyed  than  distinguished  by  his  moonlight  ramble 
in  the  company  of  his  commander,  excepting  always  the 
short  and  interesting  period  during  which  he  conceived  they 
were  on  the  way  to  fight  a  duel.  Still,  however  negligent 
in  the  strict  observance  of  the  ceremonies  of  the  sacred 
palace,  the  Varangians  had,  in  their  own  way,  rigid  notions 
of  calculating  their  military  duty;  in  consequence  of  which, 
Hereward,  without  speaking  to  his  companions,  followed  his 
leader  through  the  guard-room,  and  one  or  two  ante-chambers 
adjacent,  the  splendid  and  luxurious  furniture  of  which 
convinced  him  that  he  could  be  nowhere  else  save  in  the 
sacred  residence  of  his  master  the  Emperor. 

At  length,  having  traversed  passages  and  apartments  with 
which  the  captain  seemed  familiar,  and  which  he  threaded 
with  a  stealthy,  silent,  and  apparently  a  reverential,  pace,  as 
if,  in  his  own  inflated  phrase,  afraid  to  awaken  the  sounding 
echoes  of  those  lofty  and  monumental  halls,  another  species 
of  inhabitants  began  to  be  visible.  In  different  entrances, 
and  in  different  apartments,  the  Northern  soldier  beheld 
those  unfortunate  slaves,  chiefly  of  African  descent,  raised 
occasionally  under  the  emperors  of  Greece  to  great  power 
and  honors,  who,  in  that  respect,  imitated  one  of  the  most 
barbarous  points  of  Oriental  despotism.  These  slaves  were 
differently  occupied — some  standing,  as  if  on  guard,  at  gates 
or  in  passages,  with  their  drawn  sabres  in  their  hands;  some 
were  sitting  in  the  Oriental  fashion,  on  carpets,  reposing 
themselves,  or  playing  at  various  games,  all  of  a  character 
profoundly  silent.  Not  a  word  passed  between  the  guide  of 
Hereward  and  the  withered  and  deformed  beings  whom  they 
thus  encountered.  The  exchange  of  a  glance  with  the 
principal  soldier  seemed  all  that  was  necessary  to  ensure  both 
an  uninterrupted  passage. 

After  making  their  way  through  several  apartments, 
empty  or  thus  occupied,  they  at  length  entered  one  of  black 
marble,  or  some  other  dark-colored  stone,  much  loftier  and 
longer  than  the  rest.  Side  passages  opened  into  it,  so  far  as 
the  islander  could  discern,  descending  from  several  portals 
in  the  wall ;  but  as  the  oils  and  gums  with  which  the  lamj)s 
in  these  passages  were  fed  diffused  a  dim  vapor  around,  it 
was  difficult  to  ascertain,  from  the  imperfect  light,  either 
the  shape  of  the  hall  or  the  style  of  its  architecture.  At  the 
upper  and  lower  ends  of  the  chamber  there  was  a  stronger 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  37 

and  clearer  light.  It  was  when  they  were  in  the  middle  of 
this  huge  and  long  apartment  that  Achilles  said  to  the 
soldier,  in  the  sort  of  cautionary  whisper  which  he  appeared 
to  have  substituted  in  ^lace  of  his  natural  voice  since  he  had 
crossed  the  Bridge  of  Peril — 

''  Kemain  here  till  I  return,  and  stir  from  this  hall  on  no 
account." 

"To  hear  is  to  obey/'  answered  the  Varangian,  an  ex- 
pression of  obedience  which,  like  many  other  phrases  and 
fashions,  the  empire,  which  still  affected  the  name  of  Eoman, 
had  borrowed  from  the  barbarians  of  the  East.  Achilles 
Tatius  then  hastened  up  the  steps  which  led  to  one  of  the 
side-doors  of  the  hall,  which  being  slightly  pressed,  its  noise- 
less hinge  gave  way  and  admitted  him. 

Left  alone  to  amuse  himself  as  he  best  could,  within  the 
limits  permitted  to  him,  the  Varangian  visited  in  succession 
both  ends  of  the  hall,  where  the  objects  were  more  visible 
than  elsewhere.  The  lower  end  had  in  its  center  a  small 
low-browed  door  of  iron.  Over  it  was  displayed  the  Greek 
crucifix  in  bronze,  and  around  and  on  every  side  the  repre- 
sentation of  shackles,  fetterbolts,  and  the  like  were  also 
executed  in  bronze,  and  disposed  as  appropriate  ornaments 
over  the  entrance.  The  door  of  the  dark  archway  was  half 
open,  and  Hereward  naturally  looked  in,  the  orders  of  his 
chief  not  prohibiting  his  satisfying  his  curiosity  thus  far.  A 
dense  red -light,  more  like  a  distant  spark  than  a  lamp, 
affixed  to  the  wall  of  what  seemed  a  very  narrow  and  winding 
stair,  resembling  in  shape  and  size  a  draw-well,  the  verge  of 
which  opened  on  the  threshold  of  the  iron  door,  showed  a  de- 
scent which  seemed  to  conduct  to  the  infernal  regions.  The 
Varangian,  however  obtuse  he  might  be  considered  by  the 
quick-witted  Greeks,  had  no  difficulty  in  comprehending 
that  a  staircase  having  such  a  gloomy  appearance,  and  the 
access  to  which  was  by  a  portal  decorated  in  such  a  melan- 
choly style  of  architecture,  could  only  lead  to  the  dungeons 
of  the  imperial  palace,  the  size  and  complicated  number  of 
which  were  neither  the  least  remarkable  nor  the  least  awe-im- 
posing portion  of  the  sacred  edifice.  Listening  profoundly, 
he  even  thought  he  caught  such  accents  as  befit  those  graves 
of  living  men,  the  faint  echoing  of  groans  and  sighs,  sound- 
ing as  it  were  from  the  deep  abyss  beneath.  But  in  this 
respect  his  fancy  probably  filled  up  the  sketch  which  his 
conjectures  bodied  out. 

"I  have  done  nothing, ^^  he  thought,  "to  merit  being 
immured  in  one  of  these  subterranean  dens.     Surely,  though 


38  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

my  captain,  Achilles  Tatius,  is,  under  favor,  little  better 
than  an  ass,  he  cannot  be  so  false  of  word  as  to  train  me  to 
prison  under  false  pretexts  ?  I  trow  he  shall  first  see  for  the 
last  time  how  the  English  ax  plays,  if  such  is  to  be  the  sport 
of  the  evening.  But  let  us  see  the  upper  end  of  this  enor- 
mous vault ;  it  may  bear  a  better  omen/' 

Thus  thinking,  and  not  quite  ruling  the  tramp  of  his 
armed  footstep  according  to  the  ceremonies  of  the  place,  the 
large-limbed  Saxon  strode  to  the  upper  end  of  the  black 
marble  hall.  The  ornament  of  the  portal  here  was  a  small 
altar,  like  those  in  the  temples  of  the  heathen  deities,  which 
projected  above  the  center  of  the  arch.  On  this  altar  smoked 
incense  of  some  sort,  the  fumes  of  which  rose  curling  in  a 
thin  cloud  to  the  roof,  and  thence  extending  through  the 
hall,  enveloped  in  its  column  of  smoke  a  singular  emblem, 
of  which  the  Varangian  could  make  nothing.  It  was  the 
representation  of  two  human  arms  and  hands,  seeming  to 
issue  from  the  wall,  having  the  palms  extended  and  open, 
as  about  to  confer  some  boon  on  those  who  approached  the 
altar.  These  arms  were  formed  of  bronze,  and,  being  placed 
farther  back  than  the  altar  with  its  incense,  were  seen 
through  the  curling  smoke  by  lamps  so  disposed  as  to  illu- 
minate the  whole  archway.  "  The  meaning  of  this,'^  thought 
the  simple  barbarian,  "  I  should  well  know  how  to  explain 
were  these  fists  clenched,  and  were  the  hall  dedicated  to  the 
pancration,  which  we  call  boxing  ;  but  as  even  these  help- 
less Greeks  use  not  their  hands  without  their  fingers  being 
closed,  by  St.  George,  I  can  make  out  nothing  of  their 
meaning."'' 

At  this  instant  Achilles  entered  the  black  marble  hall  at 
the  same  door  by  which  he  had  left  it,  and  came  up  to  his 
neophyte,  as  the  Varangian  might  be  termed. 

^'  Come  with  me  now,  Hereward,  for  here  approaches  the 
thick  of  the  onset.  Now  display  the  utmost  courage  that 
thou  canst  summon  up,  for,  believe  me,  thy  credit  and  name 
also  depend  on  it.'' 

''Fear  nothing  for  either,"  said  Hereward,  ''if  the  heart 
or  hand  of  one  man  can  bear  him  through  the  adventure  by 
the  help  of  a  toy  like  this." 

"  Keep  thy  voice  low  and  submissive,  I  have  told  thee  a 
score  of  times,"  said  the  leader,  "  and  lower  thine  ax,  which, 
as  I  bethink  me,  thou  hadst  better  leave  in  the  outer  apart- 
ment." 

"  With  your  leave,  noble  captain,"  replied  Hereward,  "  I 
am  unwilling  to  lay  aside  my  bread-winner.     I  am  one  of 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  39 

fchose  awkward  clowns  who  cannot  behave  seemly  unless  I 
have  something  to  occupy  my  hands,  and  my  faithful  battle- 
ax  comes  most  natural  to  me." 

"  Keep,  it  then ;  but  remember  thou  dash  it  not  about 
according  to  thy  custom,  nor  bellow,  nor  shout,  nor  cry  as 
in  a  battle-field  ;  think  of  the  sacred  character  of  the  place, 
which  exaggerates  riot  into  blasphemy,  and  remember  the 
persons  whom  thou  mayest  chance  to  see,  an  offense  to  some 
of  whom,  it  may  be,  ranks  in  the  same  sense  with  blasphemy 
against  Heaven  itself/^ 

This  lecture  carried  the  tutor  and  the  pupil  so  far  as  to 
the  side-door,  and  thence  inducted  them  into  a  species  of 
ante-room,  from  which  Achilles  led  his  Varangian  forward, 
until  a  pair  of  folding-doors,  opening  into  what  proved  to 
be  a  principal  apartment  of  the  palace,  exhibited  to  the 
rough-hewn  native  of  the  North  a  sight  equally  new  and 
surprising. 

It  was  an  apartment  of  the  palace  of  the  Blacquernal, 
dedicated  to  the  special  service  of  the  beloved  daughter  of 
the  Emperor  Alexius,  the  Princess  Anna  Oomnena,  known 
to  our  times  by  her  literary  talents,  which  record  the  history 
of  her  father's  reign.  She  was  seated,  the  queen  and  sover- 
eign of  a  literary  circle,  such  as  an  imperial  princess  por- 
pTiyroganita,  or  born  in  the  sacred  purple  chamber  itself, 
could  assemble  in  those  days,  and  a  glance  around  will  enable 
us  to  form  an  idea  of  her  guests, 'or  companions. 

The  literary  princess  herself  had  the  bright  eyes,  straight 
features,  and  comely  and  pleasing  manners  which  all  would 
have  allowed  to  the  Emperor's  daughter,  even  if  she  could 
not  have  been,  with  severe  truth,  said  to  have  possessed 
them.  She  was  placed  upon  a  small  bench  or  sofa,  the  fair 
sex  here  not  being  permitted  to  recline,  as  was  the  fashion 
of  the  Koman  ladies.  A  table  before  her  was  loaded  with 
books,  plants,  herbs,  and  drawings.  She  sat  on  a  slight 
elevation,  and  those  who  enjoyed  the  intimacy  of  the 
Princess,  or  to  whom  she  wished  to  speak  in  particular, 
were  allowed,  during  such  sublime  colloquy,  to  rest  their 
knees  on  the  little  dais  or  elevated  place  where  her  chair 
found  its  station,  in  a  posture  half  standing,  half  kneeling. 
Three  other  seats,  of  different  heights,  were  placed  on  the  dais 
and  under  the  same  canopy  of  state  which  overshadowed 
that  of  the  Princess  Anna. 

The  first,  which  strictly  resembled  her  own  chair  in  size 
and  convenience,  was  one  designed  for  her  husband,  Nice- 
phorus  Briennius.     He  was  said  to  entertain  or  affect  the 


40  WAVEBLEY  270VELS 

greatest  respect  for  his  wife's  erndition,  though  the  cour- 
tiers were  of  opinion  he  would  have  liked  to  absent  himself 
from  her  evening  parties  more  frequently  than  was  particu- 
larly agreeable  to  the  Princess  Anna  and  her  imperial 
parents.  This  was  partly  explained  by  the  private  tattle  of 
the  court,  which  averred  that  the  Princess  Anna  Comnena 
had  been  more  beautiful  when  she  was  less  learned,  and 
that,  though  still  a  fine  woman,  she  had  somewhat  lost 
the  charms  of  her  person  as  she  became  enriched  in  her 
mind. 

To  atone  for  the  lowly  fashion  of  the  seat  of  Nicephorus 
Briennius,  it  was  placed  as  near  to  his  princess  as  it  could 
possibly  be  edged  by  the  ushers,  so  that  she  might  not  lose 
one  look  of  her  handsome  spouse,  nor  he  the  least  particle 
of  wisdom  which  might  drop  from  the  lips  of  his  erudite 
consort. 

Two  other  seats  of  honor,  or  rather  thrones — for  they  had 
footstools  placed  for  the  support  of  the  feet,  rests  for  the 
arms,  and  embroidered  pillows  for  the  comfort  of  the  back, 
not  to  mention  the  glories  of  the  outspreading  canopy — were 
destined  for  the  imperial  couple,  who  frequently  attended 
their  daughter's  studies,  which  she  prosecuted  in  public  in 
the  way  we  have  intimated.  On  such  occasions,  the  Empress 
Irene  enjoyed  the  triumph  peculiar  to  the  mother  of  an  ac- 
complished daughter,  while  Alexius,  as  it  might  happen, 
sometimes  listened  with  complacence  to  the  rehearsal  of  his 
own  exploits  in  the  inflated  language  of  the  Princess,  and 
sometimes  mildly  nodded  over  her  dialogues  upon  the  mys- 
teries of  philosophy  with  the  Patriarch  Zosimus  and  other 
sages. 

All  these  four  distinguished  seats  for  the  persons  of  the 
imperial  family  were  occupied  at  the  moment  which  we 
have  described,  excepting  that  which  ought  to  have  been 
filled  by  Nicephorus  Briennius,  the  husband  of  the  fair 
Anna  Comnena.  To  his  negligence  and  absence  was  per- 
haps owing  the  angry  spot  on  the  brow  of  his  fair  bride. 
Beside  her  on  the  platform  were  two  white-robed  nymphs  of 
her  household — female  slaves,  in  a  word — who  reposed  them- 
selves on  their  knees  on  cushions,  when  their  assistance  wag 
not  wanted  as  a  species  of  living  book-desks,  to  support  and 
extend  the  parchment  rolls  in  which  the  Princess  recorded 
her  own  wisdom,  or  from  which  she  quoted  that  of  others. 
One  of  these  young  maidens,  called  Astarte,  was  so  distin- 
guished as  a  calligrapher,  or  beautiful  writer  of  various  al- 
phabets and  languages,  that   she  narrowly  escaped  being 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  41 

jsent  as  a  present  to  the  Caliph  (who  could  neither  read  nor 
write),  at  a  time  when  it  was  necessary  to  bribe  him  into  peace. 
Violante,  usually  called  the  Muse,  the  other  attendant  of 
the  Princess,  a  mistress  of  the  vocal  and  instrumental  art  of 
music,  was  actually  sent  in  a  compliment  to  soothe  the  tem- 
per of  Eobert  Guiscard,  the  Archduke  of  Apulia,  who  being 
aged  and  stone-deaf,  and  the  girl  under  ten  years  old  at  the 
time,  returned  the  valued  present  to  the  imperial  donor,  and 
with  the  selfishness  which  was  one  of  that  wily  Norman's 
characteristics,  desired  to  have  some  one  sent  him  who  could 
contribute  to  his  pleasure,  instead  of  a  t wangling,  squalling 
infant. 

Beneath  these  elevated  seats  there  sat,  or  reposed  on  the 
floor  of  the  hall,  such  favorites  as  were  admitted.  The 
Patriarch  Zosimus,  and  one  or  two  old  men,  were  permitted 
the  use  of  certain  lowly  stools,  which  were  the  only  seats 
prepared  for  the  learned  members  of  the  Princess's  evening 
parties,  as  they  would  have  been  called  in  our  days.  As- for 
the  younger  magnates,  the  honor  of  being  permitted  to  join 
the  imperial  conversation  was  expected  to  render  them  far 
superior  to  the  paltry  accommodation  of  a  joint-stool.  Five 
or  six  courtiers,  of  different  dress  and  ages,  might  com- 
pose the  party,  who  either  stood,  or  relieved  their  posture 
by  kneeling,  along  the  verge  of  an  adorned  fountain,  which 
shed  a  mist  of  such  very  small  rain  as  to  dispel  almost 
insensibly,  cooling  the  fragrant  breeze  which  breathed  from 
the  flowers  and  shrubs,  that  were  so  disposed  as  to  send 
a  waste  of  sweets  around.  One  goodly  old  man,  named 
Michael  Agelastes,  big,  burly,  and  dressed  like  an  ancient 
Cynic  philosopher,  was  distinguished  by  assuming,  in  a  great 
measure,  the  ragged  garb  and  mad  bearing  of  that  sect,  and 
by  his  inflexible  practise  of  the  strictest  ceremonies  exigible 
by  the  imperial  family.  He  was  known  by  an  affectation  of 
cynical  principle  and  language,  and  of  republican  philos- 
ophy, strangely  contradicted  by  his  practical  deference  to 
the  great.  It  was  wonderful  how  long  this  man,  now  sixty, 
[seventy]  years  old  and  upwards,  disdained  to  avail  himself 
of  the  accustomed  privilege  of  leaning  or  supporting  his 
limbs,  and  with  what  regularity  he  maintained  either  the 
standing  posture  or  that  of  absolute  kneeling ;  but  the  first 
was  so  much  his  usual  attitude,  that  he  acquired  among  his 
court  friends  the  name  of  Elephas,  or  the  Elephant,  because 
the  ancients  had  an  idea  that  the  half-reasoning  animal,  as 
)t  is  called,  has  joints  incapable  of  kneeling  down. 

"  Yet  I  have  seen  them  kneel  when  I  was  in  the  country 


t2  WAVERLET  NOVELS 

of  the  Gymnosophists/'  said  a  person  present  on  the  evening 
of  Hereward^s  introduction. 

*'To  take  np  their  master  on  their  shoulders?  so  will 
ours/'  said  the  Patriarch  Zosimus,  with  the  slight  sneer 
which  was  the  nearest  advance  to  a  sarcasm  that  the  eti- 
quette of  the  Greek  court  permitted ;  for  on  all  ordinary 
occasions  it  would  not  have  offended  the  presence  more 
surely  literally  to  have  drawn  a  poniard  than  to  exchange  a 
repartee  in  the  imperial  circle.  Even  the  sarcasm,  such  as 
it  was,  would  have  been  thought  censurable  by  that  cere- 
monious court  in  any  but  the  Patriarch,  to  whose  high  rank 
some  license  was  allowed. 

Just  as  he  had  thus  far  offended  decorum,  Achilles  Tatius 
and  his  soldier  Here  ward  entered  the  apartment.  The 
former  bore  him  with  even  more  than  his  usual  degree  of 
courtliness,  as  if  to  set  his  own  good-breeding  off  by  a  com- 
parison with  the  inexpert  bearing  of  his  follower ;  while, 
nevertheless,  he  had  a  secret  pride  in  exhibiting,  as  one  un- 
der his  own  immediate  and  distinct  command,  a  man  whom 
he  was  accustomed  to  consider  as  one  of  the  finest  soldiers 
in  the  army  of  Alexius,  whether  appearance  or  reality  were 
to  be  considered. 

Some  astonishment  followed  the  abrupt  entrance  of  thp 
newcomers.  Achilles  indeed  glided  into  the  presence  with 
the  easy  and  quiet  extremity  of  respect  which  intimated  his 
habitude  in  these  regions.  But  Hereward  started  on  his 
entrance,  and,  perceiving  himself  in  company  of  the  court, 
hastily  strove  to  remedy  his  disorder.  His  commander, 
throwing  round  a  scarce  visible  shrug  of  apology,  made 
then  a  confidential  and  monitory  sign  to  Hereward  to  mind 
his  conduct.  What  he  meant  was,  that  he  should  doff  his 
helmet  and  fall  prostrate  on  the  ground.  But  the  Anglo- 
Saxon,  unaccustomed  to  interpret  obscure  inferences,  nat- 
urally thought  of  his  military  duties,  and  advanced  in  front 
of  the  Emperor,  as  when  he  rendered  his  military  homage. 
He  made  reverence  with  his  knee,  half  touched  his  cap,  and 
then  recovering  and  shouldering  his  ax,  stood  in  advance  of 
the  imperial  chair,  as  if  on  duty  as  a  sentinel. 

A  gentle  smile  of  surprise  went  round  the  circle  as  they 
gazed  on  the  manly  appearance,  and  somewhat  unceremoni- 
ous, but  martial  deportment  of  the  Northern  soldier.  The 
various  spectators  around  consulted  the  Emperor's  face,  not 
knowing  whether  they  were  to  take  the  intrusive  manner 
of  the  Varangian's  entrance  as  matter  of  ill-breeding,  and 
manifest  their  horror,  or  whether  they  ought  rather  to  con- 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  43 

Bider  the  bearing  of  the  life-guardsman  as  indicating  blunt 
and  manly  zeal,  and  therefore  to  be  received  with  ap- 
plause. 

It  was  some  little  time  ere  the  Emperor  recovered  him- 
self sufficiently  to  strike  a  key-note,  as  was  usual  upon  such 
occasions.  Alexius  Comnenus  had  been  wrapt  for  a  moment 
into  some  species  of  slumber,  or  at  least  absence  of  mind. 
Out  of  this  he  had  been  startled  by  the  sudden  appearance 
of  the  Varangian  ;  for,  though  he  was  accustomed  to  commit 
the  outer  guards  of  the  palace  to  this  trusty  corps,  yet  the 
deformed  blacks  whom  we  have  mentioned,  and  who  some- 
times rose  to  be  ministers  of  state  and  commanders  of 
armies,  were,  on  all  ordinary  occasions,  entrusted  with  the 
guard  of  the  interior  of  the  palace.  Alexius,  therefore, 
awakened  from  his  slumber,  and  the  military  phrase  of  his 
daughter  still  ringing  in  his  ears,  as  she  was  reading  a 
description  of  the  great  historical  work  in  which  she  had 
detailed  the  conflicts  of  his  reign,  felt  somewhat  unpre- 
pared for  the  entrance  and  military  deportment  of  one  of 
the  Saxon  guard,  with  whom  he  was  accustomed  to  asso- 
ciate, in  general,  scenes  of  blows,  danger,  and  death. 

After  a  troubled  glance  around,  his  look  rested  on 
Achilles  Tatius.  ''  Why  here/'  he  said,  *'  trusty  Follower  ? 
why  this  soldier  here  at  this  time  of  night  ?  "  Here,  of 
course,  was  the  moment  for  modeling  the  visages  regis 
ad  exemplum ;  but,  ere  the  Patriarch  could  frame  his 
countenance  into  devout  apprehension  of  danger,  Achilles 
Tatius  had  spoken  a  word  or  two,  which  reminded  Alexius's 
memory  that  the  soldier  had  been  brought  there  by  his 
own  special  orders.  ''  Oh,  ay  !  true,  good  fellow,"  said 
he,  smoothing  his  troubled  brow  ;  *'  we  had  forgot  that 
passage  among  the  cares  of  state.''  He  then  spoke  to  the 
Varangian  with  a  countenance  more  frank,  and  a  heartier 
accent, 'than  he  used  to  his  courtiers;  for,  to  a  despotic 
monarch,  a  faithful  life-guardsman  is  a  person  of  confi- 
dence, while  an  officer  of  high  rank  is  always  in  some 
degree  a  subject  of  distrust.  *^  Ha !  "  said  he,  '^  our 
worthy  Anglo-Dane,  how  fares  he  ?  "  This  unceremonious 
salutation  surprised  all  but  him  to  whom  it  was  addressed. 
Hereward  answered,  accompanying  his  words  with  a  mili- 
tary obeisance  which  partook  of  heartiness  rather  than 
rev^erence,  with  a  loud  unsubdued  voice,  which  startled  the 
presence  still  more  that  the  language  was  Saxon,  which 
these  foreigners  occasionally  used,  ^^Waes  haely  Kaisar  mir- 
rig  und  machtigh!" — that  is,  ''Be  of  good  health,  stout 


44  WA  VERLET  NOVELS 

and  mighty  Emperor.'^  The  Emperor,  with  a  smile  of 
intelligence,  to  show  he  could  speak  to  his  guards  in  their 
own  foreign  language,  replied  by  the  well-known  counter- 
signal—'^  Drinc  had!" 

Immediately  a  page  brought  a  silver  goblet  of  wine.  The 
Emperor  put  his  lips  to  it,  though  he  scarce  tasted  the 
liquor,  then  commanded  it  to  be  handed  to  Hereward,  and 
bade  the  soldier  drink.  The  Saxon  did  not  wait  till  he  was 
desired  a  second  time,  but  took  off  the  contents  without 
hesitation.  A  gentle  smile,  decorous  as  the  presence 
required,  passed  over  the  assembly  at  a  feat  which,  though 
by  no  means  wonderful  in  a  hyperborean,  seemed  prodigious 
in  the  estimation  of  the  moderate  Greeks.  Alexius  himself 
laughed  more  loudly  than  his  courtiers  thought  might  be 
becoming  on  their  part,  and  mustering  what  few  words  of 
Varangian  he  possessed,  which  he  eked  out  with  Greek, 
demanded  of  his  life-guardsman — "  Well,  my  bold  Briton, 
or  Edward,  as  men  call  thee,  dost  thou  know  the  flavor  of 
that  wine  ?  " 

'^  Yes,"  answered  the  Varangian,  without  change  of 
countenance,  ''  I  tasted  it  once  before  at  Laodicea " 

Here  his  officer,  Achilles  Tatius,  became  sensible  that  his 
soldier  approached  delicate  ground,  and  in  vain  endeavored 
to  gain  his  attention,  in  order  that  he  might  furtively  con- 
vey to  him  a  hint  to  be  silent,  or  at  least  take  heed  what  he 
said  in  such  a  presence.  But  the  soldier,  who,  with  proper 
military  observance^  continued  to  have  his  eye  and  attention 
fixed  on  the  Emperor,  as  the  prince  whom  he  was  bound  to 
answer  or  to  serve,  saw  none  of  the  hints,  which  Achilles  at 
length  suffered  to  become  so  broad,  that  Zosimus  and  the 
Protospathaire  exchanged  expressive  glances,  as  calling  on 
each  other  to  notice  the  by-play  of  the  leader  of  the 
Varangians. 

In  the  meanwhile,  the  dialogue  between  the  Emperor  and 
his  soldier  continued  : — ''  How,"  said  Alexius,  ''  did  this 
draught  relish,  compared  with  the  former  ?  " 

''  There  is  fairer  company  here,  my  liege,  than  that  of  the 
Arabian  archers,"  answered  Hereward,  with  a  look  and  bow 
of  instinctive  good-breeding.  ''  Nevertheless,  there  lacks 
'the  flavor  which  the  heat  of  the  sun,  the  dust  of  the  combat, 
with  the  fatigue  of  wielding  such  a  weapon  as  this  (advanc- 
ing his  ax)  for  eight  hours  together,  give  to  a  cup  of  rare 
wine." 

''Another  deficiency  there  might  be,"  said  Agelastes  the 
Elephant,  *'  provided  I  am  pardoned  hinting  at  it,"  he  added. 


**  The  Saxon  did  not  wait  until  he  was  flesired  a  second  time,  but  took  ofF  the 
contents  without  hesitation." 


COUNT  noBERT  OF  PARtS  45 

with  a  look  to  the  throne  :  '^  it  might  be  the  smaller  size  of 
the  cup  compared  with  that  at  Laodicea." 

^'  By  Taranis,  you  say  true/'  answered  the  life-guardsman  ; 
''  at  Laodicea  I  used  my  helmet." 

"  Let  us  see  the  cups  compared  together,  good  friend/' 
said  Agelastes,  continuing  his  raillery,  "that  we  may  be 
sure  thou  hast  not  swallowed  the  present  goblet ;  for  I 
thought,  from  the  manner  of  the  draught,  there  was  a  chance 
of  its  going  down  with  its  contents." 

"  There  are  some  things  which  I  do  not  easily  swallow," 
answered  the  Varangian,  in  a  calm  and  indifferent  tone  ; 
"  but  they  must  come  from  a  younger  and  more  active  man 
than  you." 

The  company  again  smiled  to  each  other,  as  if  to  hint  that 
the  philosopher,  though  also  parcel  wit  by  profession,  had 
the  worst  of  the  encounter. 

The  Emperor  at  the  same  time  interfered — ''  Nor  did  1 
send  for  thee  hither,  good  fellow,  to  be  baited  by  idle 
taunts." 

Here  Agelastes  shrunk  back  in  the  circle,  as  a  hound  that 
has  been  rebuked  by  the  huntsman  for  babbling  ;  and  the 
Princess  Anna  Comnena,  who  had  indicated  by  her  fair 
features  a  certain  degree  of  impatience,  at  length  spoke — 
"  Will  it  then  please  you,  my  imperial  and  much-beloved 
father,  to  inform  those  blessed  with  admission  to  the  Muses' 
temple  for  what  it  is  that  you  have  ordered  this  soldier  to 
be  this  night  admitted  to  a  place  so  far  above  his  rank  in 
life  ?  Permit  me  to  say,  we  ought  not  to  waste,  in  frivolous 
and  silly  jests,  the  time  which  is  sacred  to  the  welfare  of  the 
empire,  as  every  moment  of  your  leisure  must  be." 

*'  Our  daughter  speaks  wisely,"  said  the  Empress  Irene, 
who,  like  most  mothers  who  do  not  possess  much  talent 
themselves,  and  are  not  very  capable  of  estimating  it  in 
others,  was,  nevertheless,  a  great  admirer  of  her  favorite 
daughter's  accomplishments,  and  ready  to  draw  them  out  on 
all  occasions.  **  Permit  me  to  remark,  that  in  this  divine 
and  selected  palace  of  the  Muses,  dedicated  to  the  studies  of 
our  well-beloved  and  highly-gifted  daughter,  whose  pen  will 
preserve  your  reputation,  our  most  imperial  husband,  till 
the  desolation  of  the  universe,  and  which  enlivens  and  de- 
lights this  society,  the  very  flower  of  the  wits  of  our  sublime 
court — permit  me  to  say,  that  we  have,  merely  by  admitting 
a  single  life-guardsman,  given  our  conversation  the  character 
of  that  which  distinguishes  a  barrack." 

Now  the  Emperor  Alexius  Comnenus  had  the  same  feeL 


46  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

ing  with  many  an  honest  man  in  ordinary  life  when  his  wife 
begins  a  long  oration,  especially  as  the  Empress  Irene  did 
not  always  retain  the  observance  consistent  with  his  awful 
rule  and  right  supremacy,  although  especially  severe  in 
exacting  it  from  all  others  in  reference  to  her  lord.  There- 
fore, though  he  had  felt  some  pleasure  in  gaining  a  short 
release  from  the  monotonous  recitation  of  the  Princess's 
history,  he  now  saw  the  necessity  of  resuming  it,  or  of  listen- 
ing to  the  matrimonial  eloquence  of  the  Empress.  He 
sighed,  therefore,  as  he  said,  ''  I  crave  your  pardon,  good 
our  imperial  spouse,  and  our  daughter  born  in  the  purple 
chamber.  I  remember  me,  our  most  amiable  and  accom- 
plished daughter,  that  last  night  you  wished  to  know  the 
particulars  of  the  battle  of  Laodicea  with  the  heathenish 
Arabs,  whom  Heaven  confound.  And  for  certain  consider- 
ations which  moved  ourselves  to  add  other  inquiries  to  our 
own  recollection,  Achilles  Tatius,  our  most  trusty  Follower, 
was  commissioned  to  introduce  into  this  place  one  of  those 
soldiers  under  his  command,  being  such  a  one  whose  courage 
and  presence  of  mind  could  best  enable  him  to  remark  what 
passed  around  him  on  that  remarkable  and  bloody  day.  And 
this  I  suppose  to  be  the  man  brought  tons  for  that  purpose. '' 

'^If  I  am  permitted  to  speak  and  live,"  answered  the  Fol- 
lower, ''^your  Imperial  Highness,  with  those  divine  Prin- 
cesses, whose  name  is  "to  us  as  those  of  blessed  saints,  have 
in  your  presence  the  flower  of  my  Anglo-Danes,  or  whatso- 
ever unbaptized  name  is  given  to  my  soldiers.  He  is,  as  1 
may  say,  a  barbarian  of  barbarians  ;  for  although  in  birth 
pnd  breeding  unfit  to  soil  with  his  feet  the  carpet  of  this 
precinct  of  accomplishment  and  eloquence,  he  is  so  brave, 
so  trusty,  so  devotedly  attached,  and  so  unhesitatingly 
zealous,  that " 

^^  Enough,  good  Follower, '^  said  the  Emperor;  '''let  us 
only  know  that  he  is  cool  and  observant,  not  confused  and 
fluttered  during  close  battle,  as  we  have  sometimes  observed 
in  you  and  other  great  commanders,  and,  to  speak  truth, 
have  even  felt  in  our  imperial  self  on  extraordinary  occasions  ; 
which  difference  in  man's  constitution  is  not  owing  to  any 
inferiority  of  courage,  but,  in  us,  to  a  certain  consciousness 
of  the  importance  of  our  own  safety  to  the  welfare  of  the 
whole,  and  to  a  feeling  of  the  number  of  duties  which  at 
once  devolve  on  us.  Speak  then,  and  speak  quickly,  Tatius  ; 
for  I  discern  that  our  dearest  consort,  and  our  thrice  fortu- 
nate daughter  born  in  the  imperial  chamber  of  purple,  seem 
to  wax  somewhat  impatient/' 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  47 

''  Hereward,"  answered  Tafcius,  '^  is  as  composed  and  ob- 
servant in  battle  as  another  in  a  festive  dance.  The  dust 
of  war  is  the  breath  of  his  nostrils  ;  and  he  will  prove  his 
worth  in  combat  against  any  four  others,  Varangians  ex- 
cepted, who  shall  term  themselves  your  Imperial  Highnesses 
bravest  servants/' 

'^  Follower,"  said  the  Emperor,  with  a  displeased  look  and 
tone,  "  instead  of  instructing  these  poor,  ignorant  barbarians 
in  the  rules  and  civilization  of  our  enlightened  empire,  you 
foster,  by  such  boastful  words,  the  idle  pride  and  fury  of 
their  temper,  which  hurries  them  into  brawls  with  the 
legions  of  other  foreign  countries,  and  even  breeds  quarrels 
among  themselves/" 

'^  If  my  mouth  may  be  opened  in  the  way  of  most  humble 
excuse, "''  said  the  Follower,  '^  I  would  presume  to  reply,  that 
I  but  an  hour  hence  [since]  talked  with  this  poor  ignorant 
Anglo-Dane  on  the  paternal  care  with  which  the  Imperial 
Majesty  of  Greece  regards  the  preservation  of  that  concord 
which  unites  the  followers  of  his  standard,  and  how  desirous 
he  is  to  promote  that  harmony,  more  especially  amongst  the 
various  nations  who  have  the  happiness  to  serve  you,  in  spite 
of  the  bloodthirsty  quarrels  of  the  Franks  and  other  North- 
ern men,  who  are  never  free  from  civil  broil.  I  think  the 
poor  youth's  understanding  can  bear  witness  to  this  much 
in  my  behalf."  He  then  looked  towards  Hereward,  who 
gravely  inclined  his  head  in  token  Of  assent  to  what  his 
captain  said.  His  excuse  thus  ratified,  Achilles  proceeded 
in  his  apology  more  firmly.  *'  What  I  have  said  even  now 
was  spoken  without  consideration  ;  for,  instead  of  pretend- 
ing that  this  Hereward  would  face  four  of  your  Imperial 
Highness's  servants,  I  ought  to  have  said  that  he  was  willing 
to  defy  six  of  your  Imperial  Majesty's  most  deadly  enemies, 
and  permit  them  to  choose  every  circumstance  of  time,  arms, 
and  place  of  combat.'* 

*^  That  hath  a  better  sound,"  said  the  Emperor  ;  ''  and  in 
truth,  for  the  information  of  my  dearest  daughter,  who 
piously  has  undertaken  to  record  the  things  which  I  have 
been  the  blessed  means  of  doing  for  the  empire,  I  earnestly 
wish  that  she  should  remember,  that  though  the  sword  of 
Alexius  hath  not  slept  in  its  sheath,  yet  lae  hath  never 
sought  his  own  aggrandizement  of  fame  at  the  price  of  blood- 
shed among  his  subjects." 

'^I  trust,"  said  Anna  Comnena,  "that,  in  my  humble 
sketch  of  the  life  of  the  princely  sire  from  whom  I  derive 
my  existence,  I  have  not  forgot  to  notice  his  love  of  peace, 


18  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

and  care  for  the  lives  of  his  soldiery,  and  abhorrence  of  the 
bloody  manners  of  the  heretic  Franks,  as  one  of  his  most 
distinguishing  characteristics/* 

Assuming  then  an  attitude  more  commanding,  as  one  who 
was  about  to  claim  the  attention  of  the  company,  the  Prin- 
cess inclined  her  head  gently  around  to  the  audience,  and 
taking  a  roll  of  parchment  from  the  fair  amanuensis,  which 
she  had,  in  a  most  beautiful  handwriting,  engrossed  to  her 
mistresses  dictation,  Anna  Comnena  prepared  to  read  its 
contents. 

At  this  moment,  the  eyes  of  the  Princess  rested  for  an 
instant  on  the  barbarian  Hereward,  to  whom  she  deigned 
this  greeting — "  Valiant  barbarian,  of  whom  my  fancy  recalls 
some  memory,  as  if  in  a  dream,  thou  art  now  to  hear  a  work 
which,  if  the  author  be  put  into  comparison  with  the  subject, 
might  be  likened  to  a  portrait  of  Alexander,  in  executing 
which  some  inferior  dauber  has  usurped  the  pencil  of  Apelles  ; 
but  which  essay,  however  it  may  appear  unworthy  of  the 
subject  in  the  eyes  of  many,  must  yet  command  some 
envy  in  those  who  candidly  consider  its  contents,  and  the 
difficulty  of  portraying  the  great  personage  concerning  whom 
it  is  written.  Still,  I  pray  thee,  give  thine  attention  to 
what  I  have  now  to  read,  since  this  account  of  the  battle  of 
Laodicea,  the  details  thereof  being  principally  derived  from 
his  Imperial  Highness,  my  excellent  father,  from  the  alto- 
gether valiant  Protospathaire,  his  invincible  general,  together 
with  Achilles  Tatius,  the  faithful  Follower  of  our  victorious 
Emperor,  may  nevertheless  be  in  some  circumstances  inac- 
curate. For  it  is  to  be  thought,  that  the  high  offices  of 
those  great  commanders  retained  them  at  a  distance  from 
some  particularly  active  parts  of  the  fray,  in  order  that  they 
might  have  more  cool  and  accurate  opportunity  to  form  a 
judgment  upon  the  whole,  and  transmit  their  orders,  with- 
out being  disturbed  by  any  thoughts  of  personal  safety. 
Even  so,  brave  barbarian,  in  the  art  of  embroidery — marvel 
not  that  we  are  a  proficient  in  that  mechanical  process,  since 
it  is  patronized  by  Minerva,  whose  studies  we  affect  to  follow 
— ^we  reserve  to  ourselves  the  superintendence  of  the  entire 
web,  and  commit  to  our  maidens  and  others  the  execution 
of  particular  parts.  Thus,  in  the  same  manner,  thou, 
valiant  Varangian,  being  engaged  in  the  very  thickest  of 
the  affray  before  Laodicea,  mayst  point  out  to  us,  the  un- 
worthy historian  of  so  renowned  a  war,  those  chances  which 
befell  where  men  fought  hand  to  hand,  and  where  the  fate 
of  war  was  decided  by  the  edge  of  the  sword.     Therefore, 


I 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  49 

dread  not,  thou  bravest  of  the  ax-men  to  whom  we  owe 
that  victory,  and  so  many  others,  to  correct  any  mistake  or 
misapprehension  which  we  may  have  been  led  into  concerning 
the  details  of  that  glorious  event." 

"Madam,"  said  the  Varangian,  "I  shall  attend  with 
diligence  to  what  your  Highness  may  be  pleased  to  read  to 
me ;  although,  as  to  presuming  to  blame  the  history  of  a 
princess  born  in  the  purple,  far  be  such  a  presumption  from 
me  ;  still  less  would  it  become  a  barbaric  Varangian  to  pass 
a  judgment  on  the  military  conduct  of  the  Emperor,  by 
whom  he  is  liberally  paid,  or  of  the  commander,  by  whom 
he  is  well  treated.  Before  an  action,  if  our  advice  is  re- 
buired,  it  is  ever  faithfully  tendered  ;  but,  according  to  my 
rough  wit,  our  censure  after  the  field  is  fought  would  be 
more  invidious  than  useful.  Touching  the  Protospathaire,  it* 
it  be  the  duty  of  a  general  to  absent  himself  from  close  ac- 
tion, I  can  safely  say,  or  swear,  were  it  necessary,  that  the 
invincible  commander  was  never  seen  by  me  within  a  jave- 
lin's cast  of  aught  that  looked  like  danger." 

This  speech,  boldly  and  bluntly  delivered,  had  a  general 
effect  on  the  company  present.  The  Emperor  himself  and 
Achilles  Tatius  looked  like  men  who  had  got  off  from  a 
danger  better  than  they  expected.  The  Protospathaire 
labored  to  conceal  a  movement  of  resentment.  Agelastes 
whispered  to  the  Patriarch,  near  whom  he  was  placed, 
"The  Northern  battle-ax  lacks  neither  point  nor  edge." 

*^  Hush  !  "  said  Zosimus,  "  let  us  hear  how  this  is  to  end  : 
the  Princess  is  about  to  speak/' 
4 


CHAPTER  IV 

We  heard  the  tecbir,  so  these  Arabs  call 
Their  shout  of  onset,  when  with  loud  acclaim 
They  challenged  Heaven,  as  if  demanding  conquest. 
The  battle  join'd,  and,  through  the  barb'rous  herd, 
**  Fight — fight  I  "  and  "  Paradise  I "  was  all  their  cry. 

The  Siege  of  Damascus, 

The  voice  of  the  Northern  soldier,  although  modified  by  feel- 
ings of  respect  to  the  Emperor,  and  even  attachment  to  hia 
captain,  had  more  of  a  tone  of  blunt  sincerity,  nevertheless, 
than  was  usually  heard  by  the  sacred  echoes  of  the  imperial 
palace  ;  and  though  the  Princess  Anna  Comnena  began  to 
think  that  she  had  invoked  the  opinion  of  a  severe  judge, 
she  was  sensible,  at  the  same  time,  by  the  deference  of  his 
manner,  that  his  respect  was  of  a  character  more  real,  and 
his  applause,  should  she  gain  it,  would  prove  more  truly  flat- 
tering, than  the  gilded  assent  of  the  whole  court  of  her 
father.  She  gazed  with  some  surprise  and  attention  on 
Hereward,  already  described  as  a  very  handsome  young  man, 
and  felt  the  natural  desire  to  please  which  is  easily  created 
in  the  mind  towards  a  fine  person  of  the  other  sex.  His 
attitude  was  easy  and  bold,  but  neither  clownish  nor  un- 
courtly.  His  title  of  a  barbarian  placed  him  at  once  free 
from  the  forms  of  civilized  life  and  the  rules  of  artificial 
politeness.  But  his  character  for  valor,  and  the  noble  self- 
confidence  of  his  bearing,  gave  him  a  deeper  interest  than 
would  have  been  acquired  by  a  more  studied  and  anxious 
address,  or  an  excess  of  reverential  awe. 

In  short,  the  Princess  Anna  Comnena,  high  in  rank  as  she 
was,  and  born  in  the  imperial  purple,  which  she  herself 
deemed  the  first  of  all  attributes,  felt  herself,  nevertheless, 
in  preparing  to  resume  the  recitation  of  her  history,  more 
anxious  to  obtain  the  approbation  of  this  rude  soldier  than 
that  of  all  the  rest  of  the  courteous  audience.  She  knew 
them  well,  it  is  true,  and  felt  nowise  solicitous  about  the  ap- 
plause which  the  daughter  of  the  Emperor  was  sure  to  re- 
ceive with  full  hands  from  those  of  the  Grrecian  court  to 
whom  she  might  choose  to  communicate  the  productions  of 
her  father's  daughter.     But  she  had  now  a  Judge  of  a  new 

50 


1 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  51 

character,  whose  applause,  if  bestowed,  must  have  something 
in  it  intrinsically  real,  since  it  could  only  be  obtained  by 
affecting  his  head  or  his  heart. 

It  was  perhaps  under  the  influence  of  these  feelings  that 
the  Princess  was  somewhat  longer  than  usual  in  finding  out 
the  passage  in  the  roll  of  history  at  which  she  proposed  to 
commence.  It  was  also  noticed  that  she  began  her  recitation 
with  a  diffidence  and  embarrassment  surprising  to  the  noble 
hearers,  who  had  often  seen  her  in  full  possession  of  her  pres- 
ence of  mind  before  what  they  conceived  a  more  distin- 
guished, and  even  more  critical,  audience. 

Neither  were  the  circumstances  of  the  Varangian  such  as 
rendered  the  scene  indifferent  to  him.  Anna  Comnena  had 
indeed  attained  her  fifth  luster,  and  that  is  a  period  after 
which  Grecian  beauty  is  understood  to  commence  its  decline. 
How  long  she  had  passed  that  critical  period  was  a  secret  to 
all  but  the  trusted  ward-women  of  the  purple  chamber. 
Enough,  that  it  was  affirmed  by  the  popular  tongue,  and 
seemed  to  be  attested  by  that  bent  towards  philosophy  and 
literature,  which  is  not  supposed  to  be  congenial  to  beauty 
in  its  earlier  buds,  to  amount  to  one  or  two  years  more.  She 
might  be  seven-and-twenty. 

Still  Anna  Comnena  was,  or  had  very  lately  been,  a  beauty 
of  the  very  first  rank,  and  must  be  supposed  to  have  still  re- 
tained charms  to  captivate  a  barbarian  of  the  North  ;  if,  in- 
deed, he  himself  was  not  careful  to  maintain  an  heedful 
recollection  of  the  immeasurable  distance  between  them.  In- 
deed, even  this  recollection  might  hardly  have  saved  Here- 
ward  from  the  charms  of  this  enchantress,  bold,  free-born, 
and  fearless  as  he  was  ;  for,  during  that  time  of  strange  rev- 
olutions, there  were  many  instances  of  successful  generals 
sharing  the  couch  of  imperial  princesses,  whom  perhaps 
they  had  themselves  rendered  widows,  in  order  to  make  way 
for  their  own  pretensions.  But,  besides  the  influence  of 
other  recollections,  which  the  reader  may  learn  hereafter, . 
Hereward,  though  flattered  by  the  unusual  degree  of  atten- 
tion which  the  Princess  bestowed  upon  him,  saw  in  her  only 
the  daughter  of  his  Emperor  and  adopted  liege  lord,  and 
the  wife  of  a  noble  prince,  whom  reason  and  duty  alike  for- 
bade him  to  think  of  in  any  other  light. 

It  was  after  one  or  two  preliminary  efforts  that  the  Prin- 
cess Anna  began  her  reading,  with  an  uncertain  voice,  which 
gained  strength  and  fortitude  as  she  proceeded  with  the  fol- 
lowing passage  from  a  well-known  part  of  her  history  of 
Alexius  Comnenus,  but  which  unfortunately  has  not  been 


52  WA VEBLET  NOVELS 

republished  in  the  Byzantine  historians.  The  narrative  can- 
not, therefore,  be  otherwise  than  acceptable  to  the  antiqua- 
rian reader  ;  and  the  Author  hopes  to  receive  the  thanks  of 
the  learned  world  for  the  recovery  of  a  curious  fragment, 
which,  without  his  exertions,  must  probably  have  passed  to 
the  gulf  of  total  oblivion. 

Zhz  IRetceat  ot  XaoDlcea. 

NOW  FIKST  PUBLISHED  FROM  THE  GREEK  OF  THE  PRIISTCESS 
COMNEIf  A'S  history  OF  HER  FATHER. 

"  The  sun  had  betaken  himself  to  his  bed  in  the  ocean, 
ashamed,  it  would  seem,  to  see  the  immortal  army  of  our 
Most  Sacred  Emperor  Alexius  surrounded  by  those  barbarous 
hordes  of  unbelieving  barbarians  who,  as  described  in  our 
last  chapter,  had  occupied  the  various  passes  both  in  front 
and  rear  of  the  Romans,*  secured  during  the  preceding 
night  by  the  wily  barbarians.  Although,  therefore,  a  trium- 
phant course  of  advance  had  brought  us  to  this  point,  it  now 
became  a  serious  and  doubtful  question  whether  our  victo- 
rious eagles  might  be  able  to  penetrate  any  farther  into  the 
country  of  the  enemy,  or  even  to  retreat  with  safety  into 
their  own. 

''  The  extensive  acquaintance  of  the  Emperor  with  military 
affairs,  in  which  he  exceeds  most  living  princes,  had  induced 
him,  on  the  preceding  evening,  to  ascertain,  with  marvelous 
exactitude  and  foresight,  the  precise  position  of  the  enemy. 
In  this  most  necessary  service  he  employed  certain  light- 
armed  barbarians,  whose  habits  and  discipline  had  been  orig- 
inally derived  from  the  wilds  of  Syria  ;  and,  if  I  am  required 
to  speak  according  to  the  dictation  of  truth,  seeing  she  ought 
always  to  sit  upon  the  pen  of  a  historian,  I  must  needs  say 
they  were  infidels  like  their  enemies ;  faithfully  attached, 
however,  to  the  Roman  service,  and,  as  I  believe,  true  slaves, 
of  the  Emperor,  to  whom  they  communicated  the  informa- 
tion required  by  him  respecting  the  position  of  his  dreaded 
opponent  Jezdegerd.  These  men  did  not  bring  in  their  in- 
formation till  long  after  the  hour  when  the  Emperor  usually 
betook  himself  to  rest. 

'*  Notwithstanding  this  derangement  of  his  most  sacred 
time,  our  imperial  father,  who  had  postponed  the  ceremony 
of  disrobing,  so  important  were  the  necessities  of  the  mo- 

*  More  properly  termed  the  Greeks ;  but  we  follow  the  phra- 
seology of  the  fair  authoress. 


COUNT  BOBERT  OF  PABIS  53 

lament,  continued,  until  deep  in  the  night,  to  hold  a  council 
of  his  wisest  chiefs,  men  whose  depth  of  judgment  might 
have  saved  a  sinking  world,  and  who  now  consulted  what 
was  to  be  done  under  the  pressure  of  the  circumstances  in 
which  they  were  now  placed.  And  so  great  was  the  urgency, 
that  all  ordinary  observances  of  the  household  were  set  aside, 
since  I  have  heard  from  those  who  witnessed  the  fact,  that 
the  royal  bed  was  displayed  in  the  very  room  where  the  coun- 
cil assembled,  and  that  the  sacred  lamp,  called  the  Light  of 
the  Council,  and  which  always  burns  when  the  Emperor 
presides  in  person  over  the  deliberations  of  his  servants,  was 
for  that  night — a  thing  unknown  in  our  annals — fed  with 
unperfumed  oil ! " 

The  fair  speaker  here  threw  her  fine  form  into  an  attitude 
which  expressed  holy  horror,  and  the  hearers  intimated 
their  sympathy  in  the  exciting  cause  by  corresponding 
signs  of  interest ;  as  to  which  we  need  only  say,  that  the 
sigh  of  Achilles  Tatius  was  the  most  pathetic  ;  while  the 
groan  of  Agelastes  the  Elephant  was  deepest  and  most  tre- 
mendously bestial  in  its  sound.  Hereward  seemed  little 
moved,  except  by  a  slight  motion  of  surprise  at  the  wonder 
expressed  by  the  others.  The  Princess,  having  allowed  due 
time  for  the  sympathy  of  her  hearers  to  exhibit  itself,  pro- 
ceeded as  follows  : — 

''In  this  melancholy  situation,  when  even  the  best-estab- 
lished and  most  sacred  rites  of  the  imperial  household  gave 
way  to  the  necessity  of  a  hasty  provision  for  the  morrow, 
the  opinions  of  the  counselors  were  different,  according  to 
their  tempers  and  habits — a  thing,  by  the  way,  which  may 
be  remarked  as  likely  to  happeli  among  the  best  and  wisest 
on  such  occasions  of  doubt  and  danger. 

''  I  do  not  in  this  place  put  down  the  names  and  opinions  of 
those  whose  counsels  were  proposed  and  rejected,  herein  pay- 
ing respect  to  the  secrecy  and  freedom  of  debate  justly  at- 
tached to  the  imperial  cabinet.  Enough  it  is  to  say,  that 
some  there  were  who  advised  a  speedy  attack  upon  the  enemy, 
in  tlie  direction  of  our  original  advance.  Others  thought  it 
was  safer,  and  might  be  easier,  to  force  our  way  to  the  rear, 
and  retreat  by  the  same  course  which  had -brought  us  hither  ; 
nor  must  it  be  concealed  that  there  were  persons  of  unsus- 
pected fidelity  who  proposed  a  third  course,  safer  indeed  than 
the  others,  but  totally  alien  to  the  mind  of  our  most  mag- 
nanimous father.  They  recommended  that  a  confidential 
slave,  in  company  with  a  minister  of  the  interior  of  our  im- 
perial palace,  should  be  sent  to  the  tent  of  Jezdegerd,  in 


54  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

order  to  ascertain  npon  what  terms  the  barbarian  would  per- 
mit our  triumphant  father  to  retreat  in  safety  at  the  head  of 
his  victorious  army.  On  learning  such  opinion,  our  impe- 
rial father  was  heard  to  exclaim,  "  Sancta  Sophia  ! "  being  the 
nearest  approach  to  an  adjuration  which  he  has  been  known 
to  permit  himself,  and  was  apparently  about  to  say  some- 
thing violent  both  concerning  the  dishonor  of  the  advice  and 
the  cowardice  of  those  by  whom  it  was  preferred,  when,  rec- 
ollecting the  mutability  of  hiiman  things,  and  the  misfor- 
tune of  several  of  his  Majesty's  gracious  predecessors,  some 
of  whom  had  been  compelled  to  surrender  their  sacred  per- 
sons to  the  infidels  in  the  same  region,  his  Imperial  Majesty 
repressed  his  generous  feelings,  and  only  suffered  his  army 
counselors  to  understand  his  sentiments  by  a  speech,  in 
which  he  declared  so  desperate  and  so  dishonorable  a  course 
would  be  the  last  which  he  would  adopt  even  in  the  last  ex- 
tremity of  danger.  Thus  did  the  judgment  of  this  mighty 
prince  at  once  reject  counsel  that  seemed  shameful  to  his 
arms,  and  thereby  encourage  the  zeal  of  his  troops,  while 
privately  he  kept  this  postern  in  reserve,  which  in  utmost 
need  might  serve  for  a  safe,  though  not  altogether,  in  less 
urgent  circumstances,  an  honorable,  retreat. 

''  When  the  discussion  had  reached  this  melancholy  crisis, 
the  renounced  Achilles  Tatius  arrived  with  hopeful  intelli- 
gence that  he  himself  and  some  soldiers  of  his  corps  had  dis- 
covered an  opening  on  the  left  flank  of  our  present  encamp- 
ment, by  which  making,  indeed,  a  considerable  circuit,  but 
reaching,  if  we  marched  with  vigor,  the  town  of  Laodicea,  we 
might,  hj  falling  back  on  our  resources,  be  in  some  measure 
in  surety  from  the  enemy. 

''  So  soon  as  this  ray  of  hope  darted  on  the  troubled  mind 
of  our  gracious  father,  he  proceeded  to  make  such  arrange- 
ments as  might  secure  the  full  benefit  of  the  advantage.  His 
Imperial  Highness  would  not  permit  the  brave  Varangians, 
whose  battle-axes  he  accounted  the  flower  of  his  imperial 
army,  to  take  the  advanced  post  of  assailants  on  the  present 
occasion.  He  repressed  the  love  of  battle  by  which  these 
generous  foreigners  have  been  at  all  times  distinguished,  and 
directed  that  the  Syrian  forces  in  the  army,  who  have  been 
before  mentioned,  should  be  assembled  with  as  little  noise  as 
possible  in  the  vicinity  of  the  deserted  pass,  with  instruc- 
tions to  occupy  it.  The  good  genius  of  the  empire  suggested 
that,  as  their  speech,  arms,  and  appearance  resembled  those 
of  the  enemy,  they  might  be  permitted  unopposed  to  take  post 
in  the  defile  with  their  light-armed  forces,  and  thus  secure  it 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  55 

for  the  passage  of  the  rest  of  the  army,  of  which  he  proposed 
that  the  Varangians,  as  immediately  attached  to  his  own 
sacred  person,  should  form  the  vanguard.  The  well-known 
battalions  termed  the  Immortals*  came  next,  comprising  the 
gross  of  the  army,  and  forming  the  center  and  rear.  Achilles 
Tatius,  the  faithful  Follower  of  his  royal  master,  although 
mortified  that  he  was  not  permitted  to  assume,  the  charge  of 
the  rear,  which  he  had  proposed  for  ftimself  and  his  valiant 
troops,  as  the  post  of  danger  at  the  time,  cheerfully  acqui- 
esced, nevertheless,  in  the  arrangement  proposed  by  the  Em- 
peror, as  most  fit  to  effect  the  imperial  safety,  and  that  of 
the  army. 

'^  The  imperial  orders,  as  they  were  sent  instantly  abroad, 
were  in  like  manner  executed  with  the  readiest  punctuality, 
the  rather  that  they  indicated  a  course  of  safety  which  had 
been  almost  despaired  of  even  by  the  oldest  soldiers.  Dur- 
ing the  dead  period  of  time,  when,  as  the  divine  Homer 
tells  us,  gods  and  men  are  alike  asleep,  it  was  found  that  the 
vigilance  and  prudence  of  a  single  individual  had  provided 
safety  for  the  whole  Roman  army.  The  pinnacles  of  the 
mountain  passes  were  scarcely  touched  by  the  earliest  beams 
of  the  dawn,  when  these  beams  were  also  reflected  from  the 
steel  caps  and  spears  of  the  Syrians,  under  the  command  of 
a  captain  named  Monastras,  who,  with  his  tribe,  had  attached 
himself  to  the  empire.  The  Emperor,  at  the  head  of  his 
faithful  Varangians,  defiled  through  the  passes,  in  order  to 
gain  that  degree  of  advance  on  the  road  to  the  city  of 
Laodicea  which  was  desired,  so  as  to  avoid  coming  into  col- 
lision with  the  barbarians. 

''  It  was  a  goodly  sight  to  see  the  dark  mass  of  ISTorthern 
warriors,  who  now  led  the  van  of  the  army,  moving  slowly 
and  steadily  through  the  defiles  of  the  mountains,  around 
the  insulated  rocks  and  precipices,  and  surmounting  the 
gentler  acclivities,  like  the  course  of  a  strong  and  mighty 
river ;  while  the  loose  bands  of  archers  and  javelin-men, 
armed  after  the  Eastern  manner,  were  dispersed  on  the  steep 
sides  of  the  defiles,  and  might  be  compared  to  light  foam 
upon  the  edge  of  the  torrent.  In  the  midst  of  the  squadrons 
of  the  life-guard  might  be  seen  the  proud  vi^ar-horse  of  his 
Imperial  Majesty,  which  pawed  the  earth  indignantly,  as  if 
impatient  at  the  delay  which  separated  him  from  his  august 
burden.  The  Emperor  Alexius  himself  traveled  in  a  litter, 
borne  by  eight  strong  African  slaves,  that  he  might  rise 
perfectly  refreshed  if  the  army  should  be  overtaken  by  the 
*  See  Note  4. 


56  WA  VERLET  NOVELS 

enemy.  The  valiant  Achilles  Tatius  rode  near  the  couch  of 
his  master,  that  none  of  those  luminous  ideas  by  which  our 
august  sire  so  often  decided  the  fate  of  battle  might  be  lost 
for  want  of  instant  communication  to  those  whose  duty  it 
was  to  execute  them.  I  may  also  say  that  there  were  close 
to  the  litter  of  the  Emperor  three  or  four  carriages  of  the 
same  kind  ;  one  prepared  for  the  Moon,  as  she  may  be 
termed,  of  the  universe,  the  gracious  Empress  Irene. 
Among  the  others  which  might  be  mentioned  was  that  which 
contained  the  authoress  of  this  history,  unworthy  as  she 
may  be  of  distinction,  save  as  the  daughter  of  the  eminent 
and  sacred  persons  whom  the  narration  chiefly  concerns. 
In  this  manner  the  imperial  army  pressed  on  through  the 
dangerous  defiles,  where  their  march  was  exposed  to  insults 
from  the  barbarians.  They  were  happily  cleared  without 
any  opposition.  When  we  came  to  the  descent  of  the  pass 
which  looks  down  on  the  city  of  Laodicea,  the  sagacity  of 
the  Emperor  commanded  the  van — which,  though  the  sol- 
diers composing  the  same  were  heavily  armed,  had  hitherto 
marched  extremely  fast — to  halt,  as  well  that  they  them- 
selves might  take  some  repose  and  refreshment  as  to  give 
the  rearward  forces  time  to  come  up,  and  close  various  gaps 
which  the  rapid  movement  of  those  in  front  had  occasioned 
in  the  line  of  march. 

''  The  place  chosen  for  this  purpose  was  eminently  beauti- 
ful, from  the  small  and  comparatively  insignificant  ridge  of 
hills  which  melt  irregularly  down  into  the  plains  stretching 
between  the  pass  which  we  occupied  and  Laodicea.  The 
town  was  about  one  hundred  stadia  distant,  and  some  of  our 
more  sanguine  warriors  pretended  that  they  could  already 
discern  its  towers  and  pinnacles  glittering  in  the  early  beams 
of  the  sun,  which  had  not  as  yet  risen  high  into  the  horizon. 
A  mountain  torrent,  which  found  its  source  at  the  foot  of  a 
huge  rock  that  yawned  to  give  it  birth,  as  if  struck  by  the 
rod  of  the  prophet  Moses,  poured  its  liquid  treasure  down  to 
the  more  level  country,  nourishing  herbage,  and  even  large 
trees,  in  its  descent,  until,  at  the  distance  of  some  four  or 
five  miles,  the  stream,  at  least  in  dry  seasons,  was  lost  amid 
heaps  of  sand  and  stones,  which  in  the  rainy  season  marked 
the  strength  and  fury  of  its  current. 

*'  It  was  pleasant  to  see  the  attention  of  the  Emperor  to 
the  comforts  of  the  companions  and  guardians  of  his  march. 
The  trumpets  from  time  to  time  gave  license  to  various  par- 
ties of  the  Varangians  to  lay  down  their  arms,  to  eat  the 
food  which  was  distributed  to  them,  and  quench  their  thirst 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  f^ 

at  the  pure  stream  which  poured  its  bounties  down  the  hill, 
or  they  might  be  seen  to  extend  their  bulky  forms  upon  the 
turf  around  them.  The  Emperor,  his  most  serene  spouse, 
and  the  princesses  and  ladies  were  also  served  with  breakfast, 
at  the  fountain  formed  by  the  small  brook  in  its  very  birth, 
and  which  the  reverent  feelings  of  the  soldiers  had  left  un- 
polluted by  vulgar  touch,  for  the  use  of  that  family  emphati- 
cally said  to  be  born  in  the  purple.  Our  beloved  husband 
was  also  present  on  this  occasion,  and  was  among  the  first 
to  detect  one  of  the  disasters  of  the  day.  For,  although  all 
the  rest  of  the  repast  had  been,  by  the  dexterity  of  the  offi- 
cers of  the  imperial  mouth,  so  arranged,  even  on  so  awful 
an  occasion,  as  to  exhibit  little  difference  from  the  ordinary 
provisions  of  the  household,  yet,  when  his  Imperial  High- 
ness called  for  wine,  behold,  not  only  was  the  sacred  liquor 
dedicated  to  his  own  peculiar  imperial  use  wholly  exhausted 
or  left  behind,  but,  to  use  the  language  of  Horace,  not  the 
vilest  Sabine  vintage  could  be  procured ;  so  that  his  Im- 
perial Highness  was  glad  to  accept  the  offer  of  a  rude 
Varangian,  who  proffered  his  modicum  of  decocted  barley, 
which  these  barbarians  prefer  to  the  juice  of  the  grape. 
The  Emperor,  nevertheless,  accepted  of  this  coarse  tribute.''* 

''  Insert,"  said  the  Emperor,  who  had  been  hitherto  either 
plunged  in  deep  contemplation  or  in  an  incipient  slumber — 
*'  insert,  I  say,  these  very  words  :  '  And  with  the  heat  of  the 
morning,  and  anxiety  of  so  rapid  a  march,  with  a  numerous 
enemy  in  his  rear,  the  Emperor  was  so  thirsty  as  never  in  his 
life  to  think  beverage  more  delicious.'" 

In  obedience  to  her  imperial  father's  orders,  the  Princess 
resigned  the  manuscript  to  the  beautiful  slave  by  whom  it  was 
written,  repeating  to  the  fair  scribe  the  commanded  addition, 
requiring  her  to  note  it  as  made  by  the  express  sacred  com- 
mand of  the  Emperor,  and  then  proceeded  thus :  ^'  More  I 
had  said  here  respecting  the  favorite  liquor  of  your  Imperial 
Highness's  faithful  Varangians  ;  but  your  Highness  having 
once  graced  it  with  a  word  of  commendation,  this  ail,  as  they 
call  it,  doubtless  because  removing  all  disorders,  which  they 
term  'ailments/  becomes  a  theme  too  lofty  for  the  discus- 
sion of  any  inferior  person.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that  thus  were 
we  all  pleasantly  engaged,  the  ladies  and  slaves  trying  to  find 
some  amusement  for  the  imperial  ears ;  the  soldiers,  in  a 
long  line  down  the  ravine,  seen  in  different  postures,  some 
straggling  to  the  watercourse,  some  keeping  guard  over  the 
arms  of  their  comrades,  in  which  duty  they  relieved  each 
other,  while  body  after  body  of  the  remaining  troops,  under 


58  WA  VEBLEY  NOVELS 

command  of  the  Protospathaire,  and  particularly  those  called 
Immortals,  joined  the  main  army  as  they  came  up.  Those 
soldiers  who  were  already  exhausted  were  allowed  to  take  a 
short  repose,  after  which  they  were  sent  forward,  with  direc- 
tions to  advance  steadily  on  the  road  to  Laodicea ;  while 
their  leader  was  instructed,  so  soon  as  he  should  open  a  free 
communication  with  that  city,  to  send  thither  a  command 
for  reinforcements  and  refreshments,  not  forgetting  fitting 
provision  of  the  sacred  wine  for  the  imperial  mouth.  Ac- 
cordingly, the  Roman  bands  of  Immortals  and  others  had 
resumed  their  march,  and  held  some  way  on  their  journey, 
it  being  the  imperial  pleasure  that  the  Varangians,  lately  the 
vanguard,  should  now  form  the  rear  of  the  whole  army,  so  as 
to  bring  off  in  safety  the  Syrian  light  troops,  by  whom  the 
hilly  pass  was  still  occupied,  when  we  heard  upon  the  other 
side  of  this  defile,  which  we  had  traversed  with  so  much 
safety,  the  awful  sound  of  the  Mies,  as  the  Arabs  name  their 
shout  of  onset,  though  in  what  language  it  is  expressed  it 
would  be  hard  to  say.  Perchance  some  in  this  audience  may 
enlighten  my  ignorance  ?" 

**  May  I  speak  and  live  ^"  said  the  Acoulouthos  Achilles, 
proud  of  his  literary  knowledge,  the  words  are,  Alia  ilia 
Alia;  Mohammed  resoul  Alla."^  These,  or  something  like 
them,  contain  the  Arabs'  profession  of  faith,  which  they 
always  call  out  when  they  join  battle ;  I  have  heard  them 
many  times/' 

'^  And  so  have  I,"  said  the  Emperor  ;  '^and  as  thou  didst, 
I  warrant  me,  I  have  sometimes  wished  myself  anywhere  else 
than  within  hearing/' 

All  the  circle  were  alive  to  hear  the  answer  of  Achilles 
Tatius.  He  was  too  good  a  courtier,  however,  to  make  any 
imprudent  reply.  ''  It  was  my  duty/'  he  replied,  '*  to  desire 
to  be  as  near  your  Imperial  Highness  as  your  faithful  Fol- 
lower ought,  wherever  you  might  wish  yourself  for  the  time." 

Agelastes  and  Zosimus  exchanged  looks  ;  and  the  Princess 
Anna  Comneno  proceeded  in  her  recitation. 

''  The  cause  of  these  ominous  sounds,  which  came  in  wild 
confusion  up  the  rocky  pass,  was  soon  explained  to  us  by  a 
dozen  cavaliers,  to  whom  the  task  of  bringing  intelligence 
had  been  assigned." 

^^  These  informed  us  that  the  barbarians,  whose  host  had 

been  dispersed  around  the  position  in  which  we  had  encamped 

the    preceding   day,  had   not   been    enabled    to   get   their 

forces  together  until  our  light  troops  were  evacuating  the 

*t.e.  "  God  is  God — Mahomet  is  the  prophet  of  God." 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  FAIUS  59 

post  they  had  occupied  for  securing  the  retreat  of  our 
army.  They  were  then  drawing  off  from  the  tops  of  the 
hills  into  the  pass  itself,  when,  in  despite  of  the  rocky 
ground,  they  were  charged  furiously  by  Jezdegerd,  at  the 
head  of  a  large  body  of  his  followers,  which,  after  repeated 
exertions,  he  had  at  length  brought  to  operate  on  the  rear  of 
the  Syrians.  Notwithstanding  that  the  pass  was  unfavorable 
for  cavalry,  the  personal  exertions  of  the  infidel  chief  made 
his  followers  advance  with  a  degree  of  resolution  unknown  to 
the  Syrians  of  the  Eoman  army,  who,  finding  themselves  at 
a  distance  from  their  companions,  formed  the  injurious  idea 
that  they  were  left  there  to  be  sacrificed,  and  thought  of 
flight  in  various  directions  rather  than  of  a  combined  and 
resolute  resistance.  The  state  of  affairs,  therefore,  at  the 
further  end  of  the  pass,  was  less  favorable  than  we  could  > 
wish,  and  those  whose  curiosity  desired  to  see  something 
which  might  be  termed  the  rout  of  the  rear  of  an  army  be- 
held the  Syrians  pursued  from  the  hill-tops,  overwhelmed, 
and  individually  cut  down  and  made  prisoners  by  the  bands 
of  caitiff  Mussulmans. 

"  His  Imperial  Highness  looked  upon  the  scene  of  battle 
for  a  few  minutes,  and,  much  commoved  at  what  he  saw,  was 
somewhat  hasty  in  his  directions  to  the  Varangians  to  resume 
their  arms,  and  precipitate  their  march  towards  Laodicea ; 
whereupon  one  of  those  Northern  soldiers  said  boldly, 
though  in  opposition  to  the  Imperial  command,  *  If  we  at- 
tempt to  go  hastily  down  this  hill,  our  rear-guard  will  be 
confused,  not  only  by  our  own  hurry,  but  by  these  runaway 
scoundrels  of  Syrians,  who  in  their  headlong  flight  will  not 
fail  to  mix  themselves  among  our  ranks.  Let  two  hundred 
Varangians,  who  will  live  and  die  for  the  honor  of  England, 
abide  in  the  very  throat  of  this  pass  with  me,  while  the  rest 
escort  the  Emperor  to  this  Laodicea,  or  whatever  it  is  called. 
We  may  perish  in  our  defense,  but  we  shall  die  in  our  duty  ; 
and  I  have  little  doubt  but  we  shall  furnish  such  a  meal  as 
will  stay  the  stomach  of  these  yelping  hounds  from  seeking 
any  farther  banquet  this  day.' 

*'  My  imperial  father  at  once  discovered  the  importance 
of  this  advice,  though  it  made  him  wellnigh  weep  to  see  with 
what  unshrinking  fidelity  these  poor  barbarians  pressed  to 
fill  up  the  number  of  those  who  were  to  undertake  this  des- 
perate duty,  with  what  kindness  they  took  leave  of  their 
comrades,  and  with  what  jovial  shouts  they  followed  their 
sovereign  with  their  eyes  as  he  proceeded  on  his  march  down 
the  hill,  leaving  them  behind  to  resist  and  perish.      The 


I 


60  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

imperial  eyes  were  filled  with  tears  ;  and  I  am  not  ashamed 
to  confess  that,  amid  the  terror  of  the  moment,  the  Empress, 
and  I  myself,  forgot  our  rank  in  paying  a  similar  tribute  to 
these  bold  and  self-devoted  men. 

^ '  We  left  their  leader  carefully  arraying  his  handful  of 
comrades  in  defence  of  the  pass,  where  the  middle  path  was 
occupied  by  their  center,  while  their  wings  on  either  side 
were  so  disposed  as  to  act  upon  the  flanks  of  the  enemy, 
should  he  rashly  press  upon  such  as  appeared  opposed  to  him 
in  the  road.  We  had  not  proceeded  half-way  towards  the 
plain  when  a  dreadful  shout  arose,  in  which  the  yells  of  the 
Arabs  were  mingled  with  the  deep  and  more  regular  shout 
which  these  strangers  usually  repeat  thrice,  as  well  when 
bidding  hail  to  their  commanders  and  princes  as  when  in  the 
act  of  engaging  in  battle.  Many  a  look  was  turned  back  by 
their  comrades,  and  many  a  form  was  seen  in  the  ranks 
which  might  have  claimed  the  chisel  of  a  sculptor,  while  the 
soldier  hesitated  whether  to  follow  the  line  of  his  duty,  which 
called  him  to  march  forward  with  his  Emperor,  or  the  im 
ulse  of  courage,  which  prompted  him  to  rush  back  to  join 
is  companions.  Discipline,  however,  prevailed,  and  the 
main  body  marched  on. 

*'  An  hour  had  elapsed,  during  which  we  heard,  from  time 
to  time,  the  noise  of  battle,  when  a  mounted  Varangian  pre- 
sented himself  at  the  side  of  the  Emperor's  litter.  The  horse 
was  covered  with  foam,  and  had  obviously,  from  his  trap- 
pings, the  fineness  of  his  limbs,  and  the  smallness  of  his  joints, 
been  the  charger  of  some  chief  of  the  desert,  which  had  fallen 
by  the  chance  of  battle  into  the  possession  of  the  Northern 
warrior.  The  broad  ax  which  the  Varangian  bore  was  also 
stained  with  blood,  and  the  paleness  of  death  itself  was  upon 
his  countenance.  These  marks  of  recent  battle  were  held 
sufficient  to  excuse  the  irregularity  of  his  salutation,  while 
he  exclaimed — *  Noble  prince,  the  Arabs  are  defeated,  and 
you  may  pursue  your  march  at  more  leisure.^ 

^' '  Where  is  Jezdegerd  ?  '  said  the  Emperor,  who  had  many 
reasons  for  dreading  this  celebrated  chief. 

**  'Jezdegerd,'  continued  the  Varangian,  *  is  where  brave 
men  are  who  fall  in  their  duty.^ 

*'  'And  that  is '  said  the  Emperor,  impatient  to  know 

distinctly  the  fate  of  so  formidable  an  adversary. 

(t  ( 'V\^here  I  am  now  going,'  answered  the  faithful  soldier, 
who  dropped  from  his  horse  as  he  spoke,  and  expired  at  the 
feet  of  the  litter-bearers. 

*'The  Emperor  called  to  his  attendants  to  see  that  the 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  61 

body  of  this  faithful  retainer,  to  whom  he  destined  an 
honorable  sepulcher,  was  not  left  to  the  jackall  or  vulture  ; 
and  some  of  his  brethren,  the  Anglo-Saxons,  among  whom 
he  was  a  man  of  no  mean  repute,  raised  the  body  on  their 
shoulders,  and  resumed  their  march  with  this  additional 
incumbrance,  prepared  to  fight  for  their  precious  burden, 
like  the  valiant  Menelaus  for  the  body  of  Patroclus/' 

The  Princess  Anna  Comnena  here  naturally  paused ;  for, 
having  attained  what  she  probubly  considered  as  the  round- 
ing of  a  period,  she  was  willing  to  gather  an  idea  of  the 
feelings  of  her  audience.  Indeed,  but  that  she  had  been 
intent  upon  her  own  manuscript,  the  emotions  of  the 
foreign  soldier  must  have  more  early  attracted  her  attention. 
In  the  beginning  of  her  recitation,  he  had  retained  the 
same  attitude  which  he  had  at  first  assumed,  stiff  and  rigid 
as  a  sentinel  upon  duty,  and  apparently  remembering  noth- 
ing, save  that  he  was  performing  that  duty  in  presence  of 
the  imperial  court.  As  the  narrative  advanced,  however, 
he  appeared  to  take  more  interest  in  what  was  read.  The 
anxious  fears  expressed  by  the  various  leaders  in  the  mid- 
night council  he  listened  to  with  a  smile  of  suppressed 
contempt,  and  he  almost  laughed  at  the  praises  bestowed 
upon  the  leader  of  his  own  corps,  Achilles  Tatius.  Nor  did 
even  the  name  of  the  Emperor,  though  listened  to  respect- 
fully, gain  that  applause  for  which  his  daughter  fought  so 
hard,  and  used  so  much  exaggeration. 

Hitherto  the  Varangian^s  countenance  indicated  very 
slightly  any  internal  emotions ;  but  they  appeared  to  take 
a  deeper  hold  on  his  mind  as  she  came  to  the  description 
of  the  halt  after  the  main  army  had  cleared  the  pass,  the 
unexpected  advance  of  the  Arabs,  the  retreat  of  the  column 
which  escorted  the  Emperor,  and  the  account  of  the  distant 
engagement.  He  lost,  on  hearing  the  narration  of  these 
events,  the  rigid  and  constrained  look  of  a  soldier,  who 
listened  to  the  history  of  his  Emperor  with  the  same  feel- 
ings with  which  he  would  have  mounted  guard  at  his  palace. 
His  color  began  to  come  and  go,  his  eyes  to  fill  and  to 
sparkle,  his  limbs  to  become  more  agitated  than  their 
owner  seemed  to  assent  to,  and  his  whole  appearance  was 
changed  into  that  of  a  listener  highly  interested  by  the 
recitation  which  he  hears,  and  insensible,  or  forgetful,  of 
whatever  else  is  passing  before  him,  as  well  as  of  the  quality 
of  those  who  are  present. 

As  tlie  historian  proceeded,  Hereward  became  less  able  to 
conceal  his  agitation;  and  at  the  moment  the  Princess  looked 


62  WA  VERLEY  NO  VEL  S 

round,  his  feelings  became  so  acute  that,  forgetting  when 
he  was,  he  dropped  his  ponderous  ax  upon  the  floor,  and, 
clasping  his  hands  together,  exclaimed,  "  My  unfortunate 
brother  ! '' 

All  were  startled  by  the  clang  of  the  falling  weapon,  and 
several  persons  at  once  attempted  to  interfere,  as  called 
upon  to  explain  a  circumstance  so  unusual.  Achilles  Tatius 
made  some  small  progress  in  a  speech  designed  to  apologize 
ior  the  rough  mode  of  venting  his  sorrows  to  which  Here- 
ward  had  given  away,  by  assuring  the  eminent  persons 
present  that  the  poor  uncultivated  barbarian  was  actually 
younger  brother  to  him  who  had  commanded  and  fallen  at 
the  memorable  defile.  The  Princess  said  nothing,  but  was 
evidently  struck  and  affected,  and  not  ill-pleased,  perhaps, 
at  having  given  rise  to  feelings  of  interest  so  flattering  to 
her  as  an  authoress.  The  others,  each  in  their  character, 
uttered  incoherent  words  of  what  was  meant  to  be  con- 
solation ;  for  distress  which  flows  from  a  natural  cause 
generally  attracts  sympathy  even  from  the  most  artificial 
characters.  The  voice  of  Alexius  silenced  all  these  im- 
perfect speakers.  "  Hah,  my  brave  soldier,  Edward  ! "  said 
the  Emperor,  "  I  must  have  been  blind  that  I  did  nt)t  sooner 
recognize  thee,  as  I  think  there  is  a  memorandum  entered 
respecting  five  hundred  pieces  of  gold  due  from  us  to 
Edward  the  Varangian ;  we  have  it  in  our  secret  scroll  of 
such  liberalities  for  which  we  stand  indebted  to  our  ser- 
vitors, nor  shall  the  payment  be  longer  deferred." 

'^  Not  to  me,  if  it  may  please  you,  my  liege,"  said  the 
Anglo-Dame,  hastily  composing  his  countenance  into  its 
rough  gravity  of  lineament,  ^^lest  it  should  be  to  one  who 
can  claim  no  interest  in  your  imperial  munificence.  My  name 
is  Hereward  ;  that  of  Edward  is  borne  by  three  of  my  com- 
panions, all  of  them  as  likely  as  I  to  have  deserved  your 
Highnesses  reward  for  the  faithful  performance  of  their 
duty." 

Many  a  sign  was  made  by  Tatius  in  order  to  guard  his 
soldier  against  the  folly  of  declining  the  liberality  of  the 
Emperor. 

Agelastes  spoke  more  plainly.  '^  Young  man,"  he  said, 
'^  rejoice  in  an  honor  so  unexpected,  and  answer  hence- 
forth to  no  other  name  save  that  of  Edward,  by  which  ib 
hath  pleased  the  light  of  the  world,  as  it  poured  a  ray  upon 
thee,  to  distinguish  thee  from  other  barbarians.  What  is 
to  thee  the  font-stone,  or  the  priest  officiating  thereat, 
shouldst  thou  have  derived  from  either  any  epithet  different 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  63 

from  that  by  which  it  hath  now  pleased  the  Emperor  to 
distinguish  thee  from  the  common  mass  of  humanity,  and 
by  which  proud  distinction  thou  hast  now  a  right  to  be 
known  ever  afterwards  ?*' 

'^Hereward  [Waltheoff]  was  the  name  of  my  father/'  said 
the  soldier,who  had  now  altogether  recovered  his  composure. 
'^  I  cannot  abandon  it  while  I  honor  his  memory  in  death. 
Edward  is  the  title  of  my  comrade  ;  I  must  not  run  the  risk 
of  usurping  his  interest/' 

^'  Peace  all !"  interrupted  the  Emperor.  ''If  we  have 
made  a  mistake,  we  are  rich  enough  to  right  it ;  nor  shall 
Hereward  be  the  poorer,  if  an  Edward  shall  be  found  to 
merit  this  gratuity.'' 

"  Your  Highness  may  trust  that  to  your  affectionate  con- 
sort," answered  the  Empress  Irene. 

''  His  Most  Sacred  Highness,"  said  the  Princess  Anna 
Comnena,  ''is  so  avariciously  desirous  to  do  whatever  is 
good  and  gracious,  that  he  leaves  no  room  even  for  his 
nearest  connections  to  display  generosity  or  munificence. 
Nevertheless,  I,  in  my  degree,  will  testify  my  gratitude  to 
this  brave  man  ;  for  where  his  exploits  are  mentioned  in  this 
history  I  will  cause  to  be  recorded,  *  This  feat  was  done  by 
Hereward  the  Anglo-Dane,  whom  it  hath  pleased  his  Im- 
perial Majesty  to  call  Edward.'  Keep  this,  good  youth," 
she  continued,  bestowing  at  the  same  time  a  ring  of  price, 
''  in  token  that  we  will  not  forget  our  engagement." 

Hereward  accepted  the  token  with  a  profound  obeisance, 
and  a  discomposure  which  his  station  rendered  not  unbe- 
coming. It  was  obvious  to  most  persons  present  that  the 
gratitude  of  the  beautiful  princess  was  expressed  in  a  man- 
ner more  acceptable  to  the  youthful  life-guardsman  than 
that  of  Alexius  Comnenus.  He  took  the  ring  with  great 
demonstration  of  thankfulness.  ''  Precious  relic  ! "  he  said, 
as  he  saluted  this  pledge  of  esteem  by  pressing  it  to  his  lips  ; 
"we  may  not  remain  long  together,  but  be  assured,"  bending 
reverently  to  the  Princess,  ''  that  death  alone  shall  part  us." 

''Proceed,  our  princely  daughter,"  said  the  Empress 
Irene ;  "  you  have  done  enough  to  show  that  valor  is 
precious  to  her  who  can  confer  fame,  whether  it  be  found  in 
a  Koman  or  a  barbarian." 

The  Princess  resumed  her  narrative  with  some  slight 
appearance  of  embarrassment. 

"  Our  movement  upon  Laodicea  was  now  resumed,  and 
continued  with  good  hopes  on  the  part  of  those  engaged  in 
the  march.     Yet  instinctively  we  could  not  help  casting  our 


64  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

eyes  to  the  rear,  which  had  been  so  long  the  direction  in 
which  we  feared  attack.  At  length,  to  our  surprise,  a  thick 
cloud  of  dust  was  visible  on  the  descent  of  the  hill,  half-way 
betwixt  us  and  the  place  at  which  we  had  halted.  Some  of 
the  troops  who  composed  our  retreating  body,  particularly 
those  in  the  rear,  began  to  exclaim,  ''  The  Arabs — the 
Arabs  !  '^  and  their  march  assumed  a  more  precipitate 
character  when  they  believed  themselves  pursued  by  the 
enemy.  But  the  Varangian  guards  affirmed  with  one  voice 
that  the  dust  was  raised  by  the  remains  of  their  own  com- 
rades, who,  left  in  the  defense  of  the  pass,  had  marched  off 
after  having  so  valiantly  maintained  the  station  intrusted  to 
them.  They  fortified  their  opinion  by  professional  remarks 
that  the  cloud  of  dust  was  more  concentrated  than  if  raised 
by  the  Arab  horse,  and  they  even  pretended  to  assert,  from 
their  knowledge  of  such  cases,  that  the  number  of  their 
comrades  had  been  much  diminished  in  the  action.  Some 
Syrian  horsemen,  despatched  to  reconnoiter  the  approaching 
body,  brought  intelligence  corresponding  with  the  opinion 
of  the  Varangians  in  every  particular.  The  portion  of  the 
body  guard  had  beaten  back  the  Arabs,  and  their  gallant 
leader  had  slain  their  chief  Jezdegerd,  in  which  service  he 
was  mortally  wounded,  as  this  history  hath  already  men- 
tioned. The  survivors  of  the  detachment,  diminished  by 
one  half,  were  now  on  their  march  to  join  the  Emperor,  as 
fast  as  the  incumbrance  of  bearing  their  wounded  to  a  place 
of  safety  would  permit. 

"The  Emperor  Alexius,  with  one  of  those  brilliant  and 
benevolent  ideas  which  mark  his  paternal  character  towards 
his  soldiers,  ordered  all  the  litters,  even  that  for  his  own 
most  sacred  use,  to  be  instantly  sent  back  to  relieve  the  bold 
Varangians  of  the  task  of  bearing  the  wounded.  The  shouts 
of  the  Varangians'  gratitude  may  be  more  easily  conceived 
than  described,  when  they  beheld  the  Emperor  himself 
descend  from  his  litter,  like  an  ordinary  cavalier,  and  assume 
his  war-horse,  at  the  same  time  that  the  Most  Sacred  Em- 
press, as  well  as  the  authoress  of  this  history,  with  other 
princesses  born  in  the  purple,  mounted  upon  mules,  in  order 
to  proceed  upon  the  march,  while  their  litters  were  unhesi- 
tatingly assigned  for  the  accommodation  of  the  wounded 
men.  This  was  indeed  a  mark  as  well  of  military  sagacity 
as  of  humanity  ;  for  the  relief  afforded  to  the  bearers  of  the 
wounded  enabled  the  survivors  of  those  who  had  defended 
the  defile  at  the  fountain  to  join  us  sooner  than  would 
o^^^herwise  have  been  possible. 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  65 

"  It  was  an  awful  thing  to  see  those  men  who  had  left  us 
in  the  full  splendor  which  militarj^  equipment  gives  to  youth 
and  strength  again  appearing  in  diminished  numbers — their 
armor  shattered,  their  shields  full  of  arrows,  their  offensive 
weapons  marked  with  blood,  and  they  themselves  exhibiting 
all  the  signs  of  desperate  and  recent  battle.  Nor  was  it  less 
interesting  to  remark  the  meeting  of  the  soldiers  who  had 
been  engaged  with  the  comrades  whom  they  had  rejoined. 
The  Emperor,  at  the  suggestion  of  the  trusty  Acoulouthos, 
permitted  them  a  few  moments  to  leave  their  ranks,  and 
learn  from  each  other  the  fate  of  the  battle. 

^^As  the  two  bands  mingled,  it  seemed  a  meeting  where 
grief  and  joy  had  a  contest  together.  The  most  rugged  of 
these  barbarians — and  I  who  saw  it  can  bear  witness  to  the 
fact — as  he  welcomed  with  a  grasp  of  his  strong  hand  some 
comrade  whom  he  had  given  up  for  lost,  had  his  large  blue 
eyes  filled  with  tears  at  hearing  of  the  loss  of  some  one  whom 
he  had  hoped  might  have  survived.  Other  veterans  reviewed 
the  standards  which  had  been  in  the  conflict,  satisfied  them- 
selves that  they  had  all  been  brought  back  in  honor  and 
safety,  and  counted  the  fresh  arrow-shots  with  which  they 
had  been  pierced,  in  addition  to  similar  marks  of  former 
battles.  All  were  loud  in  the  praises  of  the  brave  young 
leader  they  had  lost,  nor  were  the  acclamations  less  general 
in  laud  of  him  who  had  succeeded  to  the  command,  who 
brought  up  the  party  of  his  deceased  brother,  and  whom," 
said  the  Princess,  in  a  few  words  which  seemed  apparently 
interpolated  for  the  occasion,  "  I  now  assure  of  the  high 
honor  and  estimation  in  which  he  is  held  by  the  author  of 
this  history — that  is,  I  would  say,  by  every  member  of  the 
imperial  family — for  his  gallant  services  in  such  an  impor- 
tant crisis.''^ 

Having  hurried  over  her  tribute  to  her  friend  the  Varan- 
gian, in  which  emotions  mingled  that  are  not  willingly  ex- 
pressed before  so  many  hearers,  Anna  Comnena  proceeded 
with  composure  in  the  part  of  her  history  which  was  less 
personal. 

^'  We  had  not  much  time  to  make  more  observations  on 
what  passed  among  those  brave  soldiers  ;  for,  a  few  minutes 
having  been  allowed  to  their  feelings,  the  trumpet  sounded 
the  advance  towards  Laodicea,  and  we  soon  beheld  the  town, 
now  about  four  miles  from  us,  in  fields  which  were  chiefly 
covered  with  trees.  Apparently  the  garrison  had  already 
some  notice  of  our  approach,  for  carts  and  wains  were  seen 
advancing  from  the  gates  with  refreshments,  which  the  heat 
5 


66  WAVEBLET  NOVELS 

of  fche  day,  the  length  of  the  march,  and  columns  of  dnst,  as 
well  as  the  want  of  water,  had  rendered  of  the  last  necessity 
to  us.  The  soldiers  joyfully  mended  their  pace  in  order  to 
meet  the  sooner  with  the  supplies  of  which  they  stood  so 
much  in  need.  But  as  the  cup  doth  not  carry  in  all  cases 
the  liquid  treasure  to  the  lips  for  which  it  was  intended, 
however  much  it  may  be  longed  for,  what  was  our  mortifica- 
tion to  behold  a  cloud  of  Arabs  issue  at  full  gallop  from  the 
wooded  plain  betwixt  the  Koman  army  and  the  city,  and 
throw  themselves  upon  the  wagons,  slaying  the  drivers^ 
and  making  havoc  and  spoil  of  the  contents  !  This,  we 
afterwards  learned,  was  a  body  of  the  enemy,  headed  by 
Varanes,  equal  in  military  fame  among  those  infidels  to  Jez- 
degerd,  his  slain  brother.  When  this  chieftain  saw  that  it 
was  probable  that  the  Varangians  would  succeed  in  their 
desperate  defense  of  the  pass,  he  put  himself  at  the  head  of 
a  large  body  of  cavalry  ;  and,  as  these  infidels  are  mounted 
on  horses  unmatched  either  in  speed  or  wind,  performed  a 
long  circuit,  traversed  the  stony  ridge  of  hills  at  a  more 
northerly  defile,  and  placed  himself  in  ambuscade  in  the 
wooded  plain  I  have  mentioned,  with  the  hope  of  making 
an  unexpected  assault  upon  the  Emperor  and  his  army,  at 
the  very  time  when  they  might  be  supposed  to  reckon  upon 
an  undisputed  retreat.  This  surprise  would  certainly  have 
taken  place,  and  it  is  not  easy  to  say  what  might  have  been 
the  consequence,  had  not  the  unexpected  appearance  of  the 
train  of  wagons  awakened  the  unbridled  rapacity  of  the 
Arabs,  in  spite  of  their  commander's  prudence  and  attempts 
to  restrain  them.  In  this  manner  the  proposed  ambuscade 
was  discovered. 

^'  But  Varanes,  willing  still  to  gain  some  advantage  from 
the  rapidity  of  his  movements,  assembled  as  many  of  his 
horsemen  as  could  be  collected  from  the  spoil,  and  pushed 
forward  towards  the  Eomans,  who  had  stopped  short  on  their 
march  at  so  unlooked-for  an  apparition.  There  was  an  un- 
certainty and  wavering  in  our  first  ranks  which  made  their 
hesitation  known  even  to  so  poor  a  judge  of  military  de- 
meanor as  myself.  On  the  contrary,  the  Varangians  joined 
in  a  unanimous  cry  of  ^'  Bills  "  * — that  is,  in  their  language, 
battle-axes — ^'  to  the  front  ! "  and  the  Emperor's  most  gra- 
cious will  acceding  to  their  valorous  desire,  they  pressed 
forward  from  the  rear  to  the  head  of  the  column.  I  can 
hardly  say  how  this  maneuver  was   executed,  but   it   was 

*  Villehardouin  says,  "  Les  Anglois  et  Danois  mult  bien  combat- 
toient  avec  leur  haches.^^ 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  67 

doubtless  by  the  wise  directions  of  my  most  serene  father, 
distinguished  for  his  presence  of  mind  upon  such  difficult 
occasions.  It  was,  no  doubt,  much  facilitated  by  the  good- 
will of  the  troops  themselves  ;  the  Eoman  bands,  called  the 
Immortals,  showing,  as  it  seemed  to  me,  no  less  desire  to 
fall  into  the  rear  than  did  the  Varangians  to  occupy  the 
places  which  the  Immortals  left  vacant  in  front.  The  man 
euver  was  so  happily  executed  that,  before  Varanes  and  his 
Arabs  had  arrived  at  the  van  of  our  troops,  they  found  it 
occupied  by  the  inflexible  guard  of  Northern  soldiers'.  I 
might  have  seen  with  my  own  eyes,  and  called  upon  them  as 
sure  evidences  of  that  which  chanced  upon  the  occasion. 
But,  to  confess  the  truth,  my  eyes  were  little  used  to  look 
upon  such  sights ;  for  of  Varane's  charge  I  only  beheld,  as 
it  were,  a  thick  cloud  of  dust  rapidly  driven  forward,  through 
which  were  seen  the  glittering  points  of  lances,  and  the 
waving  plumes  of  turbaned  cavaliers  imperfectly  visible. 
The  tecbir  was  so  loudly  uttered,  that  I  was  scarcely  aware 
that  kettledrums  and  brazen  cymbals  were  sounding  in  con- 
cert with  it.  But  this  wild  and  outrageous  storm  was  met 
as  effectually  as  if  encountered  by  a  rock. 

''  The  Varangians,  unshaken  by  the  furious  charge  of  the 
Arabs,  received  horse  and  rider  with  a  shower  of  blows  from 
their  massive  battle-axes,  which  the  bravest  of  the  enemy 
could  not  face,  nor  the  strongest  endure.  The  guards 
strengthened  their  ranks  also,  by  the  hindmost  pressing  so 
close  upon  those  that  went  before,  after  the  manner  of  the 
ancient  Macedonians,  that  the  fine-limbed,  though  slight, 
steeds  of  these  Idumeans  could  not  make  the  least  inroad 
upon  the  Northern  phalanx.  The  bravest  men,  the  most 
gallant  horses,  fell  in  the  first  rank.  The  weighty,  though 
short,  horse  javelins,  flung  from  the  rear  ranks  of  the  brave 
Varangians  with  good  aim  and  sturdy  arm,  completed  the 
confusion  of  the  assailants,  who  turned  their  back  in  affright 
and  fled  from  the  field  in  total  confusion. 

^"^The  enemy  thus  repulsed,  we  proceeded  on  our  march, 
and  only  halted  when  we  recovered  our  half-plundered  wag- 
ons. Here,  also,  some  invidious  remarks  were  made  by  cer- 
tain officers  of  the  interior  of  the  household,  who  had  been 
on  duty  over  the  stores,  and,  having  fled  from  their  posts  on 
the  assault  of  the  infidels,  had  only  returned  upon  their  be- 
ing repulsed.  These  men,  quick  in  malice,  though  slow  in 
perilous  service,  reported  that,  on  this  occasion,  the  Varan- 
gians so  far  forgot  their  duty  as  to  consume  a  part  of  the 
sacred  wine  reserved  for  the  imperial  lips  alone.     It  would 


68  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

be  criminal  to  deny  that  this  was  a  great  and  culpable  over- 
sight ;  nevertheless,  our  imperial  hero  passed  it  over  as  a 
pardonable  offense,  remarking,  in  a  jesting  manner,  that 
since  he  had  drank  the  ail,  as  they  termed  it,  of  his  trusty 
guard,  the  Varangians  had  acquired  a  right  to  quench  the 
thirst  and  to  relieve  the  fatigue  which  they  had  undergone 
that  day  in  his  defense,  though  they  used  for  these  purposes 
the  sacred  contents  of  the  imperial  cellar. 

^'^  In  the  meantime,  the  cavalry  of  the  army  were  des- 
patched in  pursuit  of  the  fugitive  Arabs  ;  and  having  suc- 
ceeded in  driving  them  behind  the  chain  of  hills  which  had 
so  recently  divided  them  from  the  Romans,  the  imperial  arms 
might  Justly  be  considered  as  having  obtained  a  complete 
and  glorious  victory. 

^'  We  are  now  to  mention  the  rejoicings  of  the  citizens  of 
Laodicea,  who,  having  witnessed  from  their  ramparts,  with 
alternate  fear  and  hope,  the  fluctuations  of  the  battle,  now 
descended  to  congratulate  the  imperial  conqueror.'' 

Here  the  fair  narrator  was  interrupted.  The  principal 
entrance  of  the  apartment  flew  open,  noiselessly  indeed,  but 
with  both  folding  leaves  at  once,  not  as  if  to  accommodate 
the  entrance  of  an  ordinary  courtier,  studying  to  create  as 
little  disturbance  as  possible,  but  as  if  there  was  entering  a 
person  who  ranked  so  high  as  to  make  it  indifferent  how 
much  attention  was  drawn  to  his  motions.  It  could  only  be 
one  born  in  the  purple,  or  nearly  allied  to  it,  to  whom  such 
freedom  was  lawful  ;  and  most  of  the  guests,  knowing  who 
were  likely  to  appear  in  that  temple  of  the  Muses,  antici- 
pated, from  the  degree  of  bustle,  the  arrival  of  Nicephoriis 
BrienniuSjthe  son-in-law  of  Alexius  Comnenus,  the  husband 
to  the  fair  historian,  and  in  the  rank  of  Caesar,  which,  how- 
ever, did  not  at  that  period  imply,  as  in  early  ages,  the  dignity 
of  second  person  in  the  empire.  The  policy  of  Alexius  had 
interposed  more  than  one  person  of  condition  between  the 
Caesar  and  his  original  rights  and  rank,  which  had  once  been 
second  to  those  only  of  the  Emperor  himself. 


CHAPTER  V 

The  storm  increases :  'tis  no  sunny  shower, 
Foster'd  in  the  moist  breast  of  March  or  April, 
Or  such  as  parched  summer  cools  his  lip  with. 
Heaven's  windows  are  flung  wide  ;  the  inmost  deeps 
Call  in  hoarse  greeting  one  upon  another ; 
On  comes  the  flood  in  all  its  foaming  horrors, 
And  Where's  the  dike  shall  stop  it  ?  * 

The  Deluge,  a  Poem, 

The  distinguished  individual  who  entered  was  a  noble  Gre- 
cian, of  stately  presence,  whose  habit  was  adorned  with  every 
mark  of  dignity,  saving  those  which  Alexius  had  declared 
sacred  to  the  Emperor^s  own  person  and  that  of  theSebasto- 
crator,  whom  he  had  established  as  next  in  rank  to  the  head 
of  the  empire.  Nicephorus  Briennius,  who  was  in  the  bloom 
of  youth,  retained  all  the  marks  of  that  manly  beauty  which 
had  made  the  match  acceptable  to  Anna  Comnena  ;  while 
political  considerations,  and  the  desire  of  attaching  a  power- 
ful house  as  friendly  adherents  of  the  throne,  recommended 
the  union  to  the  Emperor. 

We  have  already  hinted  that  the  royal  bride  had,  though 
in  no  great  degree,  the  very  doubtful  advantage  of  years. 
Of  her  literary  talents  we  have  seen  tokens.  Yet  it  was  not 
believed  by  those  who  best  knew  that,  with  the  aid  of  those 
claims  to  respect,  Anna  Comnena  was  successful  in  possess- 
ing the  unlimited  attachment  of  her  handsome  husband. 
To  treat  her  with  apparent  neglect,  her  connection  with  the 
crown  rendered  impossible;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
power  of  Nicephorus^s  family  was  too  great  to  permit  his  be- 
ing dictated  to  even  by  the  Emperor  himself.  He  was  pos- 
sessed of  talents,  as  it  was  believed,  calculated  both  for  war 
and  peace.  His  advice  was,  therefore,  listened  to,  and  his 
assistance  required,  so  that  he  claimed  complete  liberty  with 
respect  to  his  own  time,  which  he  sometimes  used  with  less 
regular  attendance  upon  the  temple  of  the  Muses  than  the 
goddess  of  the  place  thought  herself  entitled  to,  or  than  the 

*  These  lines  were  j)enned  impromptu  one  wet  afternoon  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1831,  while  taking  refuge  in  the  late  Mr.  Cadell's  house,  Edin- 
burgh (Laing). 


70  WAVERLET  NOVELS 

Empress  Irene  was  disposed  to  exact  on  the  part  of  her 
daughter.  The  good-humored  Alexius  observed  a  sort  of 
neutrality  in  this  matter,  and  kept  it  as  much  as  possible 
from  becoming  visible  to  the  public,  conscious  that  it  re- 
quired the  whole  united  strength  of  his  family  to  maintain 
his  place  in  so  agitated  an  empire. 

He  pressed  his  son-in-law's  hand,  as  Nicephorus,  passing 
his  father-in-law's  seat,  bent  his  knee  in  token  of  homage. 
The  constrained  manner  of  the  Empress  indicated  a  more 
cold  reception  of  son-in-law,  while  the  fair  muse  herself 
scarcely  deigned  to  signify  her  attention  to  his  arrival,  when 
her  handsome  mate  assumed  the  vacant  seat  by  her  side, 
which  we  have  already  made  mention  of. 

There  was  an  awkward  pause,  during  which  the  imperial 
son-in-law,  coldly  received  when  he  expected  to  be  wel- 
comed, attempted  to  enter  into  some  light  conversation  with 
the  fair  slave  Astarte,  who  knelt  behind  her  mistress.  This 
was  interrupted  by  the  Princess  commanding  her  attendant 
to  inclose  the  manuscript  within  its  appropriate  casket,  and 
convey  it  with  her  own  hands  to  the  cabinet  of  Apollo,  the 
usual  scene  of  the  Princess's  studies,  as  the  temple  of  the 
Muses  was  that  commonly  dedicated  to  her  recitations. 

The  Emperor  himself  was  the  first  to  break  an  unpleasant 
silence,  "  Fair  son-in-law,''  he  said,  ^^  though  it  now  wears 
something  late  in  the  night,  you  will  do  yourself  wrong  if 
you  permit  our  Anna  to  send  away  that  volume,  with  which 
this  company  have  been  so  delectably  entertained  that  they 
may  well  say  that  the  desert  hath  produced  roses,  and  the 
barren  rocks  have  poured  forth  milk  and  honey,  so  agree- 
able is  the  narrative  of  a  toilsome  and  dangerous  campaign 
in  the  language  of  our  daughter. '' 

"  The  Caesar,"  said  the  Empress,  "  seems  to  have  little 
taste  for  such  dainties  as  this  family  can  produce.  He  hath 
of  late  repeatedly  absented  himself  from  this  temple  of  the 
Muses,  and  found  doubtless  more  agreeable  conversation  and 
amusement  elsewhere." 

'^  I  trust,  madam,"  said  Nicephorus,  ^'  that  my  taste  may 
vindicate  me  from  the  charge  implied.  But  it  is  natural  that 
our  sacred  father  should  be  most  delighted  with  the  milk  and 
honey  which  is  produced  for  his  own  special  use." 

The  Princess  spoke  in  the  tone  of  a  handsome  woman 
offended  by  her  lover,  and  feeling  the  offense,  yet  not  indis- 
posed to  a  reconciliation. 

'^  If,"  she  said,  "  the  deeds  of  Nicephorus  Briennius  are 
less  frequently  celebrated  in  that  poor  roll  of  parchment 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  71 

than  those  of  my  ilkistrious  father,  he  must  do  me  the 
justice  to  remember  that  such  was  his  own  special  request  ; 
either  proceeding  from  that  modesty  which  is  justly  ascribed 
to  him  as  serving  to  soften  and  adorn  his  other  attributes, 
or  because  he  with  justice  distrusts  his  wife's  power  to  com- 
pose their  eulogium." 

^'  We  will  then  summon  back  Astarte,"  said  the  Em- 
press, ''  who  cannot  yet  have  carried  her  offering  to  the 
cabinet  of  Apollo/^ 

"  With  your  imperial  pleasure, '^  said  Nicephorus,  '^  it 
might  incense  the  Pythian  god  were  a  deposit  to  be  recalled 
of  which  he  alone  can  fitly  estimate  the  value.  I  came 
hither  to  speak  with  the  Emperor  upon  pressing  affairs  of 
state,  and  not  to  hold  a  literary  conversation  with  a  com- 
pany which  I  must  needs  say  is  something  of  a  miscellane- 
ous description,  since  I  behold  an  ordinary  life-guardsman 
in  the  imperial  circle/^ 

''  By  the  rood,  son-in-law,^'  said  Alexius,  ''  you  do  this 
gallant  man  wrong.  He  is  the  brother  of  that  brave  Anglo- 
Dane  who  secured  the  victory  at  Laodicea  by  his  valiant 
conduct  and  death  ;  he  himself  is  that  Edmund — or  Edward 
— or  Hereward — to  whom  we  are  ever  bound  for  securing  the 
success  of  that  victorious  day.  He  was  called  into  our  pres- 
ence, son-in-law,  since  it  imports  that  you  should  know  so 
much,  to  refresh  the  memory  of  my  Follower,  Achilles  Ta- 
tius,  as  well  as  mine  own,  concerning  some  transactions  of 
the  day  of  which  we  had  become  in  some  degree  obliv- 
ious." 

''  Truly,  imperial  sir,''  answered  Briennius,  "  I  gi'ieve 
that,  by  having  intruded  on  such  important  researches,  I 
may  have,  in  some  degree,  intercepted  a  portion  of  that 
light  which  is  to  illuminate  future  ages.  Methinks  that  in 
a  battlefield,  fought  under  your  imperial  guidance  and  that 
of  your  great  captains,  your  evidence  might  well  supersede 
the  testimony  of  such  a  man  as  this.  Let  me  know,"  he 
added,  turning  haughtily  to  the  Varangian,  "  what  par 
ticular  thou  canst  add,  that  is  unnoticed  in  the  Princess's 
narrative  ?  " 

The  Varangian  replied  instantly,  "  Only  that,  when  we 
made  a  halt  at  the  fountain,  the  music  that  was  there  made 
by  the  ladies  of  the  Emperor's  household,  and  particularl}; 
by  those  two  whom  I  now  behold,  was  the  most  exquisite 
that  ever  reached  my  ears." 

^'  Hah  !  darest  thou  to  speak  so  audacious  an  opinion  ?  " 
exclaimed  Nicephorus.     *'  Is  it  for  such  as  thou  to  suppose 


72  WA VEBLEY  NOVELS 

for  a  moment  that  the  music  which  the  wife  and  daughter 
of  the  Emperor  might  condescend  to  make  was  intended  to 
afford  either  matter  of  pleasure  or  of  criticism  to  every  ple- 
beian barbarian  who  might  hear  them  ?  Begone  from  this 
place  !  nor  dare,  on  any  pretext,  again  to  appear  before  mine 
eyes — under  allowance  always  of  our  imperial  father^s 
pleasure/^ 

The  Varangian  bent  his  looks  upon  Achilles  Tatius,  as  the 
person  from  whom  he  was  to  take  his  orders  to  stay  or  with- 
draw. But  the  Emperor  himself  took  up  the  subject  with 
considerable  dignity. 

*^  Son/'  he  said,  ''  we  cannot  permit  this.  On  account 
of  some  love  quarrel,  as  it  would  seem,  betwixt  you  and  our 
daughter,  you  allow  yourself  strangely  to  forget  our  imperial 
rank,  and  to  order  from  our  presence  those  whom  we  have 
pleased  to  call  to  attend  us.  This  is  neither  right  nor 
seemly,  nor  is  it  our  pleasure  that  this  same  Hereward — or 
Edward — or  whatever  be  his  name — either  leave  us  at  this 
present  moment,  or  do  at  any  time  hereafter  regulate  himself 
by  any  commands  save  our  own,  or  those  of  our  Follower, 
Achilles  Tatius.  And  now,  allowing  this  foolish  affair,  which 
I  think  was  blown  among  us  by  the  wind,  to  pass  as  it  came, 
without  further  notice,  we  crave  to  know  the  grave  matters  of 
state  which  brought  you  to  our  presence  at  so  late  an  hour. 
You  look  again  at  this  Varangian.  Withhold  not  your  words, 
I  pray  you,  on  account  of  his  presence  ;  for  he  stands  as  high 
in  our  trust,  and  we  are  convinced  with  as  good  reason,  aa 
any  counsellor  who  has  been  sworn  our  domestic  servant.^' 

*^To  hear  is  to  obey,^'  returned  the  Emperor's  son-in-law, 
who  saw  that  Alexius  was  somewhat  moved,  and  knew  that 
in  such  cases  it  was  neither  safe  nor  expedient  to  drive  him 
to  extremity.  ^*  What  I  have  to  say,''  continued  he,  ^'  must 
so  soon  be  public  news,  that  it  little  matters  who  hears  it ; 
and  yet  the  West,  so  full  of  strange  changes,  never  sent  to 
the  Eastern  half  of  the  globe  tidings  so  alarming  as  those  1 
now  come  to  tell  your  Imperial  Highness.  Europe,  to  bor- 
row an  expression  from  this  lady,  who  honors  me  by  calling 
me  husband,  seems  loosened  from  its  foundations  and  about 
to  precipitate  itself  upon  Asia " 

**  So  I  did  express  myself,"  said  the  Princess  Anna  Oom- 
nena,  ^'  and,  as  I  trust,  not  altogether  unforcibly,  when  we 
first  heard  that  the  wild  impulse  of  those  restless  barbarians 
of  Europe  had  driven  a  tempest  as  of  a  thousand  nations 
upon  our  western  frontier,  with  the  extravagant  purpose,  as 
they  pretended,  of  possessing  themselves  of  Syria^^  and  the 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  73 

holy  places  there  marked  as  the  sepulchres  of  prophets,  the 
martyrdom  of  saints,  and  the  great  events  detailed  in  the 
blessed  Gospel.  But  that  storm,  by  all  accounts,  hath  burst 
and  passed  away,  and  we  well  hoped  that  the  danger  had 
gone  with  it.  Devoutly  shall  we  sorrow  to  find  it  other- 
wise/' 

^'  And  otherwise  we  must  expect  to  find  it,''  said  her  hus- 
band. "  It  is  very  true,  as  reported  to  us,  that  a  huge  body 
of  men  of  low  rank,  and  little  understanding,  assumed  arms 
at  the  instigation  of  a  mad  hermit,  and  took  the  road  from 
Germany  to  Hungary,  expecting  miracles  to  be  wrought  in 
their  favor,  as  when  Israel  was  guided  through  the  wilder- 
ness by  a  pillar  of  flame  and  a  cloud.  But  no  showers  of 
manna  or  of  quails  relieved  their  necessities,  or  proclaimed 
them  the  chosen  people  of  God.  No  waters  gushed  from 
the  rock  for  their  refreshment.  They  were  enraged  at  their 
sufferings,  and  endeavored  to  obtain  supplies  by  pillaging  the 
country.  The  Hungarians,  and  other  nations  on  our  west- 
ern frontiers,  Christians,  like  themselves,  did  not  hesitate 
to  fall  upon  this  disorderly  rabble ;  and  immense  piles  of 
bones  in  wild  passes  and  unfrequented  deserts  attest  the 
calamitous  defeats  which  extirpated  these  unholy  pilgrims." 

''  All  this,"  said  the  Emperor,  "  we  knew  before ;  but 
what  new  evil  now  threatens,  since  we  have  already  escaped 
so  important  a  one  ?  " 

"  Knew  before  ! "  said  the  Prince  Kicephorus.  ''  "We 
knew  nothing  of  our  real  danger  before,  save  that  a  wild 
herd  of  animals,  as  brutal  and  as  furious  as  wild  bulls, 
threatened  to  bend  their  way  to  a  pasture  for  which  they 
had  formed  a  fancy,  and  deluged  the  Grecian  empire  and  its 
vicinity  in  their  passage,  expecting  that  Palestine,  with  its 
streams  of  milk  and  honey,  once  more  awaited  them,  as 
God's  predestined  people.  But  so  w41d  and  disorderly  an 
invasion  had  no  terrors  for  a  civilized  nation  like  the  Ro- 
mans. The  brute  herd  was  terrified  by  our  Greek  fire  ;  it 
was  snared  and  shot  down  by  the  wild  nations  who,  while 
they  pretend  to  independence,  cover  our  frontier  as  with  a 
protecting  fortification.  The  vile  multitude  has  been  con- 
sumed even  by  the  very  quality  of  the  provisions  thrown  in 
their  way — those  wise  means  of  resistance  which  were  at 
once  suggested  by  the  paternal  care  of  the  Emperor  and  by 
his  unfailing  policy.  Thus  wisdom  has  played  its  part,  and 
the  bark  over  which  the  tempest  had  poured  its  thunder  has 
escaped,  notwithstanding  all  its  violence.  But  the  second 
storm,  by  which  the  former  is  so  closely  followed,  is  of  a 


74  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

new  descent  of  these  Western  nations,  more  formidable  than 
any  which  we  or  our  fathers  have  yet  seen.  This  consists 
not  of  the  ignorant  or  of  the  fanatical,  not  of  the  base,  the 
needy,  and  the  improvident.  Now,  all  that  wide  Europe 
possesses  of  what  is  wise  and  worthy,  brave  and  noble,  are 
united  by  the  most  religious  vows  in  the  same  purpose.^' 

''And  what  is  that  purpose  ?  Speak  plainly,"  said  Alex- 
ius. *'  The  destruction  of  our  whole  Eoman  empire,  and 
the  blotting  out  the  very  name  of  its  chief  from  among  the 
princes  of  the  earth,  among  which  it  has  long  been  predom- 
inant, can  alone  be  an  adequate  motive  for  a  confederacy 
such  as  thy  speech  infers." 

'^  No  such  design  is  avowed,"  said  Nicephorus  ;  '^  and  so 
many  princes,  wise  men,  and  statesmen  of  eminence  aim,  it 
is  pretended,  at  nothing  else  than  the  same  extravagant  pur- 
pose announced  by  the  brute  multitude  who  first  appeared 
in  these  regions.  Here,  most  gracious  Emperor,  is  a  scroll, 
in  which  you  will  find  marked  doAvn  a  list  of  the  various 
armies  which,  by  different  routes,  are  approaching  the 
vicinity  of  the  empire.  Behold,  Hugh  of  Vermandois, 
called  from  his  dignity  Hugh  the  Great,  has  set  sail  from 
the  shores  of  Italy.  Twenty  knights  have  already  announced 
their  coming,  sheathed  in  armor  of  steel,  inlaid  with  gold, 
bearing  this  proud  greeting  :  ^  Let  the  Emperor  of  Greece 
and  his  lieutenants  understand  that  Hugo  Earl  of  Verman- 
dois is  approaching  his  territories.  He  is  brother  to  the 
king  of  kings — the  king  of  France,*  namely — and  is  at- 
tended by  the  flower  of  the  French  nobility.  He  bears  the 
blessed  banner  of  St.  Peter,  entrusted  to  his  victorious  care 
by  the  holy  successor  of  the  apostle,  and  warns  thee  of  all 
this,  that  thou  mayest  provide  a  reception  suitable  to  his 
rank.'" 

"Here  are  sounding  words,"  said  the  Emperor;  ''but 
the  wind  which  whistles  loudest  is  not  always  most  dan- 
gerous to  the  vessel.  We  know  something  of  this  nation  of 
France,  and  have  heard  more.  They  are  as  petulant  at 
least  as  they  are  valiant ;  we  will  flatter  their  vanity  till  we 
get  time  and  opportunity  for  more  effectual  defense.  Tush  ! 
if  words  can  pay  debt,  there  is  no  fear  of  our  exchequer  be- 
coming insolvent.  What  follows  here,  Nicephorus  ?  A 
list,  I  suppose,  of  the  followers  of  this  great  count ! " 

"  My  liege,  no,"  answered  Nicephorus  Briennius  ;  "  so 
many  independent  chiefs  as  your  Imperial  Highness  sees  in 
that  memorial,  so  many  independent  European  armies  are 
*  See  Note  5. 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  73 

advancing  b^  liferent  routes  towards  the  East,  and  announce 
the  conquest  of  Palestine  from  the  infidels  as  their  common 
object." 

*^  A  dreadful  enumeration/^  said  the  Emperor,  as  he  pur- 
sued the  list ;  "  yet  so  far  happy,  that  its  very  length  assures 
us  of  the  impossibility  that  so  many  princes  can  be  seriously 
and  coneistently  united  in  so  wild  a  project.  Thus  already 
my  eyes  catch  the  well-known  name  of  an  old  friend,  our 
enemy — for  such  are  the  alternate  chances  of  peace  and  war 
— Bohemond  of  Antioch.  Is  not  he  the  son  of  the  celebrated 
Eobert  of  Apulia,  so  renowned  among  his  countrymen,  who 
raised  himself  to  the  rank  of  grand  duke  from  a  simple  cava- 
lier, and  became  sovereign  of  those  of  his  warlike  nation, 
both  in  Sicily  and  Italy  ?  Did  not  the  standards  of  the  Ger- 
man Emperor,  of  the  Roman  Pontiff,  nay,  our  own  imperial 
banners,  give  way  before  him  ;  until,  equally  a  wily  states- 
man and  a  brave  warrior,  he  became  the  terror  of  Europe, 
from  being  a  knight  whose  Norman  castle  would  have  been 
easily  garrisoned  by  six  cross-bows  and  as  many  lances  ?  It 
is  a  dreadful  family,  a  race  of  craft  as  well  as  power.  But 
Bohemond,  the  son  of  old  Robert,  will  follow  his  father's 
politics.  He  may  talk  of  Palestine  and  of  the  interests  of 
Christendom,  but  if  I  can  make  his  interests  the  same  with 
mine,  he  is  not  likely  to  be  guided  by  any  other  object.  So, 
then,  with  the  knowledge  I  already  possess  of  his  wishes  and 
projects,  it  may  chance  that  Heaven  sends  us  an  ally  in  the 
guise  of  an  enemy.  Whom  have  we  next  ?  Godfrey  *  Duke 
of  Bouillon — leading  I  see,  a  most  formidable  band  from 
the  banks  of  a  huge  river  called  the  Rhine.  What  is  this 
person^s  character  ?  " 

''  As  we  hear,"  replied  Nicephorus,  *^this  Godfrey  is  one 
of  the  wisest,  noblest  and  bravest  of  the  leaders  who  have 
thus  strangely  put  themselves  in  motion  ;  and  among  a  list 
of  independent  princes,  as  many  in  number  as  those  who 
assembled  for  the  siege  of  Troy,  and  followed,  most  of  them, 
by  subjects  ten  times  more  numerous,  this  Godfrey  may  be 
regarded  as  the  Agamemmon.  The  princes  and  counts 
esteem  him,  because  he  is  the  foremost  in  the  ranks  of  those 
whom  they  fantastically  call  knights,  and  also  on  account  of 
the  good  faith  and  generosity  which  he  practises  in  all  his 
transactions.  The  clergy  give  him  credit  for  the  highest 
zeal  for  the  doctrines  of  religion,    and  a  corresponding  re- 

*  Godfrey  of  Bouillon,  Duke  of  Lorraine,  the  great  captain  of  the 
first  Crusade,  afterwards  King  of  Jerusalem.  See  Gibbon  or  Mills, 
passim. 


78  WAVEBLET  NOVELS 

specfc  for  the  church  and  its  dignitaries.  Justice,  liberality, 
and  frankness  have  equally  attached  to  this  Godfrey  the 
lower  class  of  the  people.  His  general  attention  to  moral 
obligations  is  a  pledge  to  them  that  his  religion  is  real ; 
and,  gifted  with  so  much  that  is  excellent,  he  is  already, 
although  inferior  in  rank,  birth,  and  power  to  many  chiefs 
of  the  crusade,  justly  regarded  as  one  of  its  principal  leaders." 

"  Pity."  said  the  Emperor,  "^  that  a  character  such  as  you 
describe  this  prince  to  be  should  be  under  the  dominion  of  k 
fanaticism  scarce  worthy  of  Peter  the  Hermit,  or  the  clown- 
ish multitude  which  he  led,  or  of  the  very  ass  which  he  rode 
upon  ;  when  I  am  apt  to  think  the  wisest  of  the  first  multi- 
tude whom  we  beheld,  seeing  that  it  ran  away  towards 
Europe  as  soon  as  water  and  barley  became  scarce. " 

^^  Might  I  be  permitted  here  to  speak  and  yet  live,"  said 
Agelastes,  ^'I  would  remark,  that  the  Patriarch  himself 
made  a  similar  retreat  so  soon  as  blows  became  plenty  and 
food  scarce." 

''Thou  hast  hit  it,  Agelastes,"  said  the  Emperor;  ''but 
the  question  now  is,  whether  an  honorable  and  important 
principality  could  not  be  formed  out  of  part  of  the  provinces 
of  the  Lesser  Asia,  now  laid  waste  by  the  Turks.  Such  a 
principality,  methinks,  with  its  various  advantages  of  soil, 
climate,  industrious  inhabitants,  and  a  healthy  atmosphere, 
were  well  worth  the  morasses  of  Bouillon.  It  might  be  held 
as  a  dependence  upon  the  sacred  Eoman  empire,  and  gar- 
risoned, as  it  were,  by  Godfrey  and  his  victorious  Franks 
would  be  a  bulwark  on  that  point  to  our  just  and  sacred  per- 
son. Ha  !  most  holy  Patriarch,  would  not  such  a  prospect 
shake  the  most  devout  crusader's  attachment  to  the  burning 
sands  of  Palestine?  " 

"Especially,"  answered  the  Patriarch,  "if  the  prince  for 
such  a  rich  '  theme '  *  was  changed  into  a  feudal  appanage 
should  be  previously  converted  to  the  only  true  faith ,  as  your 
Imperial  Highness  undoubtedly  means." 

"  Certainly — most  unquestionably,"  answered  the  Em- 
peror, with  a  due  affectation  of  gravity,  notwithstanding  he 
was  internally  conscious  how  often  he  had  been  compelled,  by 
state  necessities,  to  admit,  not  only  Latin  Christians,  but 
Manichseans,  and  other  heretics,  nay  Mohammedan  barba- 
rians, into  the  number  of  his  subjects,  and  that  without 
experiencing  opposition  from  the  scruples  of  the  Patriarch. 
"  Here  I  find,"  continued  the  Emperor,  "  such  a  numerous 

*  The  provinces  were  called  "  themes." 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS 


71 


list  of  princes  and  principalities  in  the  act  of  approaching  our 
boundaries  as  might  well  rival  the  armies  of  old,  who  were 
said  to  have  drunk  up  rivers,  exhausted  realms,  and  trode 
down  forests,  in  their  wasteful  advance."  As  he  pronounced 
these  words,  a  shade  of  paleness  came  over  the  imperial  brow, 
similar  to  that  which  had  already  clothed  in  sadness  most  of 
his  counsellors. 

"  This  war  of  nations,"  said  Nicephorus,  ^^has  also  cir- 
cumstances distinguishing  it  from  every  other,  save  that 
which  his  Imperial  Highness  hath  waged  in  former  times 
against  those  whom  we  are  accustomed  to  call  Franks.  We 
must  go  forth  against  a  people  to  whom  the  strife  of  com- 
bat is  as  the  breath  of  their  nostrils  ;  who,  rather  than  not 
be  engaged  in  war,  will  do  battle  with  their  nearest  neigh- 
bors, and  challenge  each  other  to  mortal  fight,  as  much  in 
sport  as  we  would  defy  a  comrade  to  a  chariot  race.  They 
are  covered  with  an  impenetrable  armor  of  steel,  defending 
them  from  blows  of  the  lance  and  sword,  and  which  the  un- 
common strength  of  their  horses  renders  them  able  to  sup- 
port, though  one  of  ours  could  as  well  bear  Mount  Olympus 
upon  his  loins.  Their  foot  ranks  carry  a  missile  weapon 
unknown  to  us,  termed  an  arblast,  or  cross-bow.  It  is  not 
drawn  with  the  right  hand,  like  the  bow  of  other  nations, 
but  by  placing  the  feet  upon  the  weapon  itself,  and  pulling 
with  the  whole  force  of  the  body  ;  and  it  despatches  arrows 
called  bolts,  of  hard  wood  pointed  with  iron,  which  the 
strength  of  the  bow  can  send  through  the  strongest  breast- 
plates, and  even  through  stone  walls,  where  not  of  uncom- 
mon thickness." 

'*  Enough,"  said  the  Emperor  ;  '^  we  have  seen  with  our 
own  eyes  the  lances  of  Frankish  knights  and  the  cross-bows 
of  their  infantry.  If  Heaven  has  allotted  them  a  degree  of 
bravery  which  to  other  nations  seems  wellnigh  preternat- 
ural, the  Divine  will  has  given  to  the  Greek  councils  that 
wisdom  which  it  hath  refused  to  barbarians — the  art  of 
achieving  conquest  by  wisdom  rather  than  brute  force,  ob- 
taining by  our  skill  in  treaty  advantages  which  victory 
itself  could  not  have  procured.  If  w^e  have  not  the  use  of 
that  dreadful  weapon  which  our  son-in-law  terms  the  cross- 
bow. Heaven,  in  its  favor,  has  concealed  from  these  Western 
barbarians  the  composition  and  use  of  the  Greek  fire — well 
so  called,  since  by  Grecian  hands  alone  it  is  prepared,  and 
by  such  only  can  its  lightnings  be  darted  upon  the  aston- 
ished foe."  The  Emperor  paused  and  looked  around  him  ; 
and  although  the  faces  of  his  counselors  still  looked  blank, 


78  WA  VEBLET  NOVELS 

he  boldly  proceeded  :  "  But  to  return  yet  again  to  this 
black  scroll,  containing  the  names  of  those  nations  who  ap- 
proach our  frontier,  here  occur  more  than  one  with  which, 
methinks,  old  memory  should  make  us  familiar,  though  our 
recollections  are  distant  and  confused.  It  becomes  us  to 
know  who  these  men  are,  that  we  may  avail  ourselves  of 
those  feuds  and  quarrels  among  them  which,  being  blown 
into  life,  may  happily  divert  them  from  the  prosecution  of 
this  extraordinary  attempt  in  which  they  are  now  united. 
Here  is,  for  example,  one  Eobert,  styled  Duke  of  Normandy, 
who  commands  a  goodly  band  of  counts,  with  which  title 
we  are  but  too  well  acquainted ;  of  ^  earls,'  a  word  totally 
strange  to  us,  but  apparently  some  barbaric  title  of  honor  ; 
and  of  knights,  whose  names  are  compounded,  as  we  think, 
chiefly  of  the  French  language,  but  also  of  another  jargon, 
which  we  are  not  ourselves  competent  to  understand.  To 
you,  most  reverend  and  most  learned  Patriarch,  we  may 
fittest  apply  for  information  on  this  subject.'* 

''The  duties  of  my  station,''  replied  the  Patriarch 
Zosimus,  ''  have  withheld  my  riper  years  from  studying  the 
history  of  distant  realms  ;  but  the  wise  Agelastes,  who  hath 
read  as  many  volumes  as  would  fill  the  shelves  of  the  famous 
Alexandrian  library,  can  no  doubt  satisfy  your  Imperial 
Majesty's  inquiries." 

Agelastes  erected  himself  on  those  enduring  legs  which 
had  procured  him  the  surname  of  Elephant,  and  began  a 
reply  to  the  inquiries  of  the  Emperor  rather  remarkable  for 
readiness  than  accuracy.  ''I  have  read,"  said  he,  ''in  that 
brilliant  mirror  which  reflects  the  time  of  our  fathers,  the 
volumes  of  the  learned  Procopius,  that  the  people  separately 
called  Normans  and  Angles  are  in  truth  the  same  race,  and 
that  Normandy,  sometimes  so  called,  is  in  fact  a  part  of  a 
district  of  Gaul.  Beyond,  and  nearly  opposite  to  it,  but 
separated  by  an  arm  of  the  sea,  lies  a  ghostly  region,  on 
which  clouds  and  tempests  forever  rest,  and  which  is  well 
known  to  its  continental  neighbors  as  the  abode  to  which 
departed  spirits  are  sent  after  this  life.  On  one  side  of  the 
strait  dwell  a  few  fishermen,  men  possessed  of  a  strange 
charter,  and  enjoying  singular  privileges,  in  consideration 
of  their  being  the  living  ferrymen  who,  performing  the 
office  of  the  heathen  Charon,  carry  the  spirits  of  the  de- 
parted to  the  island  which  is  their  residence  after  death. 
At  the  dead  of  night  these  fishermen  are,  in  rotation,  sum- 
moned to  perform  the  duty  by  which  they  seem  to  hold  the 
permission  to  reside  on  this  strange  coast.     A  knock  is  heard 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  *l^ 

at  the  door  of  his  cottage  who  holds  the  turn  of  this  singu- 
lar service,  sounded  by  no  mortal  hand.  A  whispering,  as 
of  a  decaying  breeze,  summons  the  ferryman  to  his  duty. 
He  hastens  to  his  bark  on  the  sea-shore,  and  has  no  sooner 
launched  it  than  he  perceives  its  hull  sink  sensibly  in  the 
water,  so  as  to  express  the  weight  of  the  dead  with  whom  it 
is  filled.  No  form  is  seen,  and  though  voices  are  heard,  yet 
the  accents  are  undistinguishable,  as  of  one  who  speaks  in 
his  sleep.  Thus, he  traverses  the  strait  between  the  conti- 
nent and  the  island,  impressed  with  the  mysterious  awe 
which  affects  the  living  when  they  are  conscious  of  the  pres- 
ence of  the  dead.  They  arrive  upon  the  opposite  coast, 
where  the  clifl^  of  white  chalk  form  a  strange  contrast  with 
the  eternal  darkness  of  the  atmosphere.  They  stop  at  a 
landing-place  appointed,  but  disembark  not,  for  the  land  is 
never  trodden  by  earthly  feet.  Here  the  passage-boat  is 
gradually  lightened  of  its  unearthly  inmates,  who  wander 
forth  in  the  way  appointed  to  them,  while  the  mariners 
slowly  return  to  their  own  side  of  the  strait,  having  per- 
formed for  the  time  this  singular  service,  by  which  they 
hold  their  fishing-huts  and  their  possessions  on  that  strange 
coast.  ^' 

Here  he  ceased  ;  and  the  Emperor  replied — ''  If  this  legend 
be  actually  told  us  by  Procopius,  most  learned  Agelastes,  it 
shows  that  that  celebrated  historian  came  more  near  the 
heathen  than  the  Christian  belief  respecting  the  future  state. 
In  truth,  this  is  little  more  than  the  old  fable  of  the  infernal 
Styx.  Procopius,  we  believe,  lived  before  the  decay  of 
heathenism,  and,  as  we  would  gladly  disbelieve  much  which 
he  hath  told  us  respecting  our  ancestor  and  predecessor 
Justinian,  so  we  will  not  pay  him  much  credit  in  future  in 
point  of  geographical  knowledge.  Meanwhile,  what  ails 
thee,  Achilles  Tatius,  and  why  dost  thou  whisper  with  that 
soldier  ? " 

"1A.J  head,"  answered  Achilles  Tatius,  'Ms  at  your 
imperial  command,  prompt  to  pay  for  the  unbecoming  tres- 
pass of  my  tongue.  I  did  but  ask  of  this  Hereward  here 
what  he  knew  of  this  matter  ;  for  I  have  heard  my  Varan- 
gians repeatedly  call  themselves  Anglo-Danes,  Normans, 
Britons,  or  some  other  barbaric  epithet,  and  I  am  sure  that 
one  or  other,  or  it  may  be  all,  of  these  barbarous  sounds  at 
different  times  serve  to  designate  the  birthplace  of  these 
exiles,  too  happy  in  being  banished  from  the  darkness  of 
barbarism  to '  the  luminous  vicinity  of  your  imperial 
presence.'^ 


80  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

'*  Speak,  then,  Varangian,  in  the  name  of  Heaven,"  said 
the  Emperor,  ''  and  let  us  know  whether  we  are  to  look  for 
friends  or  enemies  in  those  men  of  Normandy  who  are  now 
approaching  our  frontier.  Speak  with  courage,  man  ;  and 
if  thou  apprehendest  danger,  remember  thou  servest  a  prince 
well  qualified  to  protect  thee/' 

*'  Since  I  am  at  liberty  to  speak, *^  answered  the  life- 
guardsman,  ^'  although  my  knowledge  of  the  Greek  language, 
which  you  term  the  Eonian,  is  but  slight,  I  trust  it  is  enough 
to  demand  of  his  Imperial  Highness,  in  place  of  all  pay, 
donative,  or  gift  whatsoever,  since  he  has  been  pleased  to 
talk  of  designing  such  for  me,  that  he  would  place  me  in 
the  first  line  of  battle  which  shall  be  formed  against  these 
same  Normans  and  their  Duke  Robert ;  and  if  he  pleases  to 
allow  me  the  aid  of  such  Varangians  as,  for  love  of  me,  or 
hatred  of  their  ancient  tyrants,  may  be  disposed  to  join 
their  arms  to  mine,  I  have  little  doubt  so  to  settle  our  long 
accounts  with  these  men,  that  the  Grecian  eagles  and  wolves 
shall  do  them  the  last  office,  by  tearing  the  flesh  from  their 
bones." 

*'  What  dreadful  feud  is  this,  my  soldier,"  said  the 
Emperor,  '^that  after  so  many  years  still  drives  thee  to  such 
extremities  when  the  very  name  of  Normandy  is  men- 
tioned ?"  .  . 

"  Your  Imperial  Highness  shall  be  judge,"  said  the 
Varangian.  ''  My  fathers,  and  those  of  most,  though  not 
all,  of  the  corps  to  whom  I  belong,  are  descended  from  a 
valiant  race  who  dwelt  in  the  north  of  Germany,  called 
Anglo-Saxons.  Nobody,  save  a  priest  possessed  of  the  art 
of  consulting  ancient  chronicles,  can  even  guess  how  long  it 
is  since  they  came  to  the  island  of  Britain,  then  distracted 
with  civil  war.  They  came,  however,  on  the  petition  of 
the  natives  of  the  island,  for  the  aid  of  the  Angles  was 
requested  by  the  southern  inhabitants.  Provinces  were 
granted  in  recompense  of  the  aid  thus  liberally  afforded, 
and  the  greater  proportion  of  the  island  became,  by 
degrees,  the  property  of  the  Anglo-Saxons,  who  occupied 
it  ixt  first  as  several  principalities,  and  latterly  as  one  king- 
dom, speaking  the  language,  and  observing  the  laws,  of  most 
of  those  who  now  form  your  imperial  body-guard  of  Varan- 
gians, or  exiles.  In  process  of  time,  the  Northmen  became 
known  to  the  people  of  the  more  southern  climates.  They 
were  so  called  from  their  coming  from  the  distant  regions 
of  the  Baltic  Sea — an  immense  ocean,  sometimes  frozen  with 
ice  as  hard  as  the  cliffs  of  Mount  Caucasus.     They  came 


r 


COUNT  BOBERT  OF  PABI8  Si 


seeking  milder  regions  than  nature  had  assigned  them  at 
home ;  and  the  climate  of  France  being  delightful,  and  its 
people  slow  in  battle,  they  extorted  from  them  the  grant  of 
a  large  province,  which  was,  from  the  name  of  the  new  set- 
tlers, called  Normandy,  though  I  have  heard  my  father  say 
that  was  not  its  proper  appellation.  They  settled  there 
under  a  duke,  who  acknowledged  the  superior  authority  of 
the  king  of  France,  that  is  to  say,  obeying  him  when  it  suited 
his  convenience  so  to  do. 

"  Now  it  chanced  many  years  since,  while  these  two 
nations  of  Normans  and  Anglo-Saxons  were  quietly  residing 
upon  different  sides  of  the  salt-water  channel  which  divides 
France  from  England,  that  William,  Duke  of  Normandy, 
suddenly  levied  a  large  army,  came  over  to  Kent,  which  is 
on  the  opposite  side  of  the  channel,  and  there  defeated,  in  a 
great  battle,  Harold,  who  was  at  that  time  king  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxons.  It  is  but  grief  to  tell  what  followed.  Battles  have 
been  fought  in  old  times  that  have  had  dreadful  results, 
which  years,  nevertheless,  could  wash  away  ;  but  at  Hastings 
— 0  wo^s  me  ! — the  banner  of  my  country  fell,  never  again 
to  be  raised  up.  Oppression  has  driven  her  wheel  over  us. 
All  that  was  valiant  amongst  us  have  left  the  land  ;  and  of 
Englishmen — for  such  is  our  proper  designation — no  one 
remains  in  England  save  as  the  thrall  of  the  invaders. 
Many  men  of  Danish  descent,  who  had  found  their  way  on 
different  occasions  to  England,  were  blended  in  the  common 
calamity.  All  was  laid  desolate  by  the  command  of  the 
victors.  My  father's  home  lies  now  an  undistinguished  ruin, 
amid  an  extensive  forest,  composed  out  of  what  were  formerly 
fair  fields  and  domestic  pastures,  where  a  manly  race  derived 
nourishment  by  cultivating  a  friendly  soil.  The  fire  has 
destroyed  the  church  where  sleep  the  fathers  of  my  race ; 
and  I,  the  last  of  their  line,  am  a  wanderer  in  other  climates, 
a  fighter  of  the  battles  of  others,  the  servant  of  a  foreign, 
though  a  kind,  master,  in  a  word,  one  of  the  banished — a 
Varangian.^' 

'^Happier  in  that  station,''  said  Achilles  Tatius,  ''^  than 
in  all  the  barbaric  simplicity  which  your  forefathers  prized 
so  highly,  since  you  are  now  under  the  cheering  influence 
of  that  smile  which  is  the  life  of  the  world." 

''  It  avails  not  talking  of  this,"  said  the  Varangian,  with 
a  cold  gesture. 

'^  These  Normans,"  said  the   Emperor,    ''^are   then   the 
people  by  whom  the  celebrated  island  of  Britain  is  now  con- 
quered and  governed  ?" 
6 


82  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

''  It  is  but  too  true/'  answered  the  Varangian. 

'*  They  are,  then,  a  brave  and  warlike  people  ? "  said 
Alexius. 

*'  It  would  be  base  and  false  to  say  otherwise  of  an  enemy," 
said  Here  ward.  '*^  Wrong  have  they  done  me,  and  a  wrong 
never  to  be  atoned  ;  but  to  speak  falsehood  of  them  were 
but  a  woman's  vengeance.  Mortal  enemies  as  they  are  to 
me,  and  mingling  with  all  my  recollections  as  that  which  is 
hateful  and  odious,  yet  were  the  troops  of  Europe  mustered, 
as  it  seems  they  are  likely  to  be,  no  nation  or  tribe  dared  in 
gallantry  claim  the  advance  of  the  haughty  Norman.'' 

"  And  this  Duke  Robert,  who  is  he  ?" 

'^  That,"  answered  the  Varangian,  *^  I  cannot  so  well  ex- 
plain. He  is  the  son — the  eldest  son,  as  men  say,  of  the 
tyrant  William,  who  subdued  England  when  I  hardly  ex- 
isted, or  was  a  child  in  the  cradle.  That  William,  the  victor 
of  Hastings,  is  now  dead,  we  are  assured  by  concurring 
testimony ;  but  while  it  seems  his  eldest  son  Duke  Eobert 
has  become  his  heir  to  the  duchy  of  Normandy,  some  other 
of  his  children  have  been  so  fortunate  as  to  acquire  the  throne 
of  England — unless,  indeed,  like  the  petty  farm  of  some 
obscure  yeoman,  the  fair  kingdom  has  been  divided  among 
the  tyrant's  issue." 

"  Concerning  this,"  said  the  Emperor,  "  we  have  heard 
something,  which  we  shall  try  to  reconcile  with  the  soldier's 
narrative  at  leisure,  holding  the  words  of  this  honest  Varan- 
gian as  positive  proof,  in  whatsoever  he  avers  from  his  own 
knowledge.  And  now,  my  grave  and  worthy  counselors,  we 
must  close  this  evening's  service  in  the  temple  of  the  Muses, 
this  distressing  news,  brought  us  by  our  dearest  son-in-law, 
the  Cgesar,  having  induced  us  to  prolong  our  worship  of 
these  learned  goddesses  deeper  into  the  night  than  is  con- 
sistent with  the  health  of  our  beloved  wife  and  daughter  ; 
while,  to  ourselves,  this  intelligence  brings  subject  for  grave 
deliberation." 

The  courtiers  exhausted  their  ingenuity  in  forming  the 
most  ingenious  prayers  that  all  evil  consequences  should  be 
averted  which  could  attend  this  excessive  vigilance. 

Nicephorus  and  his  fair  bride  spoke  together  as  a  pair 
equally  desirous  to  close  an  accidental  breach  between  them. 
"  Some  things  thou  hast  said,  my  Cassar,"  observed  the 
lady,  ^Mn  detailing  this  dreadful  intelligence,  as  elegantly 
turned  as  if  the  nine  goddesses,  to  whom  this  temple  is 
dedicated,  had  lent  each  her  aid  to  the  sense  and  expression." 

''^  I  need  none  of  their  assistance/'  answered  Nicephorus, 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  83 

'^  since  I  possess  a  muse  of  my  own,  in  whose  genius  are  in- 
cluded all  those  attributes  which  the  heathens  vainly  ascribed 
to  the  nine  deities  of  Parnassus/^ 

''  It  is  well/'  said  the  fair  historian,  retiring  by  the  assist- 
ance of  her  husband's  arm  ;  ''  but  if  you  will  load  your  wife 
with  praises  far  beyond  her  merits,  you  must  lend  her  your 
arm  to  support  her  under  the  weighty  burden  you  have  been 
pleased  to  impose."  The  council  parted  when  the  imperial 
persons  had  retired,  and  most  of  them  sought  to  indemnify 
themselves  in  more  free,  though  less  dignified,  circles  for  the 
constraint  which  they  had  practised  in  the  temple  of  the 
Muses. 


CHAPTER  VI 

Vain  man :  thou  mayst  esteem  thy  love  as  fair 

As  fond  hyperboles  suffice  to  raise. 

She  may  be  all  that's  matchless  in  her  person, 

And  all-divine  in  soul  to  match  her  body  ; 

But  take  this  from  me — thou  shalt  never  call  her 

Superior  to  her  sex,  vrhile  one  survives, 

And  I  am  her  true  votary. 

Old  Play, 

Achilles  Tatius,  with  his  faithful  Varangian  close  by 
his  shoulder,  melted  from  the  dispersing  assembly  silently 
and  almost  invisibly,  as  snow  is  dissolved  from  its  Alpine 
abodes  as  the  days  become  more  genial.  No  lordly  step  or 
clash  of  armor  betokened  the  retreat  of  the  military  persons. 
The  very  idea  of  the  necessity  of  guards  was  not  ostenta- 
tiously brought  forward,  because,  so  near  the  presence  of 
the  Emperor,  the  emanation  supposed  to  flit  around  that 
divinity  of  earthly  sovereigns  had  credit  for  rendering  it 
impassive  and  unassailable.  Thus  the  oldest  and  most  skil- 
ful courtiers,  among  whom  our  friend  Agelastes  was  not  to 
be  forgotten,  were  of  opinion  that,  although  the  Emperor 
employed  the  ministry  of  the  Varangians  and  other  guards, 
it  was  rather  for  form's  sake  than  from  any  danger  of  the 
commission  of  a  crime  of  a  kind  so  heinous  that  it  was  the 
fashion  to  account  it  almost  impossible.  And  this  doctrine, 
of  the  rare  occurrence  of  such  a  crime,  was  repeated  from 
month  to  month  in  those  very  chambers  where  it  had  of  tener 
than  once  been  perpetrated,  and  sometimes  by  the  very 
persons  who  monthly  laid  schemes  for  carrying  some 
dark  conspiracy  against  the  reigning  emperor  into  positive 
execution. 

At  length  the  captain  of  the  life-guardsmen  and  his  faith- 
ful attendant  found  themselves  on  the  outside  of  the  Blac- 
quernal  Palace.  The  passage  which  Achilles  found  for  their 
exit  was  closed  by  a  postern  which  a  single  Varangian  shut 
behind  them,  drawing,  at  the  same  time,  bolt  and  bar  with 
an  ill-omened  and  jarring  sound.  Looking  back  at  the  mass 
of  turrets,  battlements,  and  spires  out  of  which  the^  had  at 
length   emerged,  Hereward   could  not  but  feel   his  heart 

84 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  85 

lighten  to  find  himself  once  more  under  the  deep  blue  of  a 
Grecian  heaven,  where  the  planets  were  burning  with  un- 
usual luster.  He  sighed  and  rubbed  his  hands  with  pleasure, 
like  a  man  newly  restored  to  liberty.  He  even  spoke  to  his 
leader,  contrary  to  his  custom  unless  addressed.  "  Methinks 
the  air  of  yonder  halls,  valorous  captain,  carries  with  it  a 
perfume  which,  though  it  may  be  well  termed  sweet,  is  so 
suffocating  as  to  be  more  suitable  to  sepulchrous  chambers 
than  to  the  dwellings  of  men.  Happy  I  am  that  I  am  free, 
as  I  trust,  from  its  influences." 

^'  Be  happy,  then,"  said  Achilles  Tatius,  "since  thy  vile, 
cloddish  spirit  feels  suffocation  rather  than  refreshment  in 
gales  which,  instead  of  causing  death,  might  recall  the  dead 
themselves  to  life.  Yet  this  I  will  say  for  thee,  Hereward, 
that,  born  a  barbarian  within  the  narrow  circle  of  a  savage's 
desires  and  pleasures,  and  having  no  idea  of  life  save  what 
thou  derivest  from  such  vile  and  base  connections,  thou  art, 
nevertheless,  designed  by  nature  for  better  things,  and  hast 
this  day  sustained  a  trial  in  which,  I  fear  me,  not  even  one 
of  mine  own  noble  corps,  frozen  as  they  are  into  lumps  of 
unfashioned  barbarity,  could  have  equalled  thy  bearing. 
And  speak  now  in  true  faith,  hast  not  thou  been  rewarded  ?" 

'^  That  will  I  never  deny,"  said  the  Varangian.  "  The 
pleasure  of  knowing,  twenty-four  hours  perhaps  before  my 
comrades,  that  the  Normans  are  coming  hither  to  afford  us 
a  full  revenge  of  the  bloody  day  of  Hastings  is  a  lordly  rec- 
ompense for  the  task  of  spending  some  hours  in  hearing  the 
lengthened  chat  of  a  lady,  who  has  written  about  she  knows 
not  what,  and  the  flattering  commentaries  of  the  bystanders, 
who  pretended  to  give  her  an  account  of  what  they  did  not 
themselves  stop  to  witness." 

"Hereward,  my  good  youth,"  said  Achilles  Tatius,  "thou 
ravest,  and  I  think  I  should  do  well  to  place  thee  under  the 
custody  of  some  person  of  skill.  Too  much  hardihood,  my 
valiant  soldier,  is  in  soberness  allied  to  overdaring.  It  was 
only  natural  that  thou  shouldst  feel  a  becoming  pride  in  thy 
late  position  ;  yet,  let  it  but  taint  thee  with  vanity,  and  the 
effect  will  be  little  short  of  madness.  Why,  thou  hast 
looked  boldly  in  the  face  of  a  princess  born  in  the  purple, 
before  whom  my  own  eyes,  though  well  used  to  such  spec- 
tacles, are  never  raised  beyond  the  foldings  of  her  veil." 

"So  be  it,  in  the  name  of  Heaven  ! "  replied  Hereward. 
"Nevertheless,  handsome  faces  were  made  to  look  upon,  and 
the  eyes  of  young  men  to  see  withal." 

"  If  such  be  their  final  end,"  said  Achilles,  "  never  did 


k 


86  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

thine,  I  will  freely  suppose,  find  a  richer  apology  for  the 
somewhat  overbold  license  which  thou  tookest  in  thy  gaze 
upon  the  Princess  this  evening.'' 

'^  Good  leader,  or  Follower,  whichever  is  your  favorite 
title,"  said  the  Anglo-Briton,  "  drive  not  to  extremity  a  plain 
man,  who  desires  to  hold  his  duty  in  all  honor  to  the  imperial 
family.  The  Princess,  wife  of  the  Caesar,  and  born,  you  tell 
me,  of  a  purple  color,  has  now  inherited,  notwithstanding, 
the  features  of  a  most  lovely  woman.  She  hath  composed  a 
history,  of  which  I  presume  not  to  form  a  judgment,  since  I 
cannot  understand  it ;  she  sings  like  an  angel ;  and  to  con- 
clude, after  the  fashion  of  the  knights  of  this  day — though 
I  deal  not  ordinarily  with  their  language — I  would  say 
cheerfully  that  I  am  ready  to  place  myself  in  lists  against  any 
one  whomsoever  who  dares  detract  from  the  beauty  of  the 
imperial  Anna  Comnena's  person,  or  from  the  virtues  of  her 
mind.  Having  said  this,  my  noble  captain,  we  have  said  all 
that  it  is  competent  for  you  to  inquire  into  or  for  me  to  an- 
swer. That  there  are  handsomer  women  than  the  Princess 
is  unquestionable  ;  and  I  question  it  the  less,  that  I  have 
myself  seen  a  person  whom  I  think  far  her  superior ;  and 
with  that  let  us  close  the  dialogue." 

"  Thy  beauty,  thou  unparalleled  fool,"  said  Achilles, 
''  must,  I  ween,  be  the  daughter  of  the  large-bodied  Northern 
boor,  living  next  door  to  him  upon  whose  farm  was  brought 
up  the  person  of  an  ass,  curst  with  such  intolerable  want  of 
judgment." 

'^  You  may  say  your  pleasure,  captain,"  replied  Here  ward  ; 
'^  because  it  is  the  safer  for  us  both  that  thou  canst  not  on 
such  a  topic  either  offend  me,  who  hold  thy  judgment  as 
light  as  thou  canst  esteem  mine,  or  speak  any  derogation  of 
a  person  whom  you  never  saw,  but  whom,  if  you  had  seen, 
perchance  I  might  not  so  patiently  have  brooked  any  reflec- 
tions upon,  even  at  the  hands  of  a  military  superior." 

Achilles  Tatius  had  a  good  deal  of  the  penetration  neces- 
sary for  one  in  his  situation.  He  never  provoked  to  extrem- 
ity the  daring  spirits  whom  he  commanded,  and  never  used 
any  freedom  with  them  beyond  the  extent  that  he  knew 
their  patience  could  bear.  Hereward  was  a  favorite  soldier, 
and  had,  in  that  respect  at  least,  a  sincere  liking  and  regard 
for  his  commander ;  when,  therefore,  the  Follower,  instead 
of  resenting  his  petulance,  good-humoredly  apologized  for 
having  hurt  his  feelings,  the  momentary  displeasure  between 
them  was  at  an  end  :  the  officer  at  once  reassumed  his  supe- 
riority, and  the  soldier  sunk  back  with  a  deep  sigh,  given  to 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  87 

some  period  which  was  long  past,  into  his  wonted  silence  and 
reserve.  Indeed,  the  Follower  had  another  and  further 
design  upon  Hereward,  of  which  he  was  as  yet  unwilling  to 
do  more  than  give  a  distant  hint. 

After  a  long  pause,  during  which  they  approached  the 
barracks,  a  gloomy  fortified  building  constructed  for  the 
residence  of  their  corps,  the  captain  motioned  his  soldier  to 
draw  close  up  to  his  side,  and  proceeded  to  ask  him,  in  a 
confidential  tone — "  Hereward,  my  friend,  although  it  is 
scarce  to  be  supposed  that  in  the  presence  of  the  imperial 
family  thou  shouldst  mark  any  one  who  did  not  partake  of 
their  blood,  or  rather,  as  Homer  has  it,  who  did  not  par- 
ticipate of  the  divine  ichor,  which,  in  their  sacred  persons, 
supplies  the  place  of  that  vulgar  fluid,  yet,  during  so  long 
an  audience,  thou  mightest  possibly,  from  his  uncourtly  per- 
son and  attire,  have  distinguished  Agelastes,  whom  we  cour- 
tiers call  the  Elephant,  from  his  strict  observation  of  the 
rule  which  forbids  any  one  to  sit  down  or  rest  in  the  imperial 
presence  ?  " 

'^ I  think,"  replied  the  soldier,  ^' I  marked  the  man  you 
mean  :  his  age  was  some  seventy  [sixty]  and  upwards — a  big, 
burly  person  ;  and  the  baldness  which  reached  to  the  top  of 
his  head  was  well  atoned  for  by  a  white  beard  of  prodigious 
size,  which  descended  in  waving  curls  over  his  breast,  and 
reached  to  the  towel  with  which  his  loins  were  girded,  in- 
stead of  the  silken  sash  used  by  other  persons  of  rank." 

*'  Most  accurately  marked,  my  Varangian,"  said  the  officer. 
*'  What  else  didst  thou  note  about  this  person  ?  " 

'^  His  cloak  was  in  its  texture  as  coarse  as  that  of  the 
meanest  of  the  people,  but  it  was  strictly  clean,  as  if  it  had 
been  the  intention  of  the  wearer  to  exhibit  poverty,  or  care- 
lessness and  contempt  of  dress,  avoiding,  at  the  same  time, 
every  particular  which  implied  anything  negligent,  sordid, 
or  disgusting." 

''  By  St.  Sophia/'  said  the  officer,  ''thou  astonishest  me  ! 
The  prophet  Balaam  was  not  more  surprised  when  his  ass 
turned  round  her  head  and  spoke  to  him.  And  what  else 
didst  thou  note  concerning  this  man  ?  I  see  those  who  meet 
thee  must  beware  of  thy  observation  as  well  as  of  thy  battle- 
ax." 

"  If  it  please  your  valor,"  answered  the  soldier,  ''we  Eng- 
lish have  eyes  as  well  as  hands  ;  but  it  is  only  when  discharg- 
ing our  duty  that  we  permit  our  tongues  to  dwell  on  what 
we  have  observed.  I  noted  but  little  of  this  man's  conver- 
sation ;  but  from  what  I  heard,  it  seemed  he  was  not  unwill- 


88  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

ing  to  play  Tvnat  we  call  the  jester,  or  jack-pudding,  in  the 
conversation — a  character  which,  considering  the  man's  age 
and  physiognomy,  is  not,  I  should  be  tempted  to  say,  natural, 
but  assumed  for  some  purpose  of  deeper  import." 

'^  Hereward/'  answered  his  officer,  **  thou  hast  spoken  like 
an  angel  sent  down  to  examine  men's  bosoms  ;  that  man, 
Agelastes,  is  a  contradiction  such  as  earth  has  seldom  wit- 
nessed. Possessing  all  that  wisdom  which  in  former  times 
united  the  sages  of  this  nation  with  the  gods  themselves, 
Agelastes  has  the  same  cunning  as  the  elder  Brutus,  who  dis- 
guised his  talents  under  the  semblance  of  an  idle  jester.  He 
appears  to  seek  no  office — he  desires  no  consideration — he 
pays  suit  at  court  only  when  positively  required  to  do  so  ; 
yet  what  shall  I  say,  my  soldier,  concerning  the  cause  of  an 
influence  gained  without  apparent  effort,  and  extending 
almost  into  the  very  thoughts  of  men,  who  appear  to  act  as 
he  would  desire,  without  his  soliciting  them  to  that  purpose  ? 
Men  say  strange  things  concerning  the  extent  of  his  com- 
munications with  other  beings,  whom  our  fathers  worshiped 
with  prayer  and  sacrifice.  I  am  determined,  however,  to 
know  the  road  by  which  he  climbs  so  high  and  so  easily  to- 
wards the  point  to  which  all  men  aspire  at  court,  and  it  will 
go  hard  but  he  shall  either  share  his  ladder  with  me  or  I 
will  strike  its  support  from  under  him.  Thee,  Hereward,  I 
have  chosen  to  assist  me  in  this  matter,  as  the  knights  among 
these  Frankish  infidels  select,  when  going  upon  an  adven- 
ture, a  sturdy  squire,  or  inferior  attendant,  to  share  the 
dangers  and  the  recompense  ;  and  this  I  am  moved  to, 
as  much  by  the  shrewdness  thou  hast  this  night  manifested 
as  by  the  courage  which  thou  mayst  boast,  in  common  with, 
or  rather  beyond,  thy  companions.  *' 

^^lam  obliged,  and  I  thank  your  valor,'*  replied  the  Varan- 
gian, more  coldly  perhaps  than  his  officer  expected  ;  '^  I  am 
ready,  as  is  my  dnty,  to  serve  you  in  anything  consistent 
with  God  and  the  Emperor's  claims  upon  my  service.  I 
would  only  say  that,  as  a  sworn  inferior  soldier,  I  will  do 
nothing  contrary  to  the  laws  of  the  empire,  and,  as  a  sincere 
though  ignorant  Christian,  I  will  have  nothing  to  do  with 
the  gods  of  the  heathens,  save  to  defy  them  in  the  name  and 
strength  of  the  holy  saints." 

"  Idiot  1 "  said  Achilles  Tatius,  *'  dost  thou  think  that  I, 
already  possessed  of  one  of  the  first  dignities  of  the  empire, 
could  meditate  anything  contrary  to  the  interests  of  Alexius 
Comnenus  ?  or,  what  would  be  scarce  more  atrocious,  that  I, 
Ihe  chosen  friend  and  ally  of  the  reverend  Patriarch  Zosimus, 


COUNT  EOBEBT  OF  PARIS  89 

should  meddle  with  anything  bearing  a  relation,  however 
remote,  to  heresy  or  idolatry  ?  " 

"Truly/'  answered  the  Varangian,  "no  one  would  be 
more  surprised  or  grieved  than  I  should  ;  but  when  we  walk 
in  a  labyrinth  we  must  assume  and  announce  that  we  have 
a  steady  and  forward  purpose,  which  is  one  mode  at  least  of 
keeping  a  straight  path.  The  people  of  this  country  have 
so  many  ways  of  saying  the  same  thing  that  one  can  hardly 
know  at  last  what  is  their  real  meaning.  We  English,  on 
the  other  hand,  can  only  express  ourselves  in  one  set  oi 
words,  but  it  is  one  out  of  which  all  the  ingenuity  of  the 
world  could  not  extract  a  double  meaning.'^ 

"'Tis  well,''  said  his  officer;  ^'^ to-morrow  we  will  talk 
more  of  this,  for  which  purpose  thou  wilt  come  to  my  quar- 
ters a  little  after  sunset.  And  hark  thee,  to-morrow,  while 
the  sun  is  in  heaven,  shall  be  thine  own,  either  to  sport 
thyself  or  to  repose.  Employ  thy  time  in  the  latter,  by  my 
advice,  since  to-morrow  night,  like  the  present,  may  find  u» 
both  watchers." 

So  saying,  they  entered  the  barracks,  where  they  parted 
company — the  commander  of  the  life-guards  taking  his  way 
to  a  splendid  set  of  apartments  which  belonged  to  him  in 
that  capacity,  and  the  Anglo-Saxon  seeking  his  more  humble 
accommodations  as  a  subaltern  officer  of  the  same  corps. 


CHAPTER    VL 

Siach  forces  met  not,  nor  so  vast  a  camp. 

When  Agrican,  with  all  his  Northern  powers, 

Besieged  Albracca,  as  romances  tell, 

The  city  of  Gallaphron,  from  thence  to  win 

The  fairest  of  her  sex,  Angelica, 

His  daughter,  sought  by  many  prowess'd  knights, 

Both  paynim  and  the  peers  of  Charlemagne. 

.  Paradise  Regained. 

fiARLY  on  the  morning  of  the  day  following  that  which  we 
have  commemorated,  the  imperial  council  was  assembled, 
where  the  number  of  general  officers  with  sounding  titles 
disguised  under  a  thin  veil  the  real  weakness  of  the  Grecian 
empire.  The  commanders  were  numerous,  and  the  distinc- 
tions of  their  rank  minute,  but  the  soldiers  were  very  few  in 
comparison. 

The  offices  formerly  filled  by  prefects,  praetors  and  ques- 
tors  were  now  held  by  persons  who  had  gradually  risen  into 
the  authority  of  those  officers,  and  who,  though  designated 
from  their  domestic  duties  about  the  Emperor,  yet,  from 
that  very  circumstance,  possessed  what,  in  that  despotic 
court,  was  the  most  effectual  source  of  power.  A  long  train 
of  officers  entered  the  great  hall  of  the  Castle  of  Blacquernal, 
and  proceeded  so  far  together  as  their  different  grades  ad- 
mitted, while  in  each  chamber  through  which  they  passed 
in  succession  a  certain  number  of  the  train,  whose  rank  per- 
mitted them  to  advance  no  farther,  remained  behind  the 
others.  Thus,  when  the  interior  cabinet  of  audience  was 
gained,  which  was  not  until  their  passage  through  ten  ante- 
rooms, five  persons  only  found  themselves  in  the  presence  of 
the  Emperor  in  this  innermost  and  most  sacred  recess  of 
royalty,  decorated  by  all  the  splendor  of  the  period. 

The  Emperor  Alexins  sat  upon  a  stately  throne,  rich  with 
barbaric  gems  and  gold,  and  flanked  on  either  hand,  in  imi- 
tation probably  of  Solomon's  magnificence,  with  the  form  of 
a  couchant  lion  in  the  same  precious  metal.  Not  to  dwell 
upon  other  marks  of  splendor,  a  tree,  whose  trunk  seemed 
also  of  gold,  shot  up  behind  the  throne,  which  it  over- 
do 


(JOUJ^T  UOBEK'l   OF  rAHlH  91 

canopied  with  its  branches.  Amid  the  boughs  were  birds 
of  various  kinds,  curiously  wrought  and  enameled,  and  fruit 
composed  of  precious  stones  seemed  to  glisten  among  the 
leaves.  Five  officers  alone,  the  highest  in  the  state,  had  the 
privilege  of  entering  this  sacred  recess  when  the  Emperor 
held  council.  These  were  the  Grand  Domestic,  who  might 
be  termed  of  rank  with  a  modern  prime  minister ;  the 
Logothete,  or  chancellor  ;  the  Protospathaire,  or  comman- 
der of  the  guards,  already  mentioned  ;  the  Acolyte,  or  Fol- 
lower, and  leader  of  the  Varangians  ;  and  the  Patriarch. 

The  doors  of  this  secret  apartment  and  the  adjacent  ante- 
chamber were  guarded  by  six  deformed  Nubian  slaves,  whose 
writhen  and  withered  countenances  formed  a  hideous  con- 
trast with  their  snow-white  dresses  and  splendid  equipment. 
They  were  mutes,  a  species  of  wretches  borrowed  from  the 
despotism  of  the  East,  that  they  might  be  unable  to  proclaim 
the  deeds  of  tyranny  of  which  they  were  the  unscrupulous 
agents.  They  were  generally  held  in  a  kind  of  horror  rather 
than  compassion,  for  men  considered  that  slaves  of  this  sort 
had  a  malignant  pleasure  in  avenging  upon  others  the  irrep- 
arable wrongs  which  had  severed  themselves  from  humanity. 

It  was  a  general  custom,  though,  like  many  other  usages 
of  the  Greeks,  it  would  be  held  childish  in  modern  times 
that,  by  means  of  machinery  easily  conceived,  the  lions,  at 
the  entrance  of  a  stranger,  were  made,  as  it  were,  to  rouse 
themselves  and  roar,  after  which  a  wind  seemed  to  rustle 
the  foliage  of  the  tree,  the  birds  hopped  from  branch  to 
branch,  pecked  the  fruit,  and  appeared  to  fill  the  chamber 
with  their  caroling.  This  display  had  alarmed  many  an 
ignorant  foreign  ambassador,  and  even  the  Grecian  coun- 
selors themselves  were  expected  to  display  the  same  sensa- 
tions  of  fear,  succeeded  by  surprise,  when  they  heard  the 
roar  of  the  lions,  followed  by  the  concert  of  the  birds, 
although  perhaps  it  was  for  the  fiftieth  time.  On  this  occa- 
sion, as  a  proof  of  the  urgency  of  the  present  meeting  of  the 
council,  these  ceremonies  were  entirely  omitted. 

The  speech  of  the  Emperor  himself  seemed  to  supply  by 
its  commencement  the  bellowing  of  the  lions,  while  it  ended 
in  a  strain  more  resembling  the  warbling  of  the  birds. 

In  his  first  sentences  he  treated  of  the  audacity  and  nn- 
heard-of  boldness  of  the  millions  of  Franks,  who,*under  the 
pretense  of  wresting  Palestine  from  the  infidels,  had  ventured 
to  invade  the  sacred  territories  of  the  empire.  He  threat- 
ened them  with  such  chastisement  as  his  innumerable  forces 
and  officers  would,  he  affirmed,  find  it  easy  to  inflict.     T« 


92  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

all  this  the  audience,  and  especially  the  military  officers,  gave 
symptoms  of  ready  assent. 

Alexius,  however,  did  not  long  persist  in  the  warlike  in- 
tentions which  he  at  first  avowed.  The  Franks,  he  at  length 
seemed  to  reflect,  were,  in  profession.  Christians.  They 
might  possibly  be  serious  in  their  pretext  of  a  crusade,  in 
which  case  their  motives  claimed  a  degree  of  indulgence, 
and,  although  erring,  a  certain  portion  of  respect.  Their 
numbers  also  were  great,  and  their  valor  could  not  be 
despised  by  those  who  had  seen  them  fight  at  Durazzo*  and 
elsewhere.  They  might  also,  by  permission  of  Supreme 
Providence,  be  in  the  long  run  the  instruments  of  advantage 
to  the  most  sacred  empire,  though  they  approached  it  with 
so  little  ceremony.  He  had,  therefore,  mingling  the  virtues 
of  prudence,  humanity  and  generosity  with  that  valor  which 
must  always  burn  in  the  heart  of  an  Emperor,  formed  a  plan, 
which  he  was  about  to  submit  to  their  consideration,  for 
present  execution  ;  and,  in  the  first  place,  he  requested  of 
the  Grand  Domestic  to  let  him  know  what  forces  he  might 
count  upon  on  the  western  side  of  the  Bosphorus. 

"  Innumerable  are  the  forces  of  the  empire  as  the  stars  in 
heaven,  or  the  sand  on  the  seashore,^'  answered  the  Grand 
Domestic. 

''  That  is  a  goodly  answer, '^  said  the  Emperor,  "provided 
there  were  strangers  present  at  this  conference  ;  but,  since 
we  hold  consultation  in  private,  it  is  necessary  that  I  know 
precisely  to  what  number  that  army  amounts  which  I  have 
to  rely  upon.  Eeserve  your  eloquence  till  some  fitter  time, 
and  let  me  know  what  you,  at  this  present  moment,  mean 
by  the  word  *  innumerable.^'^ 

The  Grand  Domestic  paused,  and  hesitated  for  a  short 
space  ;  but,  as  he  became  aware  that  the  moment  was  one  in 
which  the  Emperor  could  not  be  trifled  with,  for  Alexius 
Comnenus  was  at  times  dangerous,  he  answered  thus,  but 
not  without  hesitation — "  Imperial  master  and  lord,  none 
better  knows  that  such  an  answer  cannot  be  hastily  made,  if 
it  is  at  the  same  time  to  be  correct  in  its  results.  The  num- 
ber of  the  imperial  host  betwixt  this  city  and  the  western 
frontier  of  the  empire,  deducing  those  absent  upon  furlough, 
cannot  be  counted  upon  as  amounting  to  more  than  twenty- 
five  thousand  men,  or  thirty  thousand  at  most. 

Alexius  struck  his  forehead  with  his  hand;    and  the  coun- 

*  For  the  battle  of  Durazzo,  Oct.  1081,  in  which  Alexius  was  de« 
feated  with  great  slaughter  by  Eobert  Guiscard,^  and  escaped  only 
by  the  swiftness  of  his  horse,  see  Gibbon,  ch.  Ivi, 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  P^RIS  93 

selors,  seeing  him  give  way  to  such  violent  expressions  of 
grief  and  surprise,  began  to  enter  into  discussions  which  they 
would  otherwise  have  reserved  for  a  fitter  place  and  time. 

"  By  the  trust  your  Highness  reposes  in  me/'  said  the 
Logothete,  ^'  there  has  been  drawn  from  your  Highnesses 
coffers  during  the  last  year  gold  enough  to  pay  double  the 
number  of  the  armed  warriors  whom  the  Grand  Domestic 
now  mentions." 

''  Your  Imperial  Highness/'  retorted  the  impeached  min- 
ister, with  no  small  animation,  *'  will  at  once  remember  the 
stationary  garrisons,  in  addition  to  the  movable  troops,  for 
which  this  figure-caster  makes  no  allowance. '^ 

"Peace,  both  of  you  !"  said  Alexius,  composing  himself 
hastily  ;  "  our  actual  numbers  are  in  truth  less  than  we 
counted  on,  but  let  us  not  by  wrangling  augment  the  difficul- 
ties of  the  time.  Let  those  troops  be  dispersed  in  valleys, 
in  passes,  behind  ridges  of  hills,  and  in  difficult  ground, 
where  a  little  art  being  used  in  the  position  can  make  few 
men  supply  the  appearance  of  numbers,  between  this  city 
and  the  western  frontier  of  the  empire.  While  this  disposal 
is  made,  we  will  continue  to  adjust  with  these  crusaders,  as 
they  call  themselves,  the  terms  on  which  we  will  consent  to 
let  them  pass  through  our  dominions  ;  nor  are  we  without 
hope  of  negotiating  with  them,  so  as  to  gain  great  advan- 
tage to  our  kingdom.  We  will  insist  that  they  pass  through 
our  country  only  by  armies  of  perhaps  fifty  thousand  at 
once,  whom  we  will  successively  transport  into  Asia,  so  that 
no  greater  number  shall,  by  assembling  beneath  our  walls, 
ever  endanger  the  safety  of  the  metropolis  of  the  world. 

"  On  their  way  towards  the  banks  of  the  Bosphorus,  we 
will  supply  them  with  provisions,  if  they  march  peaceably 
and  in  order  ;  and  if  any  straggle  from  their  standards,  or 
insult  the  country  by  marauding,  we  suppose  our  valiant 
peasants  will  not  hesitate  to  repress  their  excesses,  and  that 
without  our  giving  positive  orders,  since  he  would  not  will- 
ingly be  charged  with  anything  like  a  breach  of  engagement. 
We  suppose,  also,  that  the  Scythians,  Arabs,  Syrians,  and 
other  mercenaries  in  our  service  will  not  suffer  our  subjects 
to  be  overpowered  in  their  own  just  defense  ;  as,  besides 
that  there  is  no  justice  in  stripping  our  own  country  of  pro- 
visions, in  order  to  feel  strangers,  we  will  not  be  surprised, 
nor  unpardonably  displeased,  to  learn  that,  of  the  ostensible 
quantity  of  flour,  some  sacks  should  be  found  filled  with 
chalk,  or  lime,  or  some  such  substance.  It  is,  indeed,  truly 
wonderful  what  the  stomach  of  a  Frank  will  digest  comfort- 


94  ]VAVERLEY  NOVELS 

ably.  Their  guides,  also,  whom  you  shall  choose  with  refer- 
ence to  such  duty,  will  take  care  to  conduct  the  crusaders 
by  difficult  and  circuitous  routes  ;  which  will  be  doing  them 
a  real  service,  by  inuring  them  to  the  hardships  of  the  country 
and  climate,  which  they  would  otherwise  have  to  face  with- 
out seasoning. 

*'  In  the  mean  time,  in  your  intercourse  with  their  chiefs, 
whom  they  call  counts,  each  of  whom  thinks  himself  as  great 
as  an  emperor,  you  will  take  care  to  give  no  offense  to  their 
natural  presumption,  and  omit  no  opportunity  of  informing 
them  of  the  wealth  and  bounty  of  our  government.  Sums  of 
money  may  be  even  given  to  persons  of  note,  and  largesses 
of  less  avail  to  those  under  them.  You,  our  Logothete,  will 
take  good  order  for  this,  and  you,  our  Grand  Domestic,  will 
take  care  that  such  soldiers  as  may  cut  off  detached  parties 
of  the  Franks  shall  be  presented,  if  possible,  in  savage  dress, 
and  under  the  show  of  infidels.  In  commending  these  in- 
junctions to  your  care,  I  propose  that  the  crusaders,  having 
found  the  value  of  our  friendship,  and  also  in  some  sort  the 
danger  of  our  enmity,  those  whom  we  shall  safely  transport 
to  Asia  shall  be,  however  unwieldy,  still  a  smaller  and  more 
compact  body,  whom  we  may  deal  with  in  all  Christian  pru- 
dence. Thus,  by  using  fair  words  to  one,  threats  to  another, 
gold  to  the  avaricious,  power  to  the  ambitious,  and  reasons 
to  those  that  are  capable  of  listening  to  them,  we  doubt  not 
but  to  prevail  upon  those  Franks,  met  as  they  are  from  a 
thousand  points,  and  enemies  of  each  other,  to  acknowledge 
us  as  their  common  superior,  rather  than  choose  a  leader 
among  themselves,  when  they  are  made  aware  of  the  great 
fact  that  every  village  in  Palestine,  from  Dan  to  Beersheba, 
is  the  original  property  of  the  sacred  Roman  empire,  and 
that  whatever  Christian  goes  to  war  for  their  recovery  must 
go  as  our  subject,  and  hold  any  conquest  which  he  may 
make  as  our  vassal.  Vice  and  virtue,  sense  and  folly,  am- 
bition and  disinterested  devotion,  will  alike  recommend  to 
the  survivors  of  these  singular-minded  men  to  become  the 
feudatories  of  the  empire,  not  its  foe,  and  the  shield,  not  the 
enemy,  of  your  paternal  Emperor." 

There  was  a  general  inclination  of  the  head  among  the 
courtiers,  with  the  Eastern  exclamation  of,  "  Long  live  the 
Emperor ! " 

When  the  murmur  of  this  applausive  exclamation  had 
subsided,  Alexius  proceeded — "  Once  more,  I  say  that  my 
faithful  Grand  Domestic,  and  those  who  act  under  him  will 
take  care  to  commit  the  execution  of  such  part  of  these 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  96 

orders  as  wiay  iseem  aggressive  to  troops  of  foreign  appear- 
ance and  language,  which,  I  grieve  to  say.  are  more  numer- 
ous in  our  imperial  army  than  our  natural  born  and  orthodox 
subjects." 

The  Patriarch  here  interposed  his  opinion.  '*  There  is  a 
consolation/'  he  said,  ^'  in  the  thought  that  the  genuine 
Romans  in  the  imperial  army  are  but  few,  since  a  trade  so 
bloody  as  war  is  most  fitly  prosecuted  by  those  whose  doc- 
trines, as  well, as  their  doings,  on  earth  merit  eternal  con- 
demnation in  the  next  world." 

^'Reverend  Patriarch,"  said  the  Emperor,  "we  would  not 
willingly  hold,  with  the  wild  infidels,  that  Paradise  is  to  be 
gained  by  the  saber ;  nevertheless,  we  would  hope  that  a 
Soman  dying  in  battle  for  his  religion  and  his  Emperor  may 
find  as  good  hope  of  acceptation,  after  the  mortal  pang  is 
over,  as  a  man  who  dies  in  peace,  and  with  unbloodied 
hand."  ^ 

'^  It  is  enough  for  me  to  say,"  resumed  the  Patriarch, 
"  that  the  churches  doctrine  is  not  so  indulgent ;  she  is  her 
self  peaceful,  and  her  promises  of  favor  are  for  those  who 
have  been  men  of  peace.  Yet  think  not  I  bar  the  gates  of 
Heaven  against  a  soldier,  as  such,  if  believing  all  the  doctrines 
of  our  church,  and  complying  with  all  our  observances;  far  less 
would  I  condemn  your  Imperial  Majesty's  wise  precautions, 
both  for  diminishing  the  power  and  thinning  the  ranks  of 
those  Latin  heretics,  who  come  hither  to  despoil  us,  and 
plunder  perhaps  both  church  and  temple,  under  the  vain 
pretext  that  Heaven  would  permit  them,  stained  with  so 
many  heresies,  to  reconquer  that  Holy  Land  which  true 
orthodox  Christians,  your  Majesty's  sacred  predecessors, 
have  not  been  enabled  to  retain  from  the  infidel.  And  well 
I  trust  that  no  settlement  made  under  the  Latins  will  be 
permitted  by  your  Majesty  to  establish  itself  in  which  the 
cross  shall  not  be  elevated  with  limbs  of  the  same  length, 
instead  of  that  irregular  and  most  damnable  error  which 
prolongs,  in  Western  churches,  the  nether  limb  of  that  most 
holy  emblem." 

"Reverend  Patriarch,"  answered  the  Emperor,  "do  not 
deem  that  we  think  lightly  of  your  weighty  scruples  ;  but 
the  question  is  now,  not  in  what  manner  we  may  convert 
these  Latin  heretics  to  the  true  faith,  but  how  we  may  avoid 
being  overrun  by  their  myriads,  which  resemble  those  of  the 
locusts  by  which  their  approach  was  preceded  and  inti- 
mated." 

"  Your  Majesty,"  said  the  Patriarch,  "  will  act  with  your 


m  WAVEBLEY  NOVELL 

asual  wisdom ;  for  my  part,  I  have  only  stated  my  doubts, 
that  I  may  save  my  own  soul  alive/' 

*'  Our  construction/'  said  the  Emperor,  ^'  does  your  senti- 
ments no  wrong,  most  reverend  Patriarch  ;  and  you,"  ad- 
dressing himself  to  the  other  counselors,  ''will  attend  to 
these  separate  charges  given  out  for  directing  the  execution 
of  the  commands  which  have  been  generally  intimated  to 
you.  They  are  written  out  in  the  sacred  ink,  and  our  sacred 
subscription  is  duly  marked  with  the  fitting  tinge  of  green 
and  purple.  Let  them,  therefore,  be  strictly  obeyed.  Our- 
selves will  assume  the  command  of  such  of  the  Immortal 
Bands  as  remain  in  the  city,  and  join  to  them  the  cohorts  of 
our  faithful  Varangians.  At  the  head  of  these  troops  we 
will  await  the  arrival  of  these  strangers  under  the  walls  of 
the  city,  and,  avoiding  combat  while  our  policy  can  postpone 
it,  we  will  be  ready,  in  case  of  the  worst,  to  take  whatsoever 
chance  it  shall  please  the  Almighty  to  send  us.'' 

Here  the  council  broke  up,  and  the  different  chiefs  began 
to  exert  themselves  in  the  execution  of  their  various  in- 
structions, civil  and  military,  secret  or  public,  favorable  or 
hostile  to  the  crusaders.  The  peculiar  genius  of  the  Grecian 
people  was  seen  upon  this  occasion.  Their  loud  and  boastful 
talking  corresponded  with  the  ideas  which  the  Emperor 
wished  to  enforce  upon  the  crusaders  concerning  the  extent 
of  his  power  and  resources.  Nor  is  it  to  be  disguised 
that  the  wily  selfishness  of  most  of  those  in  the  service  of 
Alexius  endeavored  to  find  some  indirect  way  of  applying 
the  imperial  instruction  so  as  might  best  suit  their  own 
private  ends. 

Meantime,  the  news  had  gone  abroad  in  Constantinople  of 
the  arrival  of  the  huge  miscellaneous  army  of  the  West  upon 
the  limits  of  the  Grecian  empire,  and  of  their  purpose  to 
pass  to  Palestine.  A  thousand  reports  magnified,  if  that 
was  possible,  an  event  so  wonderful.  Some  said  that  their 
ultimate  view  was  the  conquest  of  Arabia,  the  destruction  of 
the  Prophet's  tomb,  and  the  conversion  of  his  green  banner 
into  a  horse-cloth  for  the  king  of  France's  brother.  Others 
supposed  that  the  ruin  and  sack  of  Constantinople  was  the 
real  object  of  the  war.  A  third  class  thought  it  was  in 
order  to  compel  the  Patriarch  to  submit  himself  to  the 
Pope,  adopt  the  Latin  form  of  the  cross,  and  put  an  end  to 
the  schism. 

The  Varangians  enjoyed  an  addition  to  this  wonderful 
news,  seasoned  as  it  everywhere  was  with  something  pe- 
culiarly suited  to  the  prejudices   of  the  hearers.     It  was 


COUNT  ROBEBT  OF  PABI8  9^ 

gathered  originally  from  what  our  friend  Hereward,  who  was 
one  of  their  inferior  officers,  called  sergeants  or  constables, 
had  suffered  to  transpire  of  what  he  had  heard  the  preceding 
evening.  Considering  that  the  fact  must  be  soon  matter  of 
notoriety,  he  had  no  hesitation  to  give  his  comrades  to 
understand  that  a  Norman  army  was  coming  hither  under 
Duke  Robert,  the  son  of  the  far-famed  William  the  Con- 
queror, and  with  hostile  intentions,  he  concluded,  against 
them  in  particular.  Like  all  other  men  in  peculiar  circum- 
stances, the  Varangians  adopted  an  explanation  applicable 
to  their  own  condition.  These  Normans,  who  hated  the 
Saxon  nation,  and  had  done  so  much  to  dishonor  and  oppress 
tliem,  were  now  following  them,  they  supposed,  to  the 
foreign  capital  where  they  had  found  refuge,  with  the  pur- 
pose of  making  war  on  the  bountiful  prince  who  protected 
their  sad  remnant.  Under  this  belief,  many  a  deep  oath 
was  sworn  in  Norse  and  Anglo-Saxon,  that  their  keen  battle- 
axes  should  avenge  the  slaughter  of  Hastings,  and  many  a 
pledge,  both  in  wine  and  ale,  was  quaffed,  who  should  most 
^leeply  resent  and  most  effectually  revenge  the  wrongs  which 
the  Anglo-Saxons  of  England  had  received  at  the  hand  of 
their  oppressors. 

Hereward,  the  author  of  this  intelligence,  began  soon  to 
be  sorry  that  he  had  ever  suffered  it  to  escape  him,  so  closely 
was  he  cross-examined  concerning  its  precise  import,  by  the 
inquiries  of  his  comrades,  from  whom  he  thought  himself 
obliged  to  keep  concealed  the  adventures  of  the  preceding 
evening,  and  the  place  in  which  he  had  gained  his  informa- 
tion. 

About  noon,  when  he  was  effectually  tired  with  returning 
the  same  answer  to  the  same  questions,  and  evading  similar 
others  which  were  repeatedly  put  to  him,  the  sound  of 
trumpets  announced  the  presence  of  the  Acolyte  Achilles 
Tatius,  who  came  immediately,  it  was  industriously 
whispered,  from  the  sacred  interior,  with  news  of  the  im- 
mediate approach  of  war. 

The  Varangians  and  the  Roman  bands  called  Immortal,  if 
was  said,  were  to  form  a  camp  under  the  city,  in  order  to 
be  prompt  to  defend  it  at  the  shortest  notice.  This  put  the 
whole  barracks  into  commotion,  each  man  making  the 
necessary  provision  for  the  approaching  campaign.  The 
noise  was  chiefly  that  of  joyful  bustle  and  acclamation  ;  and 
it  was  so  general,  that  Hereward,  whose  rank  permitted  him 
to  commit  to  a  page,  or  esquire,  the  task  of  preparing  his 
equipments,  took  the  opportunity  to  leave  the  barracks,  in 
7 


98  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

order  to  seek  some  distant  place  apart  from  his  comrades, 
and  enjoy  his  solitary  reflections  upon  the  singular  connection 
into  which  he  had  been  drawn,  and  his  direct  communication 
with  the  imperial  family. 

Passing  through  the  narrow  streets,  then  deserted  on 
account  of  the  heat  of  the  sun,  he  reached  at  length  one  of 
those  broad  terraces  which,  descending,  as  it  were  by  steps, 
upon  the  margin  of  the  Bosphorus,  formed  one  of  the  most 
splendid  walks  in  the  universe,  and  still,  it  is  believed, 
preserved  as  a  public  promenade  for  the  pleasure  of  the 
Turks,  as  formerly  for  that  of  the  Christians.  These  graduated 
terraces  were  planted  with  many  trees,  among  which  the 
cypress,  as  usual,  was  most  generally  cultivated.  Here 
bands  of  the  inhabitants  were  to  be  seen — some  passing  to 
and  fro,  with  business  and  anxiety  in  their  faces ;  some 
standing  still  in  groups,  as  if  discussing  the  strange  atid 
weighty  tidings  of  the  day  ;  and  some,  with  the  indolent 
carelessness  of  an  Eastern  climate,  eating  their  noontide 
refreshment  in  the  shade,  and  spending  their  time  as  if  their 
sole  object  was  to  make  much  of  the  day  as  it  passed,  and 
let  the  cares  of  to-morrow  answer  for  themselves. 

While  the  Varangian,  afraid  of  meeting  some  acquain- 
tance in  this  concourse,  which  would  have  been  inconsistent 
with  the  desire  of  seclusion  which  had  brought  him  thither, 
descended  or  passed  from  one  terrace  to  another,  all  marked 
him  with  looks  of  curiosity  and  inquiry,  considering  him  to 
be  one  who,  from  his  arms  and  connection  with  the  court, 
must  necessarily  know  more  than  others  concerning  the 
singular  invasion  by  numerous  enemies,  and  from  various 
quarters,  which  was  the  news  of  the  day.  None,  however, 
had  the  hardihood  to  address  the  soldier  of  the  guard,  though 
all  looked  at  him  with  uncommon  interest.  He  walked  from 
the  lighter  to  the  darker  alleys,  from  the  more  closed  to  the 
more  open  terraces,  without  interruption  from  any  one, 
yet  not  without  a  feeling  that  he  must  not  consider  himself 
as  alone. 

The  desire  that  he  felt  to  be  solitary  rendered  him  at  last 
somewhat  watchful,  so  that  he  became  sensible  that  he  was 
dogged  by  a  black  slave,  a  personage  not  so  unfrequent  in 
the  streets  of  Constantinople  as  to  excite  any  particular 
notice.  His  attention,  however,  being  at  length  fixed  on 
this  individual,  he  began  to  be  desirous  to  escape  his  obser- 
vation ;  and  the  change  of  place  which  he  had  at  first 
adopted  to  avoid  society  in  general  he  had  now  recourse  to, 
in  order  to  rid  himself  of  this  distant,  though  apparently 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PAEIS  99 

watchful,  attendant.  Still,  however,  though  he  by  change 
of  place  had  lost  sight  of  the  negro  for  a  few  minutes,  it 
was  not  long  ere  he  again  discovered  him,  at  a  distance  too 
far  for  a  companion,  but  near  enough  to  serve  all  the  pur- 
poses of  a  spy.  Displeased  at  this,  the.  Varangian  turned 
short  in  his  walk,  and,  choosing  a  spot  where  none  was  in 
sight  but  the  object  of  his  resentment,  walked  suddenly  up 
to  him,  and  demanded  wherefore,  and  by  whose  orders,  he 
presumed  to  dog  his  footsteps.  The  negro  answered  in  a 
jargon  as  bad  as  that  in  which  he  was  addressed,  though  of 
a  different  kind,  "  that  he  had  orders  to  remark  whither  he 
went." 

^*  Orders  from  whom  ?  "  said  the  Varangian. 

"From  my  master  and  yours,"  answered  the  negro, 
boldly. 

"Thou  infidel  villain!"  exclaimed  the  angry  soldier, 
"  when  was  it  that  we  became  fellow-servants,  and  who  is  it 
that  thou  darest  to  call  my  master  ?  " 

"  One  who  is  master  of  the  world,"  said  the  slave,  "  since 
he  commands  his  own  passions." 

"  I  shall  scarce  command  mine,"  said  the  Varangian,  "  if 
thou  repliest  to  my  earnest  questions  with  thine  affected 
quirks  of  philosophy.  Once  more,  what  dost  thou  want 
Avith  me  ?  and  why  hast  thou  the  boldness  to  watch  me  ?  " 

"I  have  told  thee  already,"  said  the  slave,  "that  I  do  m} 
master's  commands." 

"  But  I  must  know  who  thy  master  is,"  said  Hereward. 

"  He  must  tell  thee  that  himself,"  replied  the  negro  :  "he 
trusts  not  a  poor  slave  like  me  with  the  purpose  of  the 
errands  on  which  he  sends  me." 

^'  He  has  left  thee  a  tongue,  however,"  said  the  Varan- 
gian, "  which,  some  of  thy  countrymen  would,  I  think,  be 
glad  to  possess.  Do  not  provoke  me  to  abridge  it  by  refus- 
ing me  the  information  which  I  have  a  right  to  demand." 

The  black  meditated,  as  it  seemed  from  the  grin  on  his 
face,  further  evasions,  when  Hereward  cut  them  short  by 
raising  the  staff  of  his  battle-ax.  "  Put  me  not,"  he  said, 
"  to  dishonor  myself  by  striking  thee  with  this  weapon,  cal- 
culated for  a  use  so  much  more  noble." 

"  I  may  not  do  so,  valiant  sir,"  said  the  negro,  laying  aside 
an  impudent,  half-gibing  tone  which  he  had  hitherto  made 
use  of,  and  betraying  personal  fear  in  his  manner.  "If  you 
beat  the  poor  slave  to  death,  you  cannot  learn  what  his  mas- 
ter hath  forbid  him  to  tell.  A  short  walk  will  save  your 
honor  the  stain,  and  yourself  the  trouble,  of  beating  what 


100  WA  VEBLET  NOVELS 

cannot  resist,  and  me  the  pain  of  enduring  what  I  can 
neither  retaliate  nor  avoid/' 

'^  Lead  on,  then/'  said  the  Varangian.  '^  Be  assured  thou 
shalt  not  fool  me  by  thy  fair  words,  and  I  will  know  the  per- 
son who  is  impudent  enough  to  assume  the  right  of  watch- 
ing my  motions/' 

The  black  walked  on  with  a  species  of  leer  peculiar  to  his 
physiognomy,  which  might  be  construed  as  expressive  either 
of  malice  or  of  mere  humor.  The  Varangian  followed  him 
with  some  suspicion,  for  it  happened  that  he  had  had  little 
intercourse  with  the  unhappy  race  of  Africa,  and  had  not 
totally  overcome  the  feeling  of  surprise  with  which  he  had 
at  first  regarded  them  when  he  arrived  a  stranger  from  the 
North.  So  often  did  this  man  look  back  upon  him  during 
their  walk,  and  with  so  penetrating  and  observing  a  cast  of 
countenance,  that  Hereward  felt  irresistibly  renewed  in  his 
mind  the  English  prejudices  which  assigned  to  the  demons 
the  sable  color  and  distorted  cast  of  visage  of  his  conductor. 
The  scene  into  which  he  was  guided  strengthened  an  asso- 
ciation which  was  not  of  itself  unlikely  to  occur  to  the 
ignorant  and  martial  islander. 

The  negro  led  the  way  from  the  splendid  terraced  walks 
which  we  have  described  to  a  path  descending  to  the  sea- 
shore, when  a  place  appeared  which,  far  from  being 
trimmed,  like  other  parts  of  the  coast,  into  walks  or  em- 
bankments, seemed,  on  the  contrary,  abandoned  to  neglect, 
and  was  covered  with  the  moldering  ruins  of  antiquity, 
where  these  had  not  been  overgrown  by  the  luxuriant  vege- 
tation  of  the  climate.  These  fragments  of  building,  occu- 
pying a  sort  of  recess  of  the  bay,  were  hidden  by  steep 
banks  on  each  side,  and  although,  in  fact,  they  formed  part 
of  the  city,  yet  they  were  not  seen  from  any  part  of  it,  and, 
embosomed  in  the  manner  we  have  described,  did  not  in 
turn  command  any  view  of  the  churches,  palaces,  towers, 
and  fortifications  amongst  which  they  lay.  The  sight  of  this 
solitary,  and  apparently  deserted,  spot,  encumbered  with 
i'uins  and  overgrown  with  cypress  and  other  trees,  situated 
as  it  was  in  the  midst  of  a  populous  city,  had  something  in 
it  impressive  and  awful  to  the  imagination.  The  ruins  were 
of  an  ancient  date,  and  in  the  style  of  a  foreign  people. 
The  gigantic  remains  of  a  portico,  the  mutilated  fragments 
of  statues  of  great  size,  but  executed  in  a  taste  and  attitude 
so  narrow  and  barbaric  as  to  seem  perfectly  the  reverse  of 
the  Grecian,  and  the  half-defaced  hieroglyphics  which  could 
be  traced  on  some  part  of  the  decayed  sculpture,  corrobo- 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS 


lOV 


rated  the  popular  account  of  their  origin,  which  we  shall 
briefly  detail. 

According  to  tradition,  this  had  been  a  temple  dedicated 
DO   the  Egyptian  goddess  Cybele,  built  while    the  Roman 
empire  was  yet  heathen,  and  while  Constantinople  was  still 
[called  by  the  name  of  Byzantium.     It  is  well  known  that 
\>he  superstition  of  the  Egyptians — vulgarly  gross  in  its  literal 
[meaning  as  well  as  in  its  mystical  interpretation,  and  pe- 
tculiarly  the  foundation  of  many  wild  doctrines — was  disowned 
jby  the  principles  of  general  toleration,  and  the  system  of 
polytheism  received  by  Rome,  and  was  excluded  by  repeated 
taws  from  the  respect  paid  by  the  empire  to  almost  every 
)ther  religion,  however  extravagant  or  absurd.     Neverthe- 
less, these  Egyptian  rites  had  charms  for  the  curious  and 
[the  superstitious,  and  had,  after  long  opposition,  obtained  a 
footing  in  the  empire. 

Still,  although  tolerated,  the  Egyptian  priests  were  rather 
jonsidered  as  sorcerers  than  as  pontiffs,  and  their  whole 
ritual  had  a  nearer  relation  to  magic,  in  popular  estimation, 
than  to  any  regular  system  of  devotion. 

Stained  with  these  accusations,  even  among  the  heathen 
themselves,  the  worship  of  Egypt  was  held  in  more  mortal 
ibhorrence  by  the  Christians  than  the  other  and  more  ra- 
tional kinds  of  heathen  devotion — that  is,  if  any  at  all  had 
right  to  be  termed  so.     The  brutal  worship  of  Apis  and 
/ybele  was  regarded  not  only  as  a  pretext  for  obscene  and 
)rofligate  pleasures,  but  as  having  a  direct  tendency  to  open 
md  encourage  a  dangerous  commerce,  with  evil  spirits,  who 
'ere  supposed  to  take  upon  themselves,  at  these  unhallowed 
iltars,  the  names  and  characters  of  these  foul  deities.     Not 
mly,  therefore,  the  temple  of  Cybele,  with  its  gigantic  por- 
tico, its  huge  and  inelegant  statues,  and  its  fantastic  hiero- 
glyphics, was  thrown  down  and  defaced  when  the  empire 
'■as  converted  to  the  Christian  faith,  but  the  very  ground 
m  which  it  stood  was  considered  as  polluted  and  unhal- 
lowed ;  and  no  emperor  having  yet  occupied  the  site  with  a 
[Christian   church,  the  place  still  remained  neglected  and 
[deserted,  as  we  have  described  it. 

The  Varangian  Hereward  was  perfectly  acquainted  with 
the  evil  reputation  of  the  place  ;  and  when  the  negro  seemed 
[disposed  to  advance  into  the  interior  of  the  ruins,  he  hesi- 
[tated,  and  addressed  his  guide  thus :  "  Hark  thee,  my 
)lack  friend,  these  huge  fantastic  images,  some  having  dogs^ 
[heads,  some  cows'  heads,  and  some  no  heads  at  all,  are  no^ 
[held  reverently  in  popular  estimation.     Your  own  color,  also, 


102  WA  VERLET  NOVELS 

my  comrade,  is  greatly  too  like  that  of  Satan  himself  to  ren- 
der you  an  unsuspicious  companion  amid  ruins  in  which  the 
false  spirit,  it  is  said,  daily  walks  his  rounds.  Midnight 
and  noon  are  the  times,  it  is  rumored,  of  his  appearance. 
I  will  go  no  farther  with  you,  unless  you  assign  me  a  fit 
reason  for  so  doing.  ^' 

^'  In  making  so  childish  a  proposal,''  said  the  negro,  "  you 
take  from  me,  in  effect,  all  desire  to  guide  you  to  my  mas- 
ter. I  thought  I  spoke  to  a  man  of  invincible  courage,  and 
of  that  good  sense  upon  which  courage  is  best  founded. 
But  your  valor  only  emboldens  you  to  beat  a  black  slave, 
who  has  neither  strength  nor  title  to  resist  you  ;  and  your 
courage  is  not  enough  to  enable  you  to  look  without  trem- 
bling on  the  dark  side  of  a  wall,  even  when  the  sun  is  in  the 
heaven.'' 

'^  Thou  art  insolent,"  said  Hereward,  raising  his  ax. 

"  And  thou  art  foolish,"  said  the  negro,  "  to  attempt  to 
prove  thy  manhood  and  thy  wisdom  by  the  very  mode  which 
gives  reason  for  calling  them  both  in  question.  I  have  al- 
ready said  there  can  be  little  valor  in  beating  a  wretch  like 
me  ;  and  no  man,  surely,  who  wishes  to  discover  his  way 
would  begin  by  chasing  away  his  guide." 

"  I  follow  thee,"  said  Hereward,  stung  with  the  insinua- 
tion of  cowardice  ;  ''  but  if  thouleadest  me  into  a  snare,  thy 
free  talk  shall  not  save  thy  bones,  if  a  thousand  of  thy  com-^ 
plexion  from  earth  or  hell  were  standing  ready  to  back  thee." 

"  Thou  objectest  sorely  to  my  complexion,"  said  the 
negro  ;  *'how  knowest  thou  that  it  is,  in  fact,  a  thing  to  be 
counted  and  acted  upon  as  matter  of  reality  ?  Thine  own 
eyes  daily  apprise  thee  that  the  color  of  the  sky  nightly  changes 
from  bright  to  black,  yet  thou  knowest  •  that  this  is  by 
no  means  owing  to  any  habitual  color  of  the  heavens  them- 
selves. The  same  change  that  takes  place  in  the  hue  of  the 
heavens  has  existence  in  the  tinge  of  the  deep  sea.  How 
canst  thou  tell  but  what  the  difference  of  my  color  from 
thine  own  may  be  owing  to  some  deceptions  change  of  a 
similar  nature — not  real  in  itself,  but  only  creating  an  ap- 
parent reality  ?  " 

'*  Thou  may  est  have  painted  thyself,  no  doubt,"  answered 
the  Varangian,  upon  reflection,  "  and  thy  blackness,  there- 
fore, may  be  only  apparent ;  but  I  think  thy  old  friend  him- 
self could  hardly  have  presented  these  grinning  lips,  with 
the  white  teeth  and  flattened  nose,  so  much  to  the  life,  un- 
less that  peculiarity  of  Nubian  physiognomy,  as  they  call 
it,  had  accurately  and  really  an  existence  ;  and,  to  save  thee 


COUNT  ROBEBT  OF  PABIS  103 

Bome  trouble,  my  dark  friend,  I  will  tell  thee  that,  though 
thou  speak  est  to  an  uneducated  Varangian,  I  am  not  entirely 
unskilled  in  the  Grecian  art  of  making  subtle  words  pass 
upon  the  hearers  instead  of  reason." 

*'Ay?"said  the  negro,  doubtfully,  and  somewhat  sur- 
prised ;  '^  and  may  the  slave  Diogenes — for  so  my  master  has 
christened  me — inquire  into  the  means  by  which  you  reached 
knowledge  so  unusual  ?" 

"  It  is  soon  told,"  replied  Hereward.  "  My  countryman, 
Witikind,  being  a  constable  of  our  bands,  retired  from  active 
service,  and  spent  the  end  of  a  long  life  in  this  city  of  Con- 
stantinople. Being  past  all  toils  of  battle,  either  those  of 
reality,  as  you  word  it,  or  the  pomp  and  fatigue  of  the  ex- 
ercising ground,  the  poor  old  man,  in  despair  of  something 
to  pass  his  time,  attended  the  lectures  of  the  philosophers." 

"  And  what  did  he  learn  there  ?  "  said  the  negro  ;  ''  for  a 
barbarian  grown  gray  under  the  helmet,  was  not,  as  I  think, 
a  very  hopeful  student  in  our  schools." 

**  As  much,  though,  I  should  think,  as  a  menial  slave, 
which  I  understand  to  be  thy  condition,"  replied  the  soldier. 
*'  But  I  have  understood  from  him  that  the  masters  of  this 
idle  science  make  it  their  business  to  substitute,  in  their 
argumentations,  mere  words  instead  of  ideas  ;  and  as  they 
never  agree  upon  the  precise  meaning  of  the  former,  their 
disputes  can  never  arrive  at  a  fair  or  settled  conclusion,  since 
they  do  not  agree  in  the  language  in  which  they  express 
them.  Their  theories,  as  they  call  them,  are  built  on  the 
sand,  and  the  wind  and  tide  shall  prevail  against  them." 

'^  Say  so  to  my  master,"  answered  the  black,  in  a  serion^* 
tone. 

"  I  will,"  said  the  Varangian  ;  '^  and  he  shall  know  me  as 
an  ignorant  soldier,  having  but  few  ideas,  and  those  only 
concerning  my  religion  and  my  military  duty.  But  out  of 
these  opinions  I  will  neither  be  beaten  by  a  battery  of  soph- 
isms nor  cheated  by  the  arts  or  the  terrors  of  the  friends  of 
heathenism,  either  in  this  world  or  the  next." 

**  You  may  speak  your  mind  to  him,  then,  yourself,"  said 
Diogenes.  He  stepped  to  one  side,  as  if  to  make  way  for  the 
Varangian,  to  whom  he  motioned  to  go  forward. 

Hereward  advanced  accordingly,  by  a  half -worn  and  almost 
imperceptible  path  leading  through  the  long  rough  grass, 
and,  turning  round  a  half-demolished  shrine,  which  exhibited 
the  remains  of  Apis,  the  bovine  deity,  he  came  immediately 
in  front  of  the  philosopher,  Agelastes,  who,  sitting  among 
ihe  ruins,  reposed  his  limbs  on  the  grass. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

Through  the  vain  webs  which  puzzle  sophists*  sKill, 
Plain  sense  and  honest  meaning  work  their  way  ; 
So  sink  the  varying  clouds  upon  the  hill, 
When  the  clear  dawning  brightens  into  day. 

Dr.  Watts. 

The  old  man  rose  from  the  ground  with  alacrity,  as  Here^ 
ward  approached.  ^'  My  bold  Varangian/'  he  said,  ^'  thou 
who  vainest  men  and  things  not  according  to  the  false  esti- 
mate ascribed  to  them  in  this  world,  but  to  their  reai 
importance  and  actual  value,  thou  art  welcome,  whatever 
has  brought  thee  hither — thou  art  welcome  to  a  place  where 
it  is  held  the  best  business  of  philosophy  to  strip  man  of  hia 
borrowed  ornaments,  and  reduce  him  to  the  just  value  of  his 
own  attributes  of  body  and  mind,  singly  considered. '^ 

'*  You  are  a  courtier,  sir,"  said  the  Saxon,  *'  and,  as  a 
permitted  companion  of  the  Emperor's  Highness,  you  must 
be  aware  that  there  are  twenty  times  more  ceremonies  than 
such  a  man  as  I  can  be  acquainted  with  for  regulating  the 
different  ranks  in  society  ;  while  a  plain  man  like  myself 
may  be  well  excused  from  pushing  himself  into  the  company 
of  those  above  him,  where  he  does  not  exactly  know  how  he 
should  comport  himself.'' 

"  True,"  said  the  philosopher  ;  ''  but  a  man  like  yourself, 
noble  Hereward,  merits  more  consideration  in  the  eyes  of  a 
real  philosopher  than  a  thousand  of  those  mere  insects  whom 
the  smiles  of  a  court  call  into  life,  and  whom  its  frowns 
reduce  to  annihilation." 

^'You  are  yourself,  grave  sir,  a  follower  of  the  court," 
said  Hereward. 

'^  And  a  most  punctilious  one,"  said  Agelastes.  *'  There 
is  not,  I  trust,  a  subject  in  the  Empire  who  knows  better  the 
ten  thousand  punctilios  exigible  from  those  of  different 
ranks,  and  due  to' different  authorities.  The  man  is  yet  to 
be  born  who  has  seen  me  take  advantage  of  any  more  com^ 
modious  posture  than  that  of  standing  in  presence  of  the 
royal  family.  But  though  I  use  those  false  scales  in  society, 
and  so  far  conform  to  its  errors   my  real  judgment  is  of  a 

104 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  105 

more  grave  character,  and  more  worthy  of  man,  as  said  to 
be  formed  in  the  image  of  his  Creator." 

'"^  There  can  be  small  occasion/'  said  the  Varangian,  ^*to 
exercise  your  judgment  in  any  respect  upon  me,  nor  am  I 
desirous  that  any  one  should  think  of  me  otherwise  than  I 
am — a  poor  exile,  namely,  who  endeavors  to  fix  his  faith 
upon  Heaven,  and  to  perform  his  duty  to  the  world  he  lives 
in,  and  to  the  prince  in  whose  service  he  is  engaged.  And 
now,  grave  sir,  permit  me  to  ask  whether  this  meeting  is 
by  your  desire,  and  for  what  is  its  purpose  ?  An  African 
slave,  whom  I  met  in  the  public  walks,  and  who  calls  him- 
self Diogenes,  tells  me  that  you  desired  to  speak  with  me; 
he  hath  somewhat  the  humor  of  the  old  scoffer,  and  so  he 
may  have  lied.  If  so,  I  will  even  forgive  him  the  beating 
which  I  owe  his  assurance,  and  make  my  excuse  at  the  same 
time  for  having  broken  in  upon  your  retirement,  which  I 
am  totally  unfit  to  share.'' 

^'  Diogenes  has  not  played  you  false,"  answered  Agelastes  ; 
*^he  has  his  humors,  as  you  remarked  even  now,  and  with 
these  some  qualities  also  that  pu'.  him  upon  a  level  with 
those  of  fairer  complexion  and  better  features." 

"  And  for  what,"  said  the  Varangian,  ''  have  you  so  em- 
ployed him  ?  Can  your  wisdom  possibly  entertain  a  wish 
to  converse  with  me  ?" 

*'  I  am  an  observer  of  nature  and  of  humanity,"  an- 
swered the  philosopher ;  "  is  it  not  natural  that  I  should 
tire  of  those  beings  who  are  formed  entirely  upon  artifice,  and 
long  to  see  something  more  fresh  from  the  hand  of  nature  ?  " 

^' You  see  not  that  in  me,"  said  tho  Varangian:  *^the 
rigor  of  military  discipline,  the  camp,  the  centurion,  the 
armor  frame  a  man's  sentiments  and  limbs  to  them,  as  the 
sea-crab  is  framed  to  its  shell.  See  one  of  us,  and  you  see 
us  all." 

'^  Permit  me  to  doubt  that,"  said  Agelastes,  ''  and  to 
suppose  that,  in  Hereward,  the  son  of  Waltheoff,  I  see  an 
extraordinary  man,  although  he  himself  may  be  ignorant, 
owing  to  his  modesty,  of  the  rarity  of  his  own  good  qualities." 

'^  The  son  of  Waltheoff  ! '"  answered  the  Varangian, 
somewhat  startled.     '^  Do  you  know  my  father's  name  ?" 

*^  Be  not  surprised,"  answered  the  philosopher,  '^  at  my 
possessing  so  simple  a  piece  of  information.  It  has  cost  me 
but  little  trouble  to  attain  it,  yet  I  would  gladly  hopo  that 
the  labor  I  have  taken  in  that  matter  may  convince  you  of 
my  real  desire  to  call  you  friend." 

*'  It  was  indeed  an  unusual  compliment,"  said  Hereward, 


106  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

^'  that  a  man  of  your  knowledge  and  station  should  be  at 
the  trouble  to  inquire  among  the  Varangian  [cohorts  con- 
cerning the  descent  of  one  of  their  constables.  I  scarcely 
think  that  my  commander,  the  Acolyte  himself,  would  think 
such  knowledge  worthy  of  being  collected  or  preserved." 

''  Greater   men    than    he,"    said   Agelastes,    "  certainly 

would  not You  know  one  in  high  office  who  thinks  the 

names  of  his  most  faithful  soldiers  of  less  moment  than 
those  of  his  hunting  dogs  or  his  hawks,  and  would  willingly 
save  himself  the  trouble  of  calling  them  otherwise  than  by 
a  whistle." 

"  I  may  not  hear  this,"  answered  the  Varangian. 

"  I  would  not  offend  you,"  said  the  philosopher,  ''  I 
would  not  even  shake  your  good  opinion  of  the  person  I 
allude  to  ;  yet  it  surprises  me  that  such  should  be  enter- 
tained by  one  of  your  great  qualities." 

'^  A  truce  with  this,  grave  sir,  which  is  in  fact  trifling  in 
a  person  of  your  character  and  appearance,"  answered  the 
Anglo-Saxon.  ^'  I  am  like  the  rocks  of  my  country  :  the 
fierce  winds  cannot  shake  me,  the  soft  rains  cannot  melt 
me,  flattery  and  loud  words  are  alike  lost  upon  me." 

*' And  it  is  even  for  that  inflexibility  of  mind,"  replied 
Agelastes,  "  that  steady  contempt  of  everything  that  ap- 
proaches thee,  save  in  the  light  of  a  duty,  that  I  demand, 
almost  like  a  beggar,  that  personal  acquaintance  which 
thou  refusest  like  a  churl." 

'^Pardon  me,"  said  Hereward,  "if  I  doubt  this.  What- 
ever stories  you  may  have  picked  up  concerning  me,  not  un- 
exaggerated  probably — since  the  Greeks  do  not  keep  the 
privilege  of  boasting  so  entirely  to  themselves  but  the 
Varangians  have  learned  a  little  of  it — you  can  have  heard 
nothing  of  me  which  can  authorize  your  using  your  present 
language,  excepting  in  jest." 

"You  mistake,  my  son,"  said  Agelastes  ;  "believe  me  not 
a  person  to  mix  in  the  idle  talk  respecting  you  with  your 
comrades  at  the  ale-cup.  Such  as  I  am,  I  can  strike  on  this 
broken  image  of  Anubis  (here  he  touched  a  gigantic  frag- 
ment of  a  statue  by  his  side),  and  bid  the  spirit  who  long 
prompted  the  oracle  descend  and  once  more  reanimate  the 
trembling  mass.  We  that  are  initiated  enjoy  high  privi- 
leges :  we  stamp  upon  those  ruined  vaults,  and  the  echo 
which  dwells  there  answers  to  our  demand.  Do  not  think 
that,  although  I  crave  thy  friendship,  I  need  therefore  sup- 
plicate thee  for  information  either  respecting  thyself  or 
others." 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  lOT 

'*  Your  words  are  wonderful/'  said  the  Anglo-Saxon ; 
'  but  by  such  promising  words  I  have  heard  that  many  souls 
have  been  seduced  from  the  path  of  Heaven.  My  grandsire. 
Kenelm,  was  wont  to  say  that  the  fair  words  of  the  heathen 
philosophy  were  more  hurtful  to  the  Christian  faith  than 
the  menaces  of  the  heathen  tyrants/' 

'^  I  knew  him/'  said  Agelastes.  '^  What  avails  it  whether 
it  was  in  the  body  or  in  the  spirit  ?  He  was  converted  from 
the  faith  of  Woden  by  a  noble  monk,  and  died  a  priest  at 
the  shrine  of  St.  Augustine."* 

*^  True/'  said  Hereward — '^  all  this  is  certain,  and  I  am 
the  rather  bound  to  remember  his  words  now  that  he  is  dead 
and  gone.  When  I  hardly  knew  his  meaning,  he  bid  me 
beware  of  the  doctrine  which  causeth  to  err,  which  is  taught 
by  false  prophets,  who  attest  their  doctrine  by  unreal 
miracles." 

^'  This,"  said  Agelastes,  ^'  is  mere  superstition.  Thy 
grandsire  was  a  good  and  excellent  man,  but  narrow-minded, 
like  other  priests  ;  and,  deceived  by  their  example,  he 
wished  but  to  open  a  small  wicket  in  the  gate  of  truth,  and 
admit  the  world  only  on  that  limited  scale.  Seest  thou, 
Hereward,  thy  grandsire  and  most  men  of  religion  would 
fain  narrow  our  intellect  to  the  consideration  of  such  parts 
of  the  immaterial  world  as  are  essential  to  our  moral  guid- 
ance  here  and  our  final  salvation  hereafter  ;  but  it  is  not  the 
less  true  that  man  has  liberty,  provided  he  has  wisdom  and 
courage,  to  form  intimacies  with  beings  more  powerful  than 
himself,  who  can  defy  the  bounds  of  space  by  which  he  is 
circumscribed,  and  overcome,  by  their  metaphysical  powers, 
difficulties  which,  to  the  timid  and  unlearned,  may.  appear 
wild  and  impossible." 

"  You  talk  of  a  folly,"  answered  Hereward,  '^  at  which 
childhood  gapes  and  manhood  smiles." 

"  On  the  contrary,"  said  the  sage,  '^  I  talk  of  a  longing 
wish  which  every  man  feels  at  the  bottom  of  his  heart  to 
hold  communication  with  beings  more  powerful  than  him- 
self, and  who  are  not  naturally  accessible  to  our  organs. 
Believe  me,  Hereward,  so  ardent  and  universal  an  aspiration 
had  not  existed  in  our  bosoms  had  there  not  also  been  means, 
if  steadily  and  wisely  sought,  of  attaining  its  accomplish- 
ment. I  will  appeal  to  thine  own  heart,  and  prove  to  thee, 
even  by  a  single  word,  that  what  I  say  is  truth.  Thy 
thoughts  are  even  now  upon  a  being  long  absent  or  dead, 
and  with  the  name  of  Bertha  a  thousand  emotions  rush  to 
*At  Canterbury, 


108  WA  VERLEY  NO  VEL S 

thy  heart,  which  in  thy  ignorance  thou  hadst  esteemed  furled 
up  forever,  like  spoils  of  the  dead  hung  above  a  tombstone  I 
Thou  startest  and  changest  thy  color  :  I  joy  to  see  by  these 
signs  that  the  firmness  and  indomitable  courage  which  men 
ascribe  to  thee  have  left  the  avenues  of  the  heart  as  free  as 
ever  to  kindly  and  to  generous  affections,  while  they  have 
barred  them  against  those  of  fear,  uncertainty,  and  all  the 
caitiff  tribe  of  meaner  sensations.  I  have  proffered  to  esteem 
thee,  and  I  have  no  hesitation  in  proving  it.  I  will  tell  thee, 
if  thou  desirest  to  know  it,  the  fate  of  that  very  Bertha 
whose  memory  thou  hast  cherished  in  thy  breast  in  spite  of 
thee,  amidst  the  toil  of  the  day  and  the  repose  of  the  night, 
in  the  battle  and  in  the  truce,  when  sporting  with  thy  com- 
panions in  fields  of  exercise,  or  attempting  to  prosecute  the 
study  of  Greek  learning,  in  which,  if  thou  wouldst  advance, 
I  can  teach  it  by  a  short  road.^' 

While  Agelastes  thus  spoke,  the  Varangian  in  some  de- 
gree recovered  his  composure,  and  made  answer,  though  his 
voice  was  somewhat  tremulous — ^'  Who  thou  art,  I  know 
not  ;  what  thou  wouldst  with  me,  I  cannot  tell  ;  by  what 
means  thou  hast  gathered  intelligence  of  such  consequence 
to  me,  and  of  so  little  to  another,  I  have  no  conception  ;  but 
this  I  know,  that  by  intention  or  accident  thou  hast  pro- 
nounced a  name  which  agitates  my  heart  to  its  deepest 
recesses  ;  yet  am  I  a  Christian  and  Varangian,  and  neither 
to  my  God  nor  to  my  adopted  prince  will  I  willingly  stagger 
in  my  faith.  What  is  to  be  wrought  by  idols  or  by  false 
deities  must  be  a  treason  to  the  real  divinity.  Nor  is  it  less 
certain  that  thou  hast  let  glance  some  arrows,  though  the 
rules  of  thy  allegiance  strictly  forbid  it,  at  the  Emperor 
himself.  Henceforward,  therefore,  I  refuse  to  communi- 
cate with  thee,  be  it  for  weal  or  wo.  I  am  the  Emperor's 
waged  soldier,  and  although  I  affect  not  the  nice  precisions 
of  respect  and  obedience  which  are  exacted  in  so  many  vari- 
ous cases  and  by  so  many  various  rules,  yet  I  am  his  defense, 
and  my  battle-ax  is  his  body-guard.^' 

^'  No  one  doubts  it,''  said  the  philosopher.  ^'  But  art  not 
thou  also  bound  to  a  nearer  dependence  upon  the  great 
Acolyte,  Achilles  Tatius  ?" 

^'iio.  He  is  my  general,  according  to  the  rules  of  our 
service,"  answered  the  Varangian  ;  '^to  me  he  has  always 
shown  himself  a  kind  and  good-natured  man,  and,  his  due^ 
of  rank  apart,  I  may  say  has  deported  himself  as  a  friend 
rather  than  a  commander.  He  is,  however,  my  master's 
servant  as  well  as  I  am ;  nor  do  I  hold  the  difference  of  great 


COUNT  BOBERT  OF  PARIS  109 

amount  which  the  word  of  a  man  can  give  or  take  away  at 
pleasure/' 

''It  is  nobly  spoken,"  said  Agelastes  ;  '^  and  you  yourself 
are  surely  entitled  to  stand  erect  before  one  whom  you  su- 
persede in  courage  and  in  the  art  of  war/' 

"  Pardon  me"  returned  the  Briton,  ''if  I  decline  .the  at- 
tributed compliment,  as  what  in  no  respect  belongs  to  me. 
The  Emperor  chooses  his  own  officers,  in  respect  of  their 
power  of  serving  him  as  he  desires  to  be  served.  In  this  it 
is  likely  I  might  fail ;  I  have  said  already  I  owe  my  Emperor 
my  obedience,  my  duty,  and  my  service,  nor  does  it  seem  to 
me  necessary  to  carry  our  explanation  farther.'' 

"  Singular  man  ! "  said  Agelastes  ;  "  is  there  nothing  that 
can  move  thee  but  things  that  are  foreign  to  thyself  ?  The 
name  of  thy  Emperor  and  thy  commander  are  no  spell  upon 
thee,  and  even  that  of  the  object  thou  hast  loved " 

Here  the  Varangian  interrupted  him. 

"I  have  thought,"  he  said,  "upon  the  words  thou  hast 
spoken — thou  hast  found  the  means  to  shake  my  heart-strings, 
but  not  to  unsettle  my  principles.  I  will  hold  no  converse 
with  thee  on  a  matter  in  which  thou  canst  not  have  interest. 
Necromancers,  it  is  said,  perform  their  spells  by  means  of 
the  epithets  of  the  Holiest ;  no  marvel,  then,  should  they 
use  the  names  of  the  j)urest  of  His  creation  to  serve  their  un- 
hallowed purposes.  I  will  none  of  such  struckling,  dis- 
graceful to  the  dead  perhaps  as  to  the  living.  Whatever 
has  been  thy  purpose,  old  man — for  think  not  thy  strange 
words  have  passed  unnoticed — be  thou  assured  I  bear  that 
in  my  heart  which  defies  alike  the  seduction  of  men  and  of 
fiends." 

With  this  the  soldier  turned  and  left  the  ruined  temple, 
after  a  slight  inclination  of  his  head  to  the  philosopher. 

Agelastes,  after  the  departure  of  the  soldier,  remained 
alone,  apparently  absorbed  in  meditation,  until  he  was  sud- 
denly disturbed  by  the  entrance  into  the  ruins  of  Achilles 
Tatius.  The  leader  of  the  Varangians  spoke  not  until  he 
had  time  to  form  some  result  from  the  philosopher's  features. 
He  then  said,  "Thou  remainest,  sage  Agelastes,  confident 
in  the  purpose  of  which  we  have  lately  spoke  together  ?" 

"  I  do,"  said  Agelastes,  with  gravity  and  firmness. 

"  But,"  replied  Achilles  Tatius,  "  thou  has  not  gained  to 
our  side  that  proselyte  whose  coolness  and  courage  would 
serve  us  better  in  our  hour  of  need  than  the  service  of  a 
thousand  cold-hearted  slaves  ?  " 

*'  I  have  not  succeeded,"  answered  the  philosopher. 


no  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

"  And  thou  dost  not  blush  to  own  it  ?  "  said  the  imperial 
officer  in  reply.  ^'  Thou,  the  wisest  of  those  who  yet  pretend 
to  Grecian  wisdom,  the  most  powerful  of  those  who  still  assert 
the  skill  by  words,  signs,  names,  periapts,  and  spells  to  exceed 
the  sphere  to  which  thy  faculties  belong,  hast  been  foiled  in 
thy  trade  of  persuasion,  like  an  infant  worsted  in  debate 
with  its  domestic  tutor  ?  Out  upon  thee,  that  thou  canst 
not  sustain  in  argument  the  character  which  thou  wouldst 
so  fain  assume  to  thyself  ! " 

"  Peace  ! ''  said  the  Grecian.  "  I  have  as  yet  gained 
nothing,  it  is  true,  over  this  obstinate  and  inflexible  man ; 
but,  Achilles  Tatius,  neither  have  I  lost.  We  both  stand 
where  yesterday  we  did,  with  this  advantage  on  my  side,  that 
I  have  suggested  to  him  such  an  object  of  interest  as  he 
shall  never  be  able  to  expel  from  his  mind,  until  he  hath 
had  recourse  to  me  to  obtain  farther  knowledge  concerning 
it.  And  now  let  this  singular  person  remain  for  a  time  un- 
mentioned ;  yet  trust  me,  though  flattery,  avarice,  and  am- 
bition may  fail  to  gain  him,  a  bait  nevertheless  remains  that 
shall  make  him  as  completely  our  own  as  any  that  is  bound 
within  our  mystic  and  inviolable  contract.  Tell  me,  then, 
how  go  on  the  affairs  of  the  empire  ?  Does  this  tide  of 
Latin  warriors,  so  strangely  set  aflowing,  still  rush  on  to  the 
banks  of  the  Bosphorus  ?  and  does  Alexius  still  entertain 
hopes  to  diminish  and  divide  the  strength  of  numbers  which 
he  could  in  vain  hope  to  defy  ?  '^ 

'^  Something  further  of  intelligence  has  been  gained,  even 
within  a  very  few  hours, ^'  answered  Achilles  Tatius.  ^'  Bohe- 
mond  came  to  the  city  with  some  six  or  eight  light  horse, 
and  in  a  species  of  disguise.  Considering  how  often  he  had 
been  the  Emperor's  enemy,  his  project  was  a  perilous  one. 
But  when  is  it  that  these  Franks  draw  back  on  account  of 
danger  ?  The  Emperor  perceived  at  once  that  the  Count 
was  come  to  see  what  he  might  obtain  by  presenting  himself 
as  the  very  first  object  of  his  liberality,  and  by  offering  his 
assistance  as  mediator  with  Godfrey  of  Bouillon  and  the 
other  princes  of  the  crusade.'' 

"It  is  a  species  of  policy," answered  the  sage,  "for  which 
he  would  receive  full  credit  from  the  Emperor." 

Achilles  Tatius  proceeded — "  Count  Bohemond  was  dis- 
covered to  the  imperial  court  as  if  it  were  by  mere  accident, 
and  he  was  welcomed  with  marks  of  favor  and  splendor 
which  had  never  been  even  mentioned  as  being  fit  for  any 
one  of  the  Frankish  race.  There  was  no  word  of  ancient 
enmity  or  former  wars,  no  mention  of  Bohemond  as  the  an- 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  111 

cient  usurper  of  Antioch,  and  the  encroacher  upon  the  em- 
pire. But  thanks  to  Heaven  were  returned  on  all  sides, 
which  had  sent  a  faithful  ally  to  the  imperial  assistance  at 
a  moment  of  such  imminent  peril." 

*^And  what  said  Bohemond  ?"  inquired  the  philosopher. 

'^  Little  or  nothing,"  said  the  captain  of  the  Varangians, 
*'  until,  as  I  learned  from  the  domestic  slave  Narses,  a  large 
sum  of  gold  had  been  abandoned  to  him.  Considerable  dis- 
tricts were  afterwards  agreed  to  be  ceded  to  him,  and  other 
advantages  granted,  on  condition  he  should  stand  on  this 
occasion  the  steady  friend  of  the  empire  and  its  master. 
Such  was  the  Emperor^s  munificence  towards  the  greedy 
barbarian,  that  a  chamber  in  the  palace  was,  by  chance,  as 
it  were,  left  exposed  to  his  view,  containing  large  quantities 
of  manufactured  silks,  of  jewelers'  work,  of  gold  and  silver, 
and  other  articles  of  great  value.  When  the  rapacious 
Frank  could  not  forbear  some  expressions  of  admiration,  he 
was  assured  that  the  contents  of  the  treasure-chamber  were 
his  own,  provided  he  valued  them  as  showing  forth  the 
warmth  and  sincerity  of  his  imperial  ally  towards  his  friends  ; 
and  these  precious  articles  were  accordingly  conveyed  to  the 
tent  of  the  Norman  leader.  By  such  measures  the 
Emperor  must  make  himself  master  of  Bohemond,  both 
body  and  soul ;  for  the  Franks  themselves  say  it  is  strange 
to  see  a  man  of  undaunted  bravery  and  towering  ambition 
so  infected,  nevertheless,  with  avarice,  which  they  term  a 
mean  and  unnatural  vice.^' 

''  Bohemond,"  said  Agelastes,  "  is  then  the  Emperor's  for 
life  and  death — always,  that  is,  till  the  recollection  of  the 
royal  munificence  be  effaced  by  a  greater  gratuity.  Alexius, 
proud  as  he  naturally  is  of  his  management  with  this  impor- 
tant chieftain,  will  no  doubt  expect  to  prevail  by  his  counsels 
on  most  of  the  other  crusaders,  and  even  on  Godfrey  of 
Bouillon  himself,  to  take  an  oath  of  submission  and  fidelity 
to  the  Emperor,  which,  were  it  not  for  the  sacred  nature  of 
their  warfare,  the  meanest  gentleman  among  them  would 
not  submit  to,  were  it  to  be  lord  of  a  province.  There,  then, 
we  rest.  A  few  days  must  determine  what  we  have  to  do. 
An  earlier  discovery  would  be  destruction." 

*^We  meet  not,  then,  to-night  ?"  said  the  Acolyte. 

"  No,"  replied  the  sage ;  '^  unless  we  are  summoned  to 
that  foolish  stage-play  or  recitation ;  and  then  we  meet  as 
play  things  in  the  hand  of  a  silly  woman,  the  spoiled  child 
of  a  weak-minded  parent." 

Tatius  then  took  his  leave  of  the  philosopher,  and,  as  if 


112  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

fearful  of  being  seen  in  each  other's  company,  they  left 
their  solitary  place  of  meeting  by  different  routes.  The 
Varangian,  Hereward,  received,  shortly  after,  a  summons 
from  his  superior,  who  acquainted  him  that  he  should  not, 
as  formerly  intimated,  require  his  attendance  that  evening. 

Achilles  then  paused,  and  added — "  Thou  hast  something 
on  thy  lips  thou  wouldst  say  to  me,  which,  nevertheless, 
hesitates  to  break  forth. '^ 

"  It  is  only  this,^^  answered  the  soldier  :  ''  I  have  had  an 
interview  with  the  man  called  Agelastes,  and  he  seems 
something  so  different  from  what  he  appeared  when  we  last 
spoke  of  him,  that  I  cannot  forbear  mentioning  to  you  what 
I  have  seen.  He  is  not  an  insignificant  trifler,  whose  object 
it  is  to  raise  a  laugh  at  his  own  expense  or  that  of  any  other. 
He  is  a  deep-thinking  and  far-reaching  man,  who,  for  some 
reason  or  other,  is  desirous  of  forming  friends,  and  drawing 
a  party  to  himself.  Your  own  wisdom  will  teach  you  to 
beware  of  him.'' 

*^Thou  art  an  honest  fellow,  my  poor  Hereward,"  said 
Achilles  Tatius,  with  an  affectation  of  good-natured  con- 
tempt. ''  Such  men  as  Agelastes  do  often  frame  their 
severest  jests  in  the  shape  of  formal  gravity  :  they  will  pre- 
tend to  possess  the  most  unbounded  power  over  elements  and 
elemental  spirits,  they  will  make  themselves  masters  of  the 
names  and  anecdotes  best  known  to  those  whom  they  make 
their  sport ;  and  any  one  who  shall  listen  to  them  shall,  in 
the  words  of  the  divine  Homer,  only  expose  himself  to  a 
flood  of  inextinguishable  laughter.  I  have  often  known  him 
select  one  of  the  rawest  and  most  ignorant  persons  in  pres- 
ence, and  to  him,  for  the  amusement  of  the  rest,  he  has 
pretended  to  cause  the  absent  to  appear,  the  distant  to  draw 
near,  and  the  dead  themselves  to  burst  the  cerements  of  the 
grave.  Take  care,  Hereward,  that  his  arts  make  not  a  stain 
on  the  credit  of  one  of  my  bravest  Varangians." 

"  There  is  no  danger,"  answered  Hereward.  '^  I  shall  not  be 
fond  of  being  often  with  this  man.  H  he  jests  upon  one  sub- 
ject which  he  hath  mentioned  to  me,  I  shall  be  but  too  likely 
to  teach  him  seriousness  after  a  rough  manner.  And  if  he  is 
serious  in  his  pretensions  in  such  mystical  matters,  we  should, 
according  to  the  faith  of  my  grandfather,  Kenelm,  do  insult 
to  the  deceased,  whose  name  is  taken  in  the  mouth  of  a 
soothsayer  or  impious  enchanter.  I  will  not,  therefore, 
again  go  near  this  Agelastes,  be  he  wizard  or  be  he  impostor." 

*'You  apprehend  me  not,"  said  the  Acolyte,  hastily — 
*'you  mistake  my  meaning.     He  is  a  man  from  whom,  if 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  113 

he  pleases  to  converse  with  such  as  you,  you  may  derive 
much  knowledge,  keeping  out  of  the  reach  of  those  pre- 
tended secret  arts,  which  he  will  only  use  to  turn  thee  into 
ridicule."  With  these  words,  which  he  himself  would 
perhaps  have  felt  it  difficult  to  reconcile,  the  leader  and  his 
follower  parted. 


CHAPTER  IX 

Between  the  foaming  jaws  of  the  white  torrent 
The  skilful  artist  draws  a  sudden  mound  ; 
By  level  long  he  subdivides  their  strength, 
Stealing  the  waters  from  their  rocky  bed, 
First  to  diminish  what  he  means  to  conquer ; 
Then,  from  the  residue  he  forms  a  road, 
Easy  to  keep,  and  painful  to  desert, 
And  guiding  to  the  end  the  planner  aim'd  at. 

The  Engineer, 

It  would  have  been  easy  for  Alexius,  by  a  course  of 
avowed  suspicion,  or  any  false  step  in  the  manner  of  re- 
ceiving this  tumultuary  invasion  of  the  European  nations, 
to  have  blown  into  a  flame  the  numerous  but  smothered 
grievances  under  which  they  labored  ;  and  a  similiar  catas- 
trophe would  not  have  been  less  certain,  had  he  at  once 
abandoned  all  thoughts  of  resistance,  and  placed  his  hope 
of  safety  in  surrendering  to  the  multitudes  of  the  West 
whatsoever  they  accounted  worth  taking.  The  Emperor 
chose  a  middle  course  ;  and,  unquestionably,  in  the  weak- 
ness of  the  Greek  empire,  it  was  the  only  one  which  would 
have  given  him  at  once  safety  and  a  great  degree  of  con- 
sequence in  the  eyes  of  the  Frank  invaders,  and  those  of 
his  own  subjects.  The  means  with  which  he  acted  were 
of  various  kinds,  and,  rather  from  policy  than  inclination, 
were  often  stained  with  falsehood  or  meanness ;  therefore 
it  follows  that  the  measures  of  the  Emperor  resembled 
those  of  the  snake,  who  twines  himself  through  the  grass, 
with  the  purpose  of  stinging  insidiously  those  whom  he 
fears  to  approach  with  the  step  of  the  bold  and  generous 
lion.  We  are  not,  however,  writing  the  history  of  the 
crusades,  and  what  we  have  already  said  of  the  Emperor's 
precautions  on  the  first  appearance  of  Godfrey  of  Bouillon 
and  his  associates  may  suffice  for  the  elucidation  of  our 
story. 

About  four  weeks  had  now  passed  over,  marked  by 
quarrels  and  reconcilements  between  the  crusaders  and  the 
Grecians  of  the  empire.  The  former  were,  as  Alexius's 
policy  dictated,  occasionally  and  individually  received  with 

114 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  115 

extreme  honor,  and  their  leaders  loaded  with  respect  and 
favor ;  while,  from  time  to  time,  such  bodies  of  them  as 
sought  distant  or  circuitous  routes  to  the  capital  were  inter- 
cepted and  cut  to  pieces  by  light-armed  troops,  who  easily 
passed  upon  their  ignorant  opponents  for  Turks,  Scythians, 
or  other  infidels,  and  sometimes  were  actually  such,  but  in 
the  service  of  the  Grecian  monarch.  Often,  too,  it  hap- 
pened that,  while  the  more  powerful  chiefs  of  the  crusade  were 
feasted  by  the  Emperor  and  his  ministers  with  the  richest 
delicacies,  and  their  thirst  slaked  with  iced  wines,  their 
followers  were  left  at  a  distance,  where,  intentionally  sup- 
plied with  adulterated  flour,  tainted  provisions,  and  bad 
water,  they  contracted  diseases,  and  died  in  great  numbers, 
without  having  once  seen  a  foot  of  the  Holy  Land,  for  the 
recovery  of  which  they  had  abandoned  their  peace,  their 
competence,  and  their  native  country.  These  aggressions 
did  not  pass  without  complaint.  Many  of  the  crusading 
chiefs  impugned  the  fidelity  of  their  allies,  exposed  the 
losses  sustained  by  their  armies  as  evils  voluntarily  inflicted 
on  them  by  the  Greeks,  and  on  more  than  one  occasion  the 
two  nations  stood  opposed  to  each  other  on  such  terms  that 
a  general  war  seemed  to  be  inevitable. 

Alexius,  however,  though  obliged  to  have  recourse  to 
every  finesse,  still  kept  his  ground,  and  made  peace  with  the 
most  powerful  chiefs,  under  one  pretense  or  other.  The 
actual  losses  of  the  crusaders  by  the  sword  he  imputed  to 
their  own  aggressions  ;  their  misguidance,  to  accident  and 
to  wilfulness  ;  the  effects  produced  on  them  by  the  adulterated 
provisions,  to  the  vehemence  of  their  own  appetite  for  raw 
fruits  and  unripened  wines.  In  short,  there  was  no  disaster 
of  any  kind  whatsoever  which  could  possibly  befall  the 
unhappy  pilgrims  but  the  Emperor  stood  prepared  to  prove 
that  it  was  the  natural  consequence  of  their  own  violencfe, 
wilfulness  of  conduct,  or  hostile  precipitancy. 

The  chiefs,  who  were  not  ignorant  of  their  strength, 
would  not,  it  was  likely,  have  tamely  suffered  injuries  from 
a  power  so  inferior  to  their  own,  were  it  not  that  they  had 
formed  extravagant  ideas  of  the  wealth  of  the  Eastern 
empire,  which  Alexius  seemed  willing  to  share  with  them 
with  an  excess  of  bounty  as  new  to  the  leaders  as  the  rich 
productions  of  the  East  were  tempting  to  their  followers. 

The  French  nobles  would  perliaps  have  been  the  most 
difficult  to  be  brought  into  order  when  differences  arose, 
but  an  accident,  which  the  Emperor  might  have  termed 
providential,    reduced    the    high-spirited    Count    of  Ver- 


116  WAVEBLET  NOVELS 

mandois  to  the  situation  of  a  suppliant,  when  he  expected 
to  hold  that  of  a  dictator.  A  fierce  tempest  surprised  his 
fleet  after  he  set  sail  from  Italy,  and  he  was  finally  driven 
on  the  coast  of  Greece.  Many  ships  were  destroyed,  and 
those  troops  who  got  ashore  were  so  much  distressed  that 
they  were  obliged  to  surrender  themselves  to  the  lieuten- 
ants of  Alexius.  So  that  the  Count  of  Vermandois,  so 
haughty  in  his  bearing  when  he  first  embarked,  was  sent 
to  the  court  of  Constantinople  not  as  a  prince,  but  as  a 
prisoner.  In  this  case,  the  Emperor  instantly  set  the 
soldiers  at  liberty,  and  loaded  them  with  presents.* 

Grateful,  therefore,  for  attentions  in  which  Alexius  was 
unremitting.  Count  Hugh  was,  by  gratitude  as  well  as  in- 
terest, inclined  to  join  the  opinion  of  those  who,  for  other 
reasons,  desired  the  subsistence  of  peace  betwixt  the  cru- 
saders and  the  empire  of  Greece.  A  better  principle  de- 
termined the  celebrated  Godfrey,  Raymond  of  Tholouse, 
and  some  others,  in  whom  devotion  was  something  more 
than  a  mere  burst  of  fanaticism.  These  princes  considered 
with  what  scandal  their  whole  journey  must  be  stained,  if 
the  first  of  their  exploits  should  be  a  war  upon  the  Grecian 
empire,  which  might  justly  be  called  the  barrier  of  Christen- 
dom. If  it  was  weak  and  at  the  same  time  rich — if  at  the 
same  time  it  invited  rapine  and  was  unable  to  protect  itself 
against  it — it  was  the  more  their  interest  and  duty,  as 
Christian  soldiers,  to  protect  a  Christian  state  whose  exis- 
tence was  of  so  much  consequence  to  the  common  cause, 
even  when  it  could  not  defend  itself.  It  was  the  wish  of  these 
frank-hearted  men  to  receive  the  Emperor's  professions  of 
friendship  with  such  sincere  returns  of  amity,  to  return  his 
kindness  with  so  much  usury,  as  to  convince  him  that  their 
purpose  towards  him  was  in  every  respect  fair  and  honor- 
al?le,  and  that  it  would  be  his  interest  to  abstain  from  every 
injurious  treatment  which  might  induce  or  compel  them  to 
alter  their  measures  towards  him. 

It  was  with  this  accommodating  spirit  towards  Alexius, 
which,  for  many  different  and  complicated  reasons,  had 
now  aminated  most  of  the  crusaders,  that  the  chiefs  con- 
sented to  a  measure  which,  in  other  circumstances,  they 
would  probably  have  refused,  as  undue  to  the  Greeks  and 
dishonorable  to  themselves.  This  was  the  famous  resolution 
that,  before  crossing  the  Bosphorus  to  go  in  quest  of  that 
Palestine  which  they  had  vowed  to  regain,  each  chief  of 
urusaders  would  acknowledge  individually  the  Grecian  Em* 

*  See  Miles's  History  of  the  Crusades,  vol.  i.  [chap,  iii.]  p.  96. 


COUNT  BOBERT  OF  PABI8  117 

peror,  originally  lord  paramount  of  all  these  regions,  as 
their  liege  lord  and  suzerain. 

The  Emperor  Alexius,  with  trembling  Joy,  beheld  the 
crusaders  approach  a  conclusion  to  which  he  had  hoped  to 
bribe  them  rather  by  interested  means  than  by  reasoning, 
although  much  might  be  said  why  provinces  reconquered 
from  the  Turks  or  Saracens  should,  if  recovered  from  the 
infidel,  become  again  a  part  of  the  Grecian  empire,  from 
which  they  had  been  rent  without  any  pretense  save  that  of 
violence. 

Though  fearful,  and  almost  despairing,  of  being  able  to 
manage  the  rude  and  discordant  army  of  haughty  chiefs,  who 
were  wholly  independent  of  each  other,  Alexius  failed  not, 
with  eagerness  and  dexterity,  to  seize  upon  the  admission  of 
Godfrey  and  his  compeers,  that  the  Emperor  was  entitled  to 
the  allegiance  of  all  who  should  war  on  Palestine,  and  nat- 
ural lord  paramount  of  all  the  conquests  which  should  be 
made  in  the  course  of  the  expedition.  He  was  resolved  to 
make  this  ceremony  so  public,  and  to  interest  men^s  minds 
in  it  by  such  a  display  of  the  imperial  pomp  and  munifi- 
cence, that  it  should  not  either  pass  unknown  or  be  readily 
forgotten. 

An  extensive  terrace,  one  of  the  numerous  spaces  which 
extend  along  the  coast  of  the  Propontis,  was  chosen  for  the 
site  of  the  magnificent  ceremony.  Here  was  placed  an 
elevated  and  august  throne,  calculated  for  the  use  of  the 
Emperor  alone.  On  this  occasion,  by  suifering  no  other 
seats  within  view  of  the  pageant,  the  Greeks  endeavored  to 
secure  a  point  of  ceremony  peculiarly  dear  to  their  vanity, 
namely,  that  none  of  that  presence,  save  the  Emperor  him- 
self, should  be  seated.  Around  the  throne  of  Alexius 
Comnenus  were  placed  in  order,  but  standing,  the  various 
dignitaries  of  his  splendid  court,  in  their  different  ranks, 
from  the  Protosebastos  and  the  Caesar  to  the  Patriarch, 
splendid  in  his  ecclesiastic  robes,  and  to  Agelastes,  who, 
in  his  simple  habit,  gave  also  the  necessary  attendance. 
Behind  and  around  the  splendid  display  of  the  Emperor's 
court  were  drawn  many  dark  circles  of  the  exiled  Anglo- 
Saxons.  These,  by  their  own  desire,  were  not,  on  that 
memorable  day,  accoutered  in  the  silver  corslets  which  were 
the  fashion  of  an  idle  court,  but  sheathed  in  mail  and  plate. 
They  desired,  they  said,  to  be  known  as  warriors  to  war- 
riors. This  was  the  more  readily  granted,  as  there  was  no 
knowing  what  trifle  might  infringe  a  truce  between  parties 
so  inflammable  as  were  now  assembled. 


118  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

Beyond  the  Varangians,  in  mucli  greater  numbers,  were 
drawn  up  the  bands  of  Grecians,  or  Eomans,  then  known  by 
the  title  of  Immortals,  which  had  been  borrowed  by  the 
Komans  originally  from  the  empire  of  Persia.  The  stately 
forms,  lofty  crests,  and  splendid  apparel  of  these  guards 
would  have  given  the  foreign  princes  present  a  higher  idea 
of  their  military  prowess,  had  there  not  occurred  in  their 
ranks  a  frequent  indication  of  loquacity  and  of  motion, 
forming  a  strong  contrast  to  the  steady  composure  and 
death-like  silence  with  which  the  well-trained  Varangians 
stood  in  the  parade,  like  statues  made  of  iron. 

The  reader  must  then  conceive  this  throne  in  all  the  pomp 
of  Oriental  greatness,  surrounded  by  the  foreign  and  Roman 
troops  of  the  empire,  and  closed  on  the  rear  by  clouds  of 
light  horse,  who  shifted  their  places  repeatedly,  so  as  to  con- 
vey an  idea  of  their  multitude,  without  affording  the  exact 
means  of  estimating  it.  Through  the  dust  which  they  raised 
by  these  evolutions  might  be  seen  banners  and  standards, 
among  which  could  be  discovered,  by  glances,  the  celebrated 
Labarum,*  the  pledge  of  conquest  to  the  imperial  banners, 
but  whose  sacred  efficacy  had  somewhat  failed  of  late  days. 
The  rude  soldiers  of  the  West,  who  viewed  the  Grecian 
army,  maintained  that  the  standards  which  were  exhibited 
in  front  of  their  line  were  at  least  sufficient  for  the  array  of 
ten  times  the  number  of  soldiers. 

Far  on  the  right,  the  appearance  of  a  very  large  body  of 
European  cavalry  drawn  up  on  the  sea-shore  intimated  the 
presence  of  the  crusaders.  So  great  was  the  desire  to  follow 
the  example  of  the  chief  princes,  dukes,  and  counts,  in 
making  the  proposed  fealty,  that  the  number  of  independent 
knights  and  nobles  who  were  to  perform  this  service  seemed 
very  great  when  collected  together  for  that  purpose  ;  for 
every  crusader  who  possessed  a  tower  and  led  six  lances 
would  have  thought  himself  abridged  of  his  dignity  if  he 
had  not  been  called  to  acknowledge  the  Grecian  Emperor, 
and  hold  the  lands  he  should  conquer  of  his  throne,  as  well 
as  Godfrey  of  Bouillon,  or  Hugh  the  Great,  Count  of  Ver- 
mandois.  And  yet,  with  strange  inconsistency,  though  they 
pressed  to  fulfil  the  homage  as  that  which  was  paid  by 
greater  persons  than  themselves,  they  seemed,  at  the  very 
same  time,  desirous  to  find  some  mode  of  intimating  that 
the  homage  which  they  rendered  they  felt  as  an  idle  degra- 
dation, and  in  fact  held  the  whole  show  as  a  mere  piece  of 
mockery. 

*  See  Note  6. 


COUNT  BOBEBT  OF  PABIS  119 

The  order  of  the  procession  had  been  thus  settled  : — The 
crusaders,  or,  as  the  Grecians  called  them,  the  ''  counts  " — 
that  being  the  most  common  title  among  them — were  to 
advance  from  the  left  of  their  body,  and,  passing  the  Emperor 
one  by  one,  were  apprised  that,  in  passing,  each  was  to  render 
to  him,  in  as  few  words  as  possible,  the  homage  which  had 
been  previously  agreed  on.  Godfrey  of  Bouillon,  his  brother 
Baldwin,  Bohemond  of  Antioch,  and  several  other  crusaders 
of  eminence,  were  the  first  to  perform  the  ceremony,  alight- 
ing when  their  own  part  was  performed,  and  remaining  in 
attendance  by  the  Emperor^s  chair,  to  prevent,  by  the  awe 
of  their  presence,  any  of  their  numerous  associates  from 
being  guilty  of  petulance  or  presumption  during  the  solem- 
nity. Other  crusaders  of  less  degree  retained  their  station 
near  the  Emperor,  when  they  had  once  gained  it,  out  of 
mere  curiosity,  or  to  show  that  they  were  as  much  at  liberty 
to  do  so  as  the  greater  commanders  who  assumed  that  privi- 
lege. 

Thus  two  great  bodies  of  troops,  Grecian  and  European, 
paused  at  some  distance  from  each  other  on  the  banks  of  the 
Bosphorus  canal,  differing  in  language,  arms,  and  appear- 
ance. The  small  troops  of  horse  which  from  time  to  time 
issued  forth  from  these  bodies  resembled  the  flashes  of  light- 
ning passing  from  one  thunder-cloud  to  another,  which 
communicate  to  each  other  by  such  emissaries  their  over- 
charged contents.  After  some  halt  on  the  margin  of  the 
Bosphorus,  the  Franks  who  had  performed  homage  straggled 
irregularly  forward  to  a  quay  on  the  shore,  where  innumer- 
able galleys  and  smaller  vessels,  provided  for  the  purpose, 
lay  with  sails  and  oars  prepared  to  waft  the  warlike  pilgrims 
across  the  passage,  and  place  them  on  that  Asia  which  they 
longed  so  passionately  to  visit,  and  from  which  but  few  of 
them  were  likely  to  return.  The  gay  appearance  of  the 
vessels  which  were  to  receive  them,  the  readiness  with  which 
they  were  supplied  with  refreshments,  the  narrowness  of  the 
strait  they  had  to  cross,  the  near  approach  of  that  active 
service  which  they  had  vowed  and  longed  to  discharge,  put 
the  warriors  into  gay  spirits,  and  songs  and  music  bore 
chorus  to  the  departing  oars. 

While  such  was  the  temper  of  the  crusaders,  the  Grecian 
Emperor  did  his  best  through  the  whole  ceremonial  to  im- 
press on  the  armed  multitude  the  highest  ideas  of  his  own 
grandeur,  and  the  importance  of  the  occasion  which  had 
brought  them  together.  This  was  readily  admitted  by  the 
higher  chiefs — some  because  their  vanity  had  been  propiti- 


120  WA  VEBLEY  NOVELS 

ated,  some  because  their  avarice  had  been  gratified,  some 
because  their  ambition  had  been  inflamed,  and  a  few — a  very 
few,  because  to  remain  friends  with  Alexius  was  the  most 
probable  means  of  advancing  the  purposes  of  their  expedi- 
tion. Accordingly,  the  great  lords,  from  these  various  mo- 
tives, practised  a  humility  which  perhaps  they  were  far  from 
feeling,  and  carefully  abstained  from  all  which  might  seem 
like  irreverence  at  the  solemn  festival  of  the  Grecians.  But 
there  were  very  many  of  a  different  temper. 

Of  the  great  number  of  counts,  lords,  and  knights  under 
whose  variety  of  banners  the  crusaders  were  led  to  the  walls 
of  Constantinople,  many  were  too  insignificant  to  be  bribed 
to  this  distasteful  measure  of  homage ;  and  these,  though 
they  felt  it  dangerous  to  oppose  resistance,  yet  mixed  their 
submission  with  taunts,  ridicule,  and  such  contraventions  of 
decorum  as  plainly  intimated  that  they  entertained  resent- 
ment and  scorn  at  the  step  they  were  about  to  take,  and 
esteemed  it  as  proclaiming  themselves  vassals  to  a  prince 
heretic  in  his  faith,  limited  in  the  exercise  of  his  boasted 
power,  their  enemy  when  he  dared  show  himself  such,  and 
the  friend  of  those  only  among  their  number  who  were  able 
to  compel  him  to  be  so,  and  who,  though  to  them  an  obse- 
quious ally,  was  to  the  others,  when  occasion  offered,  an 
insidious  and  murderous  enemy. 

The  nobles  of  Frankish  origin  and  descent  were  chiefly 
remarkable  for  their  presumptuous  contempt  of  every  other 
nation  engaged  in  the  crusade,  as  well  as  for  their  dauntless 
bravery,  and  for  the  scorn  with  which  they  regarded  the 
power  and  authority  of  the  Greek  empire.  It  was  a  common 
saying  among  them  that,  if  the  skies  should  fall,  the  French 
crusaders  alone  were  able  to  hold  them  up  with  their  lances. 
The  same  bold  and  arrogant  disposition  showed  itself  in 
occasional  quarrels  with  their  unwilling  hosts,  in  which  the 
Greeks,  notwithstanding  all  their  art,  were  often  worsted  ;  so 
that  Alexius  was  determined,  at  all  events,  to  get  rid  of  these 
intractable  and  fiery  allies,  by  ferrying  them  over  the  Bos- 
phorus  with  all  manner  of  diligence.  To  do  this  with  safety, 
he  availed  himself  of  the  presence  of  the  Count  of  Verman- 
dois,  Godfrey  of  Bouillon,  and  other  chiefs  of  great  influence, 
to  keep  in  order  the  lesser  Frankish  knights,  who  were  so 
numerous  and  unruly.* 

Struggling  with  his  feelings  of  offended  pride,  tempered 
by  a  prudent  degree  of  apprehension,  the  Emperor  endeav- 
ored to  receive  with  complacence  a  homage  tendered  in 
*  See  Mills,  vol.  i.  chap.  iii. 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  121 

mockery.  An  incident  shortly  took  place  of  a  character 
highly  descriptive  of  the  nations  brought  together  in  so 
extraordinary  a  manner,  and  with  such  different  feelings 
and  sentiments.  Several  bands  of  French  had  passed,  in  a 
sort  of  procession,  the  throne  of  the  Emperor,  and  rendered, 
with  some  appearance  of  gravity,  the  usual  homage.  On 
this  occasion  they  bent  their  knees  to  Alexius,  placed  their 
hands  within  his,  and  in  that  posture  paid  the  ceremonies  of 
feudal  fealty.  But^when  it  came  to  the  turn  of  Bohemond 
of  Antioch,  already  mentioned,  to  render  this  fealty,  the 
Emperor,  desirous  to  show  every  species  of  honor  to  this 
wily  person,  his  former  enemy,  and  now  apparently  his  ally, 
advanced  two  or  three  paces  towards  the  seaside,  where  the 
boats  lay  as  if  in  readiness  for  his  use. 

The  distance  to  which  the  Empei  or  moved  was  very  small, 
and  it  was  assumed  as  a  piece  of  deference  to  Bohemond  ; 
but  it  became  the  means  of  exposing  Alexius  himself  to  a 
cutting  affront,  which  his  guards  and  subjects  felt  deeply,  as 
an  intentional  humiliation.  A  half-score  of  horsemen,  at- 
tendants of  the  Frankish  count  who  was  next  to  perform 
the  homage,  with  their  lord  at  the  head,  set  off  at  full  gallop 
from  the  right  flank  of  the  French  squadrons,  and  arriving 
before  the  throne,  which  was  yet  empty,  they  at  once  halted. 
The  rider  at  the  head  of  the  band  was  a  strong,  herculean 
figure,  with  a  decided  and  stern  countenance,  though  ex- 
tremely handsome,  looking  out  from  thick  black  curls.  His 
head  was  surmoun  ed  with  a  barret  cap,  while  his  hands, 
limbs,  and  feet  were  covered  with  garments  of  chamois 
leather,  over  which  he  in  general  wore  the  ponderous  and 
complete  armor  of  his  country.  This,  however,  he  had  laid 
aside  for  personal  convenience,  though  in  doing  so  he  evinced 
a  total  neglect  of  the  ceremonial  which  marked  so  important 
a  meeting.  He  waited  not  a  moment  for  the  Emperor's 
return,  nor  regarded  the  impropriety  of  obliging  Alexius  to 
hurry  his  steps  back  to  his  throne,  but  sprung  from  his 
gigantic  horse,  and  threw  the  reins  loose,  which  were  in- 
stantly seized  by  one  of  the  attendant  pages.  Without  a 
moment's  hesitation,  the  Frank  seated  himself  in  the  vacant 
throne  of  the  Emperor,  and  extending  his  half-armed  and 
robust  figure  on  the  golden  cushions  which  were  destined 
for  Alexius,  he  indolently  began  to  caress  a  large  wolf- 
hound which  had  followed  him,  and  which,  feeling  itself  as 
much  at  ease  as  its  master,  reposed  its  grim  form  on  the 
carpets  of  silk  and  gold  damask  which  tapestried  the  im- 
perial footstool.     The  very  hound  stretched  itself  with  a 


i22  HM VEBLEY  NOVELS 

bold,  ferocious  insolence,  and  seemed  to  regard  no  one  with 
respect  save  the  stern  knight  whom  it  called  master. 

The  Emperor,  turning  back  from  the  short  space  which, 
as  a  special  mark  of  favor,  he  had  accompanied  Bohemond, 
beheld  with  astonishment  his  seat  occupied  by  this  insolent 
Frank.  The  bands  of  the  half-savage  Varangians  who  were 
stationed  around  would  not  have  hesitated  an  instant  in 
avenging  the  insult,  by  prostrating  the  violator  of  their 
master's  throne  even  in  this  act  of  his  contempt  had  they 
not  been  restrained  by  Achilles  Tatius  and  other  officers, 
who  were  uncertain  what  the  Emperor  would  do,  and  some- 
what timorous  of  taking  a  resolution  for  themselves. 

Meanwhile,  the  unceremonious  knight  spoke  aloud,  in  a 
speech  which,  though  provincial,  might  be  understood  by  all 
to  whom  the  French  language  was  known,  while  even  those 
who  understood  it  not  gathered  its  interpretation  from  his 
tone  and  manner.  ''What  churl  is  this, '^  he  said,  ''who 
has  remained  sitting  stationary  like  a  block  of  wood  or  the 
fragment  of  a  rock,  when  so  many  noble  knights,  the  flower 
of  chivalry  and  muster  of  gallantry,  stand  uncovered  around 
among  the  thrice  conquered  Varangians  ?  " 

A  deep,  clear  accent  replied,  as  if  from  the  bottom  of  the 
earth,  so  like  it  was  to  the  accents  of  some  being  from  the 
other  world — "If  the  Normans  desire  battle  of  the  Varan- 
gians, they  will  meet  them  in  the  lists  man  to  man,  without 
the  poor  boast  of  insulting  the  Emperor  of  Greece,  who  is 
well  known  to  fight  only  by  the  battle-axes  of  his  guard. '^ 

The  astonishment  was  so  great  when  this  answer  was  heard 
as  to  affect  even  the  knight  whose  insult  upon  the  Emperoi 
had  occasioned  it ;  and  amid  the  efforts  of  Achilles  to  retain 
his  soldiers  within  the  bounds  of  subordination  and  silence, 
a  loud  murmur  seemed  to  intimate  that  they  would  not  long 
remain  so.  Bohemond  returned  through  the  press  with  a 
celerity  which  did  not  so  well  suit  the  dignity  of  Alexius, 
and  catching  the  crusader  by  the  arm,  he,  something  between 
fair  means  and  a  gentle  degree  of  force,  obliged  him  to  leave 
the  chair  of  the  Emperor,  in  which  he  had  placed  himsell 
BO  boldly. 

"  How  is  it,*'  said  Bohemond,  "  noble  Count  of  Paris  ? 
Is  there  one  of  this  great  assembly  who  can  see  with  patience 
that  your  name,  so  widely  renowned  for  valor,  is  now  to  be 
quoted  in  an  idle  brawl  with  hirelings,  whose  utmost  boast 
it  is  to  bear  a  mercenary  battle-ax  in  the  ranks  of  the 
Emperor's  guards  ?  For  shame — for  shame  ;  do  not,  for  the 
discredit  of  Norman  chivalry,  let  it  be  so  I  *' 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  123 

*'  I  know  not/'  said  the  crusader,  rising  reluctantly.  "  I 
am  not  nice  in  choosing  the  degree  of  my  adversary,  when 
he  bears  himself  like  one  who  is  willing  and  forward  in 
battle.  I  am  good-natured,  I  tell  thee.  Count  Bohemond  ; 
and  Turk  or  Tartar,  or  wandering  Anglo-Saxon,  who  only 
escapes  from  the  chain  of  the  Normans  to  become  the  slave 
of  the  Greek,  is  equally  welcome  to  whet  his  blade  clean 
against  my  armor,  if  he  desires  to  achieve  such  an  honorable 
office/' 

The  Emperor  had  heard  what  passed — had  heard  it  with 
indignation,  mixed  with  fear ;  for  he  imagined  the  whole 
scheme  of  his  policy  was  about  to  be  overturned  at  once  by 
a  premeditated  plan  of  personal  affront,  and  probably  an 
assault  upon  his  person.  He  was  about  to  call  to  arms, 
when,  casting  his  eyes  on  the  right  flank  of  the  crusaders, 
he  saw  that  all  remained  quiet  after  the  Frank  baron  had 
transferred  himself  from  thence.  He  therefore  instantly 
resolved  to  let  the  insult  pass,  as  one  of  the  rough  pleasant- 
ries of  the  Franks,  since  the  advance  of  more  troops  did  not 
give  any  symptom  of  an  actual  onset. 

Eesolving  on  his  line  of  conduct  with  the  quickness  of 
thought,  he  glided  back  to  his  canopy  and  stood  beside  his 
throne,  of  which,  however,  he  chose  not  instantly  to  take 
possession,  lest  he  should  give  the  insolent  stranger  some 
ground  for  renewing  and  persisting  in  a  competition  for  it. 

'^  What  bold  vavasour  is  this,''  said  he  to  Count  Baldwin, 
'^  whom,  as  is  apparent  from  his  dignity,  I  ought  to  have 
received  seated  upon  my  throne,  and  who  thinks  proper 
thus  to  vindicate  his  rank  ?  " 

"  He  is  reckoned  one  of  the  bravest  men  in  our  host,"  an- 
swered Baldwin,  ^'  though  the  brave  are  as  numerous  there 
as  the  sands  of  the  sea.  He  will  himself  tell  you  his  name 
and  rank." 

Alexius  looked  at  the  vavasour.  He  saw  nothing  in  his 
large,  well-formed-features,  lighted  by  a  wild  touch  of  en- 
thusiasm which  spoke  in  his  quick  eye,  that  intimated  pre- 
meditated insult,  and  was  induced  to  suppose  that  what  had 
occurred,  so  contrary  to  the  form  and  ceremonial  of  the 
Grecian  court,  was  neither  an  intentional  affront  nor  de- 
signed as  the  means  of  introducing  a  quarrel.  He  therefore 
spoke  with  comparative  ease  when  he  addressed  the  stranger 
thus — "  We  know  not  by  what  dignified  name  to  salute  you  ; 
but  we  are  aware,  from  Count  Baldwin's  information,  that 
we  are  honored  in  having  in  our  presence  one  of  the  bravest 
knights  whom  a  sense  of  the  wrongs  done  to  the  Holy  Land 


124  WA  VERLEY  NO  VEL8 

has  bronght  thus  far  on  his  way  to  Palestine,  to  free  it  from 
its  bondage/' 

''  If  you  mean  to  ask  my  name/'  answered  the  European 
knight,  *'  any  one  of  these  pilgrims  can  readily  satisfy  you, 
and  more  gracefully  than  I  can  myself,  since  we  used  to  say 
in  our  country  that  many  a  fierce  quarrel  is  prevented  from 
being  fought  out  by  an  untimely  disclosure  of  names,  when 
men,  who  might  have  fought  with  the  fear  of  God  before 
their  eyes,  must,  when  their  names  are  manifested,  recog- 
nize each  other  as  spiritual  allies,  by  baptism,  gossipred,  or 
some  such  irresistible  bond  of  friendship ;  whereas,  had  they 
fought  first,  and  told  their  names  afterwards,  they  could 
have  had  some  assurance  of  each  other's  valor,  and  have 
been  able  to  view  their  relationship  as  an  honor  to  both." 

''  Still,"  said  the  Emperor,  ''  methinks  I  would  know  if 
you,  who,  in  this  extraordinary  press  of  knights,  seem  to 
assert  a  precedence  to  yourself,  claim  the  dignity  due  to  a 
king  or  prince  ?  " 

''How  speak  you  that  ?"  said  the  Erank,  with  a  brow 
somewhat  overclouded  ;  ''  do  you  feel  that  I  have  not  left  you 
unjostled  by  my  advance  to  these  squadrons  of  yours  ?  " 

Alexius  hastened  to  answer,  that  he  felt  no  particular 
desire  to  connect  the  count  with  an  affront  or  offense  ;  ob- 
serving that,  in  the  extreme  necessity  of  the  empire,  it  was 
no  time  for  him,  who  was  at  the  helm,  to  engage  in  idle  or 
unnecessary  quarrels. 

The  Frankish  knight  heard  him,  and  answered  drily — 
''  Siace  such  are  your  sentiments,  I  wonder  that  you  have 
ever  resided  long  enough  within  the  hearing  of  the  Erench 
language  to  learn  to  speak  it  as  you  do.  I  would  have 
thought  some  of  the  sentiments  of  the  chivalry  of  the  nation, 
since  you  are  neither  a  monk  nor  a  woman,  would,  at  the 
same  time  with  the  words  of  the  dialect,  have  found  their 
way  into  your  heart." 

"  Hush,  sir  count,"  said  Bohemond,  who  remained  by  the 
Emperor  to  avert  the  threatening  quarrel.  *'  It  is  surely 
requisite  to  answer  the  Emperor  with  civility ;  and  those 
who  are  impatient  for  warfare  will  have  infidels  enough  to 
wage  it  with.  He  only  demanded  your  name  and  lineage, 
which  you  of  all  men  can  have  least  objection  to  disclose." 

''  I  know  not  if  it  will  interest  this  prince,  or  emperor,  as 
you  term  him,"  answered  the  Frank  count ;  ''  but  all  the 
account  I  can  give  of  myself  is  this  :  In  the  midst  of  one  of 
the  vast  forests  which  occupy  the  center  of  France,  my 
native  country,  there  stands  a  chapel,  sunk  so  low  into  the 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  125 

ground  that  it  seems  as  if  it  were  become  decrepid  by  its 
own  great  age.  The  image  of  the  Holy  Virgin  who  presides 
over  its  altar  is  called  by  all  men  Our  Lady  of  the  Broken 
Lances,  and  is  accounted  through  the  whole  kingdom  the 
most  celebrated  for  military  adventures.  Four  beaten  roads, 
each  leading  from  an  opposite  point  in  the  compass,  meet 
before  the  principal  door  of  the  chapel ;  and  ever  and  anon, 
as  a  good  knight  arrives  at  this  place,  he  passes  in  to  the 
performance  of  his  devotions  in  the  chapel,  having  first 
sounded  his  horn  three  times,  till  ash  and  oak-tree  quiver 
and  ring.  Having  then  kneeled  down  to  his  devotions,  he 
seldom  arises  from  the  mass  of  Her  of  the  Broken  Lances 
but  there  is  attending  on  his  leisure  some  adventurous 
knight  ready  to  satisfy  the  new-comer's  desire  of  battle. 
This  station  have  I  held  for  a  month  and  more  against  all 
comers,  and  all  gave  me  fair  thanks  for  the  knightly  manner 
of  quitting  myself  towards  them,  except  one,  who  had  the 
evil  hap  to  fall  from  his  horse,  and  did  break  his  neck  and 
another,  who  was  struck  through  the  body,  so  that  the  lance 
came  out  behind  his  back  about  a  cloth-yard,  all  dripping 
with  blood.  Allowing  for  such  accidents,  which  cannot 
easily  be  avoided,  my  opponents  parted  with  me  with  fair 
acknowledgment  of  the  grace  I  had  done  them/^ 

'*  I  conceive,  sir  knight,''  said  the  Emperor,  '^  that  a  form 
like  yours,  animated  by  the  courage  you  display,  is  likely  to 
find  few  equals  even  among  your  adventurous  countrymen  ; 
far  less  among  men  who  are  taught  that  to  cast  away  their 
lives  in  a  senseless  quarrel  among  themselves  is  to  throw 
away,  like  a  boy,  the  gift  of  Providence/' 

''  You  are  welcome  to  your  opinion,"  said  the  Frank, 
somewhat  contemptuously  ;  ^^yet  I  assure  you,  if  you  doubt 
that  our  gallant  strife  was  unmixed  with  sullenness  and 
anger,  and  that  we  hunt  not  the  hart  or  the  boar  with  mer- 
rier hearts  in  the  evening  than  we  discharge  our  task  of 
chivalry  by  the  morn  had  arisen,  before  the  portal  of  the 
old  chapel,  you  do  us  foul  injustice." 

'^  With  the  Turks  you  will  not  enjoy  this  amiable  exchange 
of  courtesies,"  answered  Alexius.  "  Wherefore  I  would 
advise  you  neither  to  stray  far  into  the  van  nor  into  the 
rear,  but  to  abide  by  the  standard,  where  the  best  infidels 
make  their  efforts,  and  the  best  knights  are  required  to  repel 
them." 

**  By  Our  Lady  of  the  Broken  Lances,"  said  the  crusader, 
*'I  would  not  that  the  Turks  were  more  courteous  than 
they  are  Christian,  and  am  well  pleased  that  unbeliever  and 


126  WAVJERLEY  NOVELS 

heathen  hound  area  proper  description  for  the  best  of  them, 
as  being  traitor  alike  to  their  God  and  to  the  laws  of  chiv- 
alry ;  and  devoutly  do  I  trust  that  I  shall  meet  with  them 
in  the  front  rank  of  our  army,  beside  our  standard,  or  else- 
where, and  have  an  open  field  to  do  my  devoir  against  them, 
both  as  the  enemies  of  Our  Lady  and  the  holy  saints  and  as, 
by  their  evil  customs,  more  expressly  my  own.  Meanwhile, 
you  have  time  to  seat  yourself  and  receive  my  homage,  and 
I  will  be  bound  to  you  for  despatching  this  foolish  ceremony 
with  as  little  waste  and  delay  of  time  as  the  occasion  will 
permit/^ 

The  Emperor  hastily  seated  himself,  and  received  into  his 
the  sinewy  hands  of  the  crusader,  who  made  the  acknowl- 
edgment of  his  homage,  and  was  then  guided  off  by  Count 
Baldwin,  who  walked  with  the  stranger  to  the  ships,  and 
then,  apparently  well  pleased  at  seeing  him  in  the  course  of 
going  on  board,  returned  back  to  the  side  of  the  Emperor. 

^'^What  is  the  name,''  said  the  Emperor,  '^  of  that  singu- 
lar and  assuming  man  ?  " 

"It  is  Robert,  Count  of  Paris,''  answered  Baldwin, 
'^accounted  one  of  the  bravest  peers  who  stands  around  the 
throne  of  France." 

After  a  moment's  recollection,  Alexius  Comnenus  issued 
orders  that  the  ceremonial  of  the  day  should  be  discon- 
tinued, afraid,  perhaps,  lest  the  rough  and  careless  humor 
of  the  strangers  should  produce  some  new  quarrel.  The 
crusaders  were  led,  nothing  loth,  back  to  palaces  in  which 
they  had  already  been  hospitably  received,  and  readily  re- 
sumed the  interrupted  feast  from  which  they  had  been  called 
to  pay  their  homage.  The  trumpets  of  the  various  leaders 
blew  the  recall  of  the  few  troops  of  an  ordinary  character 
who  were  attendant,  together  with  the  host  of  knights  and 
leaders,  who,  pleased  with  the  indulgences  provided  for 
them,  and  obscurely  foreseeing  that  the  passage  of  the  Bos- 
phorus  would  be  the  commencement  of  their  actual  suffer- 
ing, rejoiced  in  being  called  to  the  hither  side. 

It  was  not  probably  intended,  but  the  hero,  as  he  might 
be  styled,  of  the  tumultuous  day.  Count  Robert  of  Paris, 
who  was  already  on  his  road  to  embarkation  on  the  strait, 
was  disturbed  in  his  purpose  by  the  sound  of  recall  which 
was  echoed  around ;  nor  could  Bohemond,  Godfrey,  or  any 
who  took  upon  him  to  explain  the  signal,  alter  his  resolu- 
tion of  returning  to  Constantinople.  He  laughed  to  scorn 
the  threatened  displeasure  of  the  Emperor,  and  seemed  to 
think  there  would  be  a  peculiar  pleasure  in  braving  Alexius 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  121 

at  his  own  board,  or,  at  least,  that  nothing  could  be  more 
indifferent  than  whether  he  gave  offense  or  not. 

To  Godfrey  of  Bouillon,  to  whom  he  showed  some  re- 
spect, he  was  still  far  from  paying  deference  ;  and  that 
sagacious  prince,  having  used  every  argument  which  might 
shake  his  purpose  of  returning  to  the  imperial  city,  to  the 
very  point  of  making  it  a  quarrel  with  him  in  person,  at 
length  abandoned  him  to  his  own  discretion,  and  pointed 
him  out  to  the  Count  of  Tholouse,  as  he  passed,  as  a  wild 
knight-errant,  incapable  of  being  influenced  by  anything 
gave  his  own  wayward  fancy.  ''  He  brings  not  five  hundred 
men  to  the  crusade,"  said  Godfrey  ;  '^and  I  dare  be  sworn, 
that  even  in  this,  the  very  outset  of  the  undertaking,  he 
knows  not  where  these  five  hundred  men  are,  and  how  their 
wants  are  provided  for.  There  is  an  eternal  trumpet  in  his 
ear  sounding  to  assault,  nor  has  he  room  or  time  to  hear  a 
milder  or  more  rational  signal.  See  how  he  strolls  along 
yonder,  the  very  emblem  of  an  idle  schoolboy,  broke  out  of 
the  school-bounds  upon  a  holyday,  half  animated  by  cur- 
iosity and  half  by  love  of  mischief. " 

"  And,"  said  Raymond,  Count  of  Tholouse,  "with  resolu- 
tion sufficient  to  support  the  desperate  purpose  of  the  whole 
army  of  devoted  crusaders.  And  yet  so  passionate  a  Eodo- 
mont  is  Count  Robert,  that  he  would  rather  risk  the  success 
of  the  whole  expedition  than  omit  an  opportunity  of  meeting 
a  worthy  antagonist  en  champ  clos,  or  lose,  as  he  terms  it,  a 
chance  of  worshiping  Our  Lady  of  the  Broken  Lances. 
Who  are  yon  with  whom  he  has  now  met,  and  who  are  ap- 
parently walking,  or  rather  strolling,  in  the  same  way  with 
him,  back  to  Constantinople  ?  " 

"An  armed  knight,  brilliantly  equipped,  yet  of  something 
less  than  knightly  stature,"  answered  Godfrey.  "  It  is,  I 
suppose,  the  celebrated  lady  who  won  Robert's  heart  in  the 
lists  of  battle,  by  bravery  and  valor  equal  to  his  own  ;  and 
the  pilgrim  form  in  the  long  vestments  may  be  their  daugh- 
ter or  niece." 

"  A  singular  spectacle,  worthy  knight,"  said  the  Count 
of  Tholouse,  "  do  our  days  present  to  us,  to  which  we  have 
had  nothing  similiar  since  Gaita,*  wife  of  Robert  Guiscard, 
first  took  upon  her  to  distinguish  herself  by  manly  deeds  of 
emprise,  and  rival  her  husband,  as  well  in  the  front  of  battle 
as  at  the  dancing-room  or  banquet." 

"  Such  is  the  custom  of  this  pair,  most  noble  knight," 
answered  another  crusader,  who  had  joined  them,  "and 
*  See  Note  7. 


128  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

Heaven  pity  the  poor  man  who  has  no  power  to  keep  do- 
mestic peace  by  an  appeal  to  the  stronger  hand  I" 

''  Well/'  replied  Kaymond,  **  if  it  be  rather  a  mortifying 
reflection  that  the  lady  of  our  love  is  far  past  the  bloom  of 
youth,  it  is  a  consolation  that  she  is  too  old-fashioned  to 
beat  us,  when  we  return  back  with  no  more  of  youth  or 
manhood  than  a  long  crusade  has  left.  But  come,  follow  on 
the  road  to  Constantinople,  and  in  the  rear  of  this  most 
doughty  knight/' 


CHAPTER  X 

These  were  wild  times — the  antipodes  of  ours : 
Ladies  were  there,  who  oftener  saw  themselves 
In  the  broad  luster  of  a  foeman's  shield 
Than  in  a  mirror,  and  who  rather  sought 
To  match  themselves  in  battle  than  in  dalliance 
To  meet  a  lover's  onset.     But  though  Nature 
"Was  outraged  thus,  she  was  not  overcome. 

Feudal  Times. 

Brej^hilda,  Countess  of  Paris,  was  one  of  those  stalwart 
dames  who  willingly  hazarded  themselves  in  the  front  of 
battle,  which,  during  the  first  crusade,  was  as  common  as  it 
was  possible  for  a  very  unnatural  custom  to  be,  and  in  fact, 
gave  the  real  instances  of  the  Marphisas  and  Bradamantes, 
whom  the  writers  of  romance  delighted  to  paint,  assigning 
them  sometimes  the  advantage  of  invulnerable  armor,  or  a 
spear  whose  thrust  did  not  admit  of  being  resisted,  in  order 
to  soften  the  improbability  of  the  weaker  sex  being  fre- 
quently victorious  over  the  male  part  of  the  creation. 

But  the  spell  of  Brenhilda  was  of  a  more  simple  nature, 
and  rested  chiefly  in  her  great  beauty. 

From  a  girl,  she  despised  the  pursuits  of  her  sex  ;  and 
they  who  ventured  to  become  suitors  for  the  hand  of  the 
young  Lady  of  Aspramonte,  to  which  warlike  fief  she  had 
succeeded,  and  which  perhaps  encouraged  her  in  her  fancy, 
received  for  answer,  that  they  must  first  merit  it  by  their 
good  behavior  in  the  lists.  The  father  of  Brenhilda  was 
dead  ;  her  mother  was  of  a  gentle  temper,  and  easily  kept 
under  management  by  the  young  lady  herself. 

Brenhilda's  numerous  suitors  readily  agreed  to  terms 
which  were  too  much  according  to  the  manners  of  the  age 
to  be  disputed.  A  tournament  was  held  at  the  Castle  of 
Aspramonte,  in  which  one  half  of  the  gallant  assembly 
rolled  headlong  before  their  successful  rivals,  and  withdrew 
from  the  lists  mortified  and  disappointed.  The  successful 
party  among  the  suitors  were  expected  to  be  summoned  to 
joust  among  themselves.  But  they  were  surprised  at  being 
made  acquainted  with  the  lady's  further  will.  She  aspired 
to  wear  armor  herself,  to  wield  a  lance,  and  back  a  steed, 
and  prayed  the  knights  that  they  would  permit  a  lady. 


13d  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

whom  fchey  professed  to  honor  so  highly,  to  mingle  in  their 
games  of  chivalry.  The  young  knights  courteously  received 
their  young  mistress  in  the  lists,  and  smiled  at  the  idea  of 
her  holding  them  triumphantly  against  so  many  gallant 
champions  of  the  other  sex.  But  the  vassals  and  old  ser- 
vants of  the  count,  her  father,  smiled  to  each  other,  and  in- 
timated a  different  result  than  the  gallants  anticipated. 
The  knights  who  encountered  the  fair  Brenhilda  were  one 
by  one  stretched  on  the  sand  ;  nor  was  it  to  be  denied  that 
the  situation  of  tilting  with  one  of  the  handsomest  women 
of  the  time  was  an  extremely  embarrassing  one.  Each 
youth  was  bent  to  withhold  his  charge  in  full  volley,  to 
cause  his  steed  to  swerve  at  the  full  shock,  or  in  some  other 
way  to  flinch  from  doing  the  utmost  which  was  necessary 
to  gain  the  victory,  lest,  in  so  gaining  it,  he  might  cause 
irreparable  injury  to  the  beautiful  opponent  he  tilted  with. 
But  the  Lady  of  Aspramonte  was  not  one  who  could  be  con- 
quered by  less  than  the  exertion  of  the  whole  strength  and 
talents  of  the  victor.  The  defeated  suitors  departed  from 
the  lists  the  more  mortified  at  their  discomfiture,  because 
Eobert  of  Paris  arrived  at  sunset,  and,  understanding  what 
was  going  forward,  sent  his  name  to  the  barriers,  as  that  of 
a  knight  who  would  willingly  forego  the  reward  of  the 
tournament,  in  case  he  had  the  fortune  to  gain  it,  declaring 
that  neither  lands  nor  ladies'  charms  were  what  he  came 
thither  to  seek.  Brenhilda,  piqued  and  mortified,  chose  a 
new  lance,  mounted  her  best  steed,  and  advanced  into  the 
lists  as  one  determined  to  avenge  upon  the  new  assailant's 
brow  the  slight  of  her  charms  which  he  seemed  to  express. 
But  whether  her  displeasure  had  somewhat  interfered  with 
her  usual  skill,  or  whether  she  had,  like  others  of  her  sex,  felt 
a  partiality  towards  one  whose  heart  was  not  particularlly 
set  upon  gaining  hers,  or  whether,  as  is  often  said  on  such 
occasions,  her  fated  hour  was  come,  so  it  was  that  Count 
Eobert  tilted  with  his  usual  address  and  good  fortune. 
Brenhilda  of  Aspramonte  was  unhorsed  and  unhelmed,  and 
stretched  on  the  earth,  and  the  beautiful  face,  which  faded 
from  very  red  to  deadly  pale  before  the  eyes  of  the  victor, 
produced  its  natural  effect  in  raising  the  value  of  his  con- 
quest. He  would,  in  conformity  with  his  resolution,  have 
left  the  castle,  after  having  mortified  the  vanity  of  the  lady  ; 
but  her  mother  opportunely  interposed,  and,  when  she  had 
satisfied  herself  that  no  serious  mjury  had  been  sustained 
by  the  young  heiress,  she  returned  her  thanks  to  the 
stranger  knight-  who   had  taught  her  daughter  a  lesson. 


COUNT  ROBEBT  OF  PABIS  131 

which,  she  trusted,  she  would  not  easily  forget.  Thus 
tempted  to  do  what  he  secretly  wished.  Count  Eobert  gave 
ear  to  those  sentiments  which  naturally  whispered  to  him 
to  be  in  no  hurry  to  withdraw. 

He  was  of  the  blood  of  Charlemagne,  and,  what  was  still 
of  more  consequence  in  the  young  lady's  eyes,  one  of  the 
most  renowned  of  Norman  knights  in  that  jousting  day. 
After  a  residence  of  ten  days  in  the  Castle  of  Aspramonte, 
the  bride  and  bridegroom  set  out,  for  such  was  Count  Eob- 
ert's  will,  with  a  competent  train,  to  Our  Lady  of  the  Broken 
Lances,  where  it  pleased  him  to  be  wedded.  Two  knights, 
who  were  waiting  to  do  battle,  as  was  the  custom  of  the 
place,  were  rather  disappointed  at  the  nature  of  the  caval- 
cade, which  seemed  to  interrupt  their  purpose.  But  greatly 
were  they  surprised  when  they  received  a  cartel  from  the 
betrothed  couple,  offering  to  substitute  their  own  persons  in 
the  room  of  other  antagonists,  and  congratulating  them- 
selves in  commencing  their  married  life  in  a  manner  so  con- 
sistent w^ith  that  which  they  had  hitherto  led.  They  were 
victorious  as  usual ;  and  the  only  persons  having  occasion  to 
rue  the  complaisance  of  the  Count  and  his  bride  were  the 
two  strangers,  one  of  whom  broke  an  arm  in  the  rencontre 
and  the  other  dislocated  a  collar-bone. 

Count  Eobert's  course  of  knight-errantry  did  not  seem  to 
be  in  the  least  intermitted  by  his  marriage  ;  on  the  contrary, 
when  he  was  called  upon  to  support  his  renown,  his  wife  was 
often  known  also  in  military  exploits,  nor  was  she  inferior  to 
him  in  thirst  after  fame.  They  both  assumed  the  cross  at 
the  same  time,  that  being  then  the  predominating  folly  in 
Europe. 

The  Countess  Brenhilda  was  now  above  six-and-twenty 
years  old,  with  as  much  beauty  as  can  well  fall  to  the  share 
of  an  amazon.  A  figure  of  the  largest  feminine  size  was 
surmounted  by  a  noble  countenance,  to  which  even  repeated 
warlike  toils  had  not  given  more  than  a  sunny  hue,  relieved 
by  the  dazzling  whiteness  of  such  parts  of  her  face  as  were 
not  usually  displayed. 

As  Alexius  gave  orders  that  his  retinue  should  return  to 
Constantinople,  he  spoke  in  private  to  the  Follower,  Achilles 
Tatius.  The  satrap  answered  with  a  submissive  bend  of  the 
head,  and  separated  with  a  few  attendants  from  the  main 
body  of  the  Emperor's  train.  The  principal  road  to  the  city 
was,  of  course,  filled  with  the  troops,  and  with  the  numerous 
crowds  of  spectators,  all  of  whom  were  inconvenienced  in 
some  degree  by  the  dust  and  heat  of  the  weather. 


132  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

Count  Robert  of  Paris  had  embarked  his  horses  on  board 
of  ship,  and  all  his  retinue,  except  an  old  squire  or  valet  of 
his  own  and  an  attendant  of  his  wife.  He  felt  himself  more 
incommoded  in  this  crowd  than  he  desired,  especially  as  his 
wife  shared  it  with  him,  and  began  to  look  among  the  scat- 
tered trees  which  fringed  the  shores  down  almost  to  the 
tide-mark,  to  see  if  he  could  discern  any  by-path  which 
might  carry  them  more  circuitously,  but  more  pleasantly,  to 
the  city,  and  afford  them  at  the  same  time,  what  was  their 
principal  object  in  the  East,  strange  sights  or  adventures  of 
chivalry.  A  broad  and  beaten  path  seemed  to  promise  them 
all  the  enjoyment  which  shade  could  give  in  a  warm  climate. 
The  ground  through  which  it  wound  its  way  was  beautifully 
broken  by  the  appearance  of  temples,  churches,  and  kiosks, 
and  here  and  there  a  fountain  distributed  its  silver  produce, 
like  a  benevolent  individual,  who,  self-denying  to  himself, 
is  liberal  to  all  others  who  are  in  necessity.  The  distant 
sound  of  the  martial  music  still  regaled  their  way  ;  and,  at 
the  same  time,  as  it  detained  the  populace  on  the  highroad, 
prevented  the  strangers  from  becoming  incommoded  with 
fellow-travelers. 

Rejoicing  in  the  abated  heat  of  the  day,  wondering,  at  the 
same  time,  at  the  various  kinds  of  architecture,  the  strange 
features  of  the  landscape,  or  accidental  touches  of  manners 
exhibited  by  those  who  met  or  passed  them  upon  their  jour- 
ney, they  strolled  easily  onwards.  One  figure  particularly 
caught  the  attention  of  the  Countess  Brenhilda.  This  was 
an  old  man  of  great  stature,  engaged,  apparently,  so  deeply 
with  the  roll  of  parchment  which  he  held  in  his  hand,  that 
he  paid  no  attention  to  the  objects  which  were  passing  around 
him.  Deep  thought  appeared  to  reign  on  his  brow,  and  his 
eye  was  of  that  piercing  kind  which  seems  designed  to  search 
and  winnow  the  frivolous  from  the  edifying  part  of  human 
discussion,  and  limit  its  inquiry  to  the  last.  Raising  his 
eyes  slowly  from  the  parchment  on  which  he  had  been  gaz- 
ing, the  look  of  Agelastes — for  it  was  the  sage  himself^ 
encountered  those  of  Count  Robert  and  his  lady,  and  ad- 
dressing them  with  the  kindly  epithet  of  ''  my  children,"  he 
asked  if  they  had  missed  their  road,  or  whether  there  was 
anything  in  which  he  could  do  them  any  pleasure. 

"We  are  strangers,  father,"  was  the  answer,  •^'from  a  dis- 
tant country,  and  belonging  to  the  army  which  has  passed 
hither  upon  pilgrimage  ;  one  object  brings  us  here  in  com- 
mon, we  hope,  with  all  that  host.  We  desire  to  pay  our 
devotions  where  the  great  ransom  was  paid  for  us,  and  to 


COUNT  ROBEBT  OF  PARIS  133 

free,  by  our  good  swords,  enslaved  Palestine  from  the  usur- 
pation and  tyranny  of  the  infidel.  When  we  have  said  this, 
we  have  announced  our  highest  human  motive.  Yet  Eobert 
of  Paris  and  his  Countess  would  not  willingly  set  their  foot  on 
a  land  save  what  should  resound  its  echo.  They  have  not 
been  accustomed  to  move  in  silence  upon  the  face  of  the 
earth,  and  they  would  purchase  an  eternal  life  of  fame, 
though  it  were  at  the  price  of  mortal  existence." 

'*  You  seek,  then,  to  barter  safety  for  fame,"  said  Agelastes, 
*'  though  you  may,  perchance,  throw  death  into  the  scale  by 
which  you  hope  to  gain  it  ?  " 

'^  Assuredly,"  said  Count  Eobert ;  ^*  nor  is  there  one  wear- 
ing such  a  belt  as  this  to  whom  such  a  thought  is  stranger." 

''  And,  as  I  understand,"  said  Agelastes,  ^'  your  lady  sharea 
with  your  honorable  self  in  these  valorous  resolutions  ?  Can 
this  be  ?  " 

''  You  may  undervalue  my  female  courage,  father,  if  such 
is  your  will,"  said  the  Countess  ;  ''  but  I  speak  in  presence 
of  a  witness  who  can  attest  the  truth  when  I  say,  that  a 
man  of  half  your  years  had  not  doubted  the  truth  with  im- 
punity." 

*^*^Nay,  Heaven  protect  me  from  the  lightning  of  your 
eyes,"  said  Agelastes,  "  whether  in  anger  or  in  scorn.  I  bear 
an  aegis  about  myself  against  what  I  should  else  have  feared. 
But  age,  with  its  incapacities,  brings  also  its  apologies.  Per- 
haps, indeed,  it  is  one  like  me  whom  you  seek  to  find,  and 
in  that  case  I  should  be  happy  to  render  to  you  such  services 
as  it  is  my  duty  to  offer  to  all  worthy  knights." 

^^I  have  already  said,"  replied  Cfount  Eobert,  '^  that,  after 
the  accomplishment  of  my  vow  " — he  looked  upwards  and 
crossed  himself — '^^  there  is  nothing  on  earth  to  which  I  am 
more  bound  than  to  celebrate  my  name  in  arms  as  becomes  a 
valiant  cavalier.  When  men  die  obscurely,  they  die  for- 
ever. Had  my  ancestor  Charles  never  left  the  paltry  banks 
of  the  Saale,  he  had  not  now  been  much  better  known  than 
any  vine-dresser  who  wielded  his  pruning-hook  in  the  same 
territories.  But  he  bore  him  like  a  brave  man,  and  his  name 
is  deathless  in  the  memory  of  the  worthy." 

"Young  man,"  said  the  old  Grecian,  ''although  it  is  but 
seldom  that  such  as  you,  whom  I  was  made  to  serve  and  to 
value,  visit  this  country,  it  is  not  the  less  true  that  I  am 
ivell  qualified  to  serve  you  in  the  matter  which  you  have  so 
much  at  heart.  My  acquaintance  with  nature  has  been  so 
perfect  and  so  long,  that,  during  its  continuance,  she  has 
disappeared,  and  another  world  has  been  spread  before  me. 


m  WA  VEBLEY  NO  VELS 

in  which  she  has  but  little  to  do.  Thus  the  curious  stores 
which  I  have  assembled  are  beyond  the  researches  of  other 
men,  and  not  to  be  laid  before  those  whose  deeds  of  valor 
are  to  be  bounded  by  the  ordinary  probabilities  of  every-day 
nature.  No  romancer  of  your  romantic  country  ever  devised 
such  extraordinary  adventures  out  of  his  own  imagination, 
and  to  feed  the  idle  wonder  of  those  who  sat  listening  around, 
as  those  which  I  know,  not  of  idle  invention,  but  of  real 
positive  existence,  with  the  means  of  achieving  and  accom- 
plishing the  conditions  of  each  adventure.'^ 

"  If  such  be  your  real  profession,"  said  the  French  Count, 
"  you  have  met  one  of  those  whom  you  chiefly  search  for  ; 
nor  will  my  Countess  and  I  stir  farther  upon  our  road  until 
you  have  pointed  out  to  us  some  one  of  those  adventures 
which  it  is  the  business  of  errant-knights  to  be  industrious  in 
seeking  out." 

So  saying,  he  sat  down  by  the  side  of  the  old  man  ;  and 
his  lady,  with  a  degree  of  reverence  which  had  something  in 
it  almost  diverting,  followed  his  example. 

'^  We  have  fallen  right,  Brenhilda,"  said  Count  Robert ; 
*'  our  guardian  angel  has  watched  his  charge  carefully.  Here 
have  we  come  among  an  ignorant  set  of  pedants,  chattering 
their  absurd  language,  and  holding  more  important  the 
least  look  that  a  cowardly  emperor  can  give  than  the  best 
blow  that  a  good  knight  can  deal.  Believe  me,  I  was  well- 
nigh  thinking  that  we  had  done  ill  to  take  the  cross — God 
forgive  such  an  impious  doubt !  Yet  here,  when  we  were 
even  despairing  to  find  the  road  to  fame,  we  have  met  with 
one  of  those  excellent  mefi  whom  the  knights  of  yore  were 
wont  to  find  sitting  by  springs,  by  crosses,  and  by  altars, 
ready  to  direct  the  wandering  knight  where  fame  was  to  be 
found.  Disturb  him  not,  my  Brenhilda,"  said  the  Count, 
"  but  let  him  recall  to  himself  his  stories  of  the  ancient  time, 
and  thou  shalt  see  he  will  enrich  us  with  the  treasures  of  his 
information." 

"  If,"  replied  Agelastes,  after  some  pause,  ^'  I  have  waited 
for  a  longer  term  than  human  life  is  granted  to  most  men, 
I  shall  still  be  overpaid  by  dedicating  what  remains  of  ex- 
istence to  the  service  of  a  pair  so  devoted  to  chivalry.  Y\'hat 
first  occurs  to  me  is  a  story  of  our  Greek  country,  so  famous 
in  adventures,  and  which  I  shall  briefly  detail  to  you  : — 

''  Afar  hence,  in  our  renowned  Grecian  Archipelago,  amid 
storms  and  whirlpools,  rocks  which,  changing  their  character, 
appear  to  precipitate  themselves  against  each  other,  and 
billows  that  are  never  in  a  pacific  state,  lies  the  rich  island 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  135 

of  Zulicliium,  inhabited,  notwithstanding  its  wealth,  by  a 
very  few  natives,  who  live  only  upon  the  sea-coast.  The 
inland  part  of  the  island  is  one  immense  mountain,  or  pile  of 
mountains,  amongst  which,  those  who  dare  approach  near 
enough  may,  we  are  assured,  discern  the  moss-grown  and 
antiquated  towers  and  pinnacles  of  a  stately  but  ruinous 
castle,  the  habitation  of  the  sovereign  of  the  island,  in  which 
she  has  been  enchanted  for  a  great  many  years. 

'^  A  bold  knight,  who  came  upon  a  pilgrimage  to  Jerusalem, 
made  a  vow  to  deliver  this  unhappy  victim  of  pain  and  sorcery, 
feeling,  with  justice,  vehemently  offended  that  the  fiends  of 
darkness  should  exercise  any  authority  near  the  Holy  Land, 
which  might  be  termed  the  very  fountain  of  light.  Two  of 
the  oldest  inhabitants  of  the  island  undertook  to  guide  him 
as  near  to  the  main  gate  as  they  durst,  nor  did  they  approach 
it  more  closely  than  the  length  of  a  bow-shot.  Here,  then, 
abandoned  to  himself,  the  brave  Frank  set  forth  upon  his 
enterprise,  with  a  stout  heart,  and  Heaven  alone  to  friend. 
The  fabric  which  he  approached  showed,  by  its  gigantic  size 
and  splendor  of  outline,  the  power  and  wealth  of  the  poten- 
tate who  had  erected  it.  The  brazen  gates  unfolded  them- 
selves as  if  with  hope  and  pleasure  ;  and  aerial  voices  swept 
around  the  spires  and  turrets,  congratulating  the  genius  of 
the  place,  it  might  be,  upon  the  expected  approach  of  its 
deliverer. 

"  The  knight  passed  on,  not  unmoved  with  wonder,  though 
untainted  by  fear  ;  and  the  Grothic  splendors  which  he  saw 
were  of  a  kind  highly  to  exalt  his  idea  of  the  beauty  of  the 
mistress  for  whom  a  prison-house  had  been  so  richly  deco- 
rated. Guards  there  were  in  Eastern  dress  and  arms,  upon 
bulwark  and  buttress,  in  readiness,  it  appeared,  to  bend 
their  bows  ;  but  the  warriors  were  motionless  and  silent,  and 
took  no  more  notice  of  the  armed  step  of  the  knight  than  if 
a  monk  or  hermit  had  approached  their  guarded  post.  They 
were  living,  and  yet,  as  to  all  power  and  sense,  they  might 
be  considered  among  the  dead.  If  there  was  truth  in  the 
old  tradition,  the  sun  had  shone  and  the  rain  had  fallen  upon 
them  for  more  than  four  hundred  changing  seasons,  without 
their  being  sensible  of  the  genial  warmth  of  the  one  or  the 
coldness  of  the  other.  Like  the  Israelites  in  the  desert,  their 
shoes  had  not  decayed,  nor  their  vestments  waxed  old.  As 
Time  left  them,  so  and  without  alteration  was  he  again  to  find 
them.''  The  philosopher  began  now  to  recall  what  he  had 
heard  of  the  cause  of  their  enchantment. 

^'  The  sage  to  whom  this  potent  charm  is  imputed  was  one 


136  WAVEBLET  NOVELS 

of  the  Magi  who  followed  tlie  tenets  of  Zoroaster.  He  had 
come  to  the  court  of  this  youthful  princess,  who  recei^'ec^ 
him  with  every  attention  which  gratified  vanity  could  dic- 
tate, so  that  in  a  short  time  her  awe  of  this  grave  personage 
was  lost  in  the  sense  of  ascendency  which  her  beauty  gave 
her  over  him.  It  was  no  difficult  matter — in  fact  it  happens 
every  day — for  the  beautiful  woman  to  lull  the  wise  man  into 
what  is  not  unaptly  called  a  fooFs  paradise.  The  sage  was 
induced  to  attempt  feats  of  youth  which  his  years  rendered 
ridiculous  :  he  could  command  the  elements,  but  the  com- 
mon course  of  nature  was  beyond  his  power.  When,  there- 
fore, he  exerted  his  magic  strength,  the  mountains  bent  and 
the  seas  receded  ;  but  when  the  philosopher  attempted  to 
lead  forth  the  Princess  of  Zulichium  in  the  youthful  dance, 
youths  and  maidens  turned  their  heads  aside  lest  they  should 
make  too  manifest  the  ludicrous  ideas  with  which  they  were 
impressed. 

**  Unhappily,  as  the  aged,  even  the  wisest  of  them,  will 
forget  themselves,  so  the  young  naturally  enter  into  an  alli- 
ance to  spy  out,  ridicule,  and  enjoy  their  foibles.  Many  were 
the  glances  which  the  Princess  sent  among  her  retinue,  inti- 
mating the  nature  of  the  amusement  which  she  received  from 
the  attentions  of  her  formidable  lover.  In  process  of  time, 
she  lost  her  caution,  and  a  glance  was  detected,  expressing 
to  the  old  man  the  ridicule  and  contempt  in  which  he  had 
been  all  along  held  by  the  object  of  his  affections.  Earth 
has  no  passion  so  bitter  as  love  converted  to  hatred  ;  and 
while  the  sage  bitterly  regretted  what  he  had  done,  he  did 
not  the  less  resent  the  light-hearted  folly  of  the  Princess  by 
whom  he  had  been  duped. 

'^If,  however,  he  was  angry,  he  possessed  the  art  to  con- 
ceal it.  Not  a  word,  not  a  look  expressed  the  bitter  disap- 
pointment which  he  had  received.  A  shade  of  melancholy, 
or  rather  gloom,  upon  his  brow  alone  intimated  the  coming 
storm.  The  Princess  became  somewhat  alarmed  ;  she  was, 
besides,  extremely  good-natured,  nor  had  her  intentions  of 
leading  the  old  man  into  what  would  render  him  ridiculous 
been  so  accurately  planned  with  malice  prepense  as  they 
were  the  effect  of  accident  and  chance.  She  saw  the  pain 
which  he  suffered,  and  thought  to  end  it  by  going  up  to  him, 
when  about  to  retire,  and  kindly   wishing  him  good-night. 

*'  *  You  say  well,  daughter,'  said  the  sage,  *  good  night ;  but 
who,  of  the  numbers  who  hear  me,  shall  say  good  morning  ?" 

"  The  speech  drew  little  attention,  although  two  or  three 
persons  to  whom  the  character  of  the  sage  was  known  fled 


COUNT  EGBERT  OF  PARIS  137 

from  the  island  that  very  night,  and  by  their  report  made 
known  the  circumstances  attending  the  first  infliction  of 
this  extraordinary  spell  on  those  who  remained  within  the 
castle.  A  sleep  like  that  of  death  fell  upon  them,  and  was 
not  removed.  Most  of  the  inhabitants  left  the  island  ;  the 
few  who  remained  were  cautious  how  they  approached  the 
castle,  and  watched  until  some  bold  adventurer  should  bring 
that  happy  awakening  which  the  speech  of  the  sorcerer 
seemed  in  some  degree  to  intimate. 

'^  Never  seemed  there  a  fairer  opportunity  for  that  awak- 
ening to  take  place  than  when  the  proud  step  of  Artavan  de 
Hautlieu  was  placed  upon  those  enchanted  courts.  On  the 
left  lay  the  palace  and  the  donjon  keep  ;  but  the  right,  more 
attractive,  seemed  to  invite  to  the  apartment  of  the  women. 
At  a  side  door  reclined  on  a  couch  two  guards  of  the  harem, 
with  their  naked  swords  grasped  in  their  hands,  and  features 
fiendishly  contorted  between  sleep  and  dissolution  seemed 
to  menace  death  to  any  who  should  venture  to  approach. 
This  threat  deterred  not  Artavan  de  Hautlieu.  He  ap- 
proached the  entrance,  when  the  doors,  like  those  of  the  great 
entrance  to  the  castle,  made  themselves  instantly  accessible  to 
him.  A  guard-room  of  the  same  effeminate  soldiers  received 
him,  nor  could  the  strictest  examination  have  discovered  to 
him  whether  it  was  sleep  or  death  which  arrested  the  eyes 
that  seemed  to  look  upon  and  prohibit  his  advance.  Un- 
heeding the  presence  of  these  ghostly  sentinels,  Artavan 
pressed  forward  into  an  inner  apartment,  where  female 
slaves  of  the  most  distinguished  beauty  were  visible  in  the 
attitude  of  those  who  had  already  assumed  their  dress  for 
the  night.  There  was  much  in  this  scene  which  might  have 
arrested  so  young  a  pilgrim  as  Artavan  of  Hautlieu  ;  but  his 
heart  was  fixed  upon  achieving  the  freedom  of  the  beautiful 
Princess,  nor  did  he  suffer  himself  to  be  withdrawn  from 
that  object  by  any  inferior  consideration.  He  passed  on, 
therefore,  to  a  little  ivory  door,  which,  after  a  mementos 
pause,  as  if  in  maidenly  hesitation,  gave  way  like  the  rest, 
and  yielded  access  to  the  sleeping  apartment  of  the 
Princess  herself.  A  soft  light,  resembling  that  of  evening, 
penetrated  into  a  chamber  where  everything  seemed  con- 
trived to  exalt  the  luxury  of  slumber.  The  heaps  of  cushions 
which  formed  a  stately  bed  seemed  rather  to  be  touched 
than  impressed  by  the  form  of  a  nymph  of  fifteen,  the  re- 
nowned Princess  of  Zulichium.^ 

"  Without  interrupting  you,  good  father,"  said  the  Coun- 
tess Brenhilda,  *'  it  seems  to  me  that  we  can  comprehend 


138  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

the  picture  of  a  woman  asleep  without  much  dilating  upon 
it,  and  that  such  a  subject  is  little  recommended  either  by 
our  age  or  by  yours.'' 

"  Pardon  me,  noble  lady/'  answered  Agelastes,  '^  the 
most  approved  part  of  my  story  has  ever  been  this  passage, 
and  while  I  now  suppress  it  in  obedience  to  your  command, 
bear  notice,  I  pray  you,  that  I  sacrifice  the  most  beautiful 
part  of  the  tale." 

'^  Brenhilda,"  added  the  Count,  ''  I  am  surprised  you 
think  of  interrupting  a  story  which  has  hitherto  proceeded 
with  so  much  fire  :  the  telling  of  a  few  words  more  or  less 
will  surely  have  a  much  greater  influence  upon  the  sense  of 
the  narrative  than  such  an  addition  can  possibly  possess  over 
our  sentiments  of  action." 

*'  As  you  will,"  said  his  lady,  throwing  herself  carelessly 
back  upon  the  seat ;  '^but  methinks  the  worthy  father  pro- 
tracts this  discourse  till  it  becomes  of  a  nature  more  trifling 
than  interesting." 

""Brenhilda,"  said  the  Count,  ''  this  is  the  first  time  I 
have  remarked  in  you  a  woman's  weakness." 

''  I  may  as  well  say.  Count  Eobert,  that  it  is  the  first 
time,"  answered  Brenhilda,  '^that  you  have  shown  to  me 
the  inconstancy  of  your  sex."  ^ 

"  Gods  and  goddesses,"  said  the  philosopher,  *'  was  ever 
known  a  quarrel  more  absurdly  founded  !  The  Countess  is 
jealous  of  one  whom  her  husband  probably  never  will  see, 
nor  is  there  any  prospect  that  the  Princess  of  Zulichium  will 
be  hereafter  better  known  to  the  modern  world  than  if  the 
curtain  hung  before  her  tomb." 

'^  Proceed,"  said  Count  Robert  of  Paris  ;  '^\i  Sir  Artavan 
of  Hautlieu  has  not  accomplished  the  enfranchisement  of 
the  Princess  of  Zulichium,  I  make  a  vow  to  Our  Lady  of  the 
Broken  Lances " 

''  Remember,"  said  his  lady,  interfering,  "  that  you  are 
already  under  a  vow  to  free  the  Sepulcher  of  God  ;  and  to 
that,  methinks,  all  lighter  engagements  might  give  place." 

^^  Well,  lady — well,"  said  Count  Robert,  but  half  satisfied 
with  this  interference,  ''  I  will  not  engage  myself,  you  may 
be  assured,  on  any  adventure  which  may  claim  precedence 
of  the  enterprise  of  the  Holy  Sepulcher,  to  which  we  are  all 
bound." 

"  Alas  !  "  said  Agelastes,  ^'  the  distance  of  Zulichium  from 
the  speediest  route  to  the  sepulcher  is  so  small,  that " 

''  Worthy  father,"  said  the  Countess,  ''  we  will,  if  it  pleases 
you,  hear  your  tale  to  an  end,  and  then  determine  what  we 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  139 

will  do.  We  Norman  ladies,  descendants  of  the  old  Germans, 
claim  a  voice  with  our  lords  in  the  council  which  precedes 
the  battle,  nor  has  our  assistance  in  the  conflict  been  deemed 
altogether  useless." 

The  tone  in  which  this  was  spoken  conveyed  an  awkward 
innuendo  to  the  philosopher,  who  began  to  foresee  that  the 
guidance  of  the  Norman  knight  would  be  more  difficult  than 
he  had  foreseen,  while  his  consort  remained  by  his  side.  He 
took  up,  therefore,  his  oratory  on  somewhat  a  lower  key  than 
before,  and  avoided  those  warm  descriptions  which  had 
given  such  offense  to  the  Countess  Brenhilda. 

"  Sir  Artavan  de  Hautlieu,  says  the  story,  considered  in 
what  way  he  should  accost  the  sleeping  damsel,  when  it  oc- 
curred to  him  in  what  manner  the  charm  would  be  most 
likely  to  be  reversed.  I  am  in  your  judgment,  fair  lady,  if 
he  judged  wrong  in  resolving  that  the  method  of  his  address 
should  be  a  kiss  upon  the  lips." 

The  color  of  Brenhilda  was  somewhat  heightened,  but  she 
did  not  deem  the  observation  worthy  of  notice. 

**  Never  had  so  innocent  an  action,"  continued  the  philoso- 
pher, ''  an  effect  more  horrible.  The  delightful  light  of  a 
summer  evening  was  instantly  changed  into  a  strange  lurid 
hue,  which,  infected  with  sulphur,  seemed  to  breathe  suf- 
focation through  the  apartment.  The  rich  hangings  and 
splendid  furniture  of  the  chamber,  the  very  walls  themselves, 
were  changed  into  huge  stones  tossed  together  at  random, 
like  the  inside  of  a  wild  beast's  den  ;  nor  was  the  den  with- 
out an  inhabitant.  The  beautiful  and  innocent  lips  to  which 
Artavan  de  Hautlieu  had  approached  his  own  were  now 
changed  into  the  hideous  and  bizarre  form  and  bestial  aspect 
of  a  fiery  dragon.  A  moment  she  hovered  upon  the  wing, 
and  it  is  said,  had  Sir  Artavan  found  courage  to  repeat  his 
salute  three  times,  he  would  then  have  remained  master  of 
all  the  wealth  and  of  the  disenchanted  Princess.  But  the 
opportunity  was  lost,  and  the  dragon,  or  the  creature  who 
seemed  such,  sailed  out  at  a  side  window  upon  its  broad 
pennons,  uttering  loud  wails  of  disappointment." 

Here  ended  the  story  of  Agelastes.  "  The  Princess,"  he 
said,  ''  is  still  supposed  to  abide  her  doom  in  the  Island  of 
Zulichium,  and  several  knights  have  undertaken  the  adven- 
ture ;  but  I  know  not  whether  it  was  the  fear  of  saluting 
the  sleeping  maiden,  or  that  of  approaching  the  dragon  into 
which  she  was  transformed,  but  so  it  is,  the  spell  remains 
unachieved.  I  know  the  way,  and  if  you  say  the  word,  you 
may  be  to-morrow  on  the  road  to  the  castle  of  enchantment/^ 


140  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

The  Countess  heard  this  proposal  with  the  deepest  anx* 
iety,  for  she  knew  that  she  might,  by  opposition,  deter- 
mine her  husband  irrevocably  upon  following  out  the  enter- 
prise. She  stood  therefore  with  a  timid  and  bashful  look, 
strange  in  a  person  whose  bearing  was  generally  so  dauntless, 
and  prudently  left  it  to  the  uninfluenced  mind  of  Count 
Kobert  to  form  the  resolution  which  should  best  please  him. 

^^  Brenhilda,''  he  said,  taking  her  hand,  **  fame  and 
honor  are  dear  to  thy  husband  as  ever  they  were  to  knight 
who  buckled  a  brand  upon  his  side.  Thou  hast  done,  per- 
haps, I  may  say,  for  me  what  I  might  in  vain  have  looked 
for  from  ladies  of  thy  condition  ;  and  therefore  thou  mayest 
well  expect  a  casting  voice  in  such  points  of  deliberation. 
Why  dost  thou  wander  by  the  side  of  a  foreign  and  un- 
healthy shore,  instead  of  the  banks  of  the  lovely  Seine  ? 
Why  dost  thou  wear  a  dress  unusual  to  thy  sex  ?  Why  dost 
thou  seek  death,  and  think  it  little,  in  comparison  of  shame  ? 
Why  ?  but  that  the  Count  of  Paris  may  have  a  bride  worthy 
of  him.  Dost  thou  think  that  this  affection  is  thrown  away  ? 
'No,  by  the  saints  !  Thy  knight  repays  it  as  he  best  ought, 
and  sacrifices  to  thee  every  thought  which  thy  affection 
may  less  than  entirely  approve.'* 

Poor  Brenhilda,  confused  as  she  was  by  the  various  emo- 
tions with  which  she  was  agitated,  now  in  vain  endeavored 
to  maintain  the  heroic  deportment  which  her  character  as 
an  amazon  required  from  her.  She  attempted  to  assume 
the  proud  and  lofty  look  which  was  properly  her  own,  but, 
failing  in  the  effort,  she  threw  herself  into  the  Count's  arms, 
hung  round  his  neck,  and  wept  like  a  village  maiden  whose 
true  love  is  pressed  for  the  wars.  Her  husband,  a  little 
ashamed,  while  he  was  much  moved,  by  this  burst  of  affec- 
tion in  one  to  whose  character  it  seemed  an  unusual  attribute, 
was,  at  the  same  time,  pleased  and  proud  that  he  could  have 
awakened  an  affection  so  genuine  and  so  gentle  in  a  soul  so 
high-spirited  and  so  unbending. 

"  Not  thus,"  he  said,  "  my  Brenhilda  !  I  would  not  have 
it  thus,  either  for  thine  own  sake  or  for  mine.  Do  not  let 
this  wise  old  man  suppose  that  thy  heart  is  made  of  the 
malleable  stuff  which  forms  that  of  other  maidens  ;  and 
apologize  to  him,  as  may  well  become  thee,  for  having  pre- 
vented my  undertaking  the  adventure  of  Zulichium,  which 
he  recommends.*' 

It  was  not  easy  for  Brenhilda  to  recover  herself,  after 
having  afforded  so  notable  an  instance  how  nature  can  vin- 
dicate her  rights,  with  whatever  rigor  she  may  have  been 


COUNT  BOBERT  OF  PA  BIS  141 

disciplined  and  tyrannized  over.  "With  a  look  of  ineffable 
affection,  she  disjoined  herself  from  her  husband,  still  keep- 
ing hold  of  his  hand,  and  turning  to  the  old  man  with  a 
countenance  in  which  the  half-effaced  tears  were  succeeded 
by  smiles  of  pleasure  and  of  modesty,  she  spoke  to  Agelastes 
as  she  would  to  a  person  whom  she  respected,  and  towards 
whom  she  had  some  offense  to  atone.  ''  Father, '^  she  said, 
respectfully,  ''be  not  angry  with  me  that  I  should  have  been 
an  obstacle  to  one  of  the  best  knights  that  ever  spurred 
steed  undertaking  the  enterprise  of  thine  enchanted  Prin- 
cess ;  but  the  truth  is  that,  in  our  land,  where  knighthood 
and  religion  agree  in  permitting  only  one  lady  love,  and  one 
lady  wife,  we  do  not  quite  so  willingly  see  our  husbands  run 
into  danger,  especially  of  that  kind  where  lonely  ladies  are 
the  parties  relieved — and — and  kisses  are  the  ransom  paid. 
I  have  as  much  confidence  in  my  Robert's  fidelity  as  a  lady 
can  have  in  a  loving  knight,  but  still " 

*'  Lovely  lady,^'  said  Agelastes,  who,  notwithstanding  his 
highly  artificial  character,  could  not  help  being  moved  by 
the  simple  and  sincere  affection  of  the  handsome  young 
pair,  ''you  have  done  no  evil.  The  state  of  the  Princess  is 
no  worse  than  it  was,  and  there  cannot  be  a  doubt  that  the 
knight  fated  to  relieve  her  will  appear  at  the  destined 
period. '' 

The  Countess  smiled  sadly,  and  shook  her  head.  "  You 
do  not  know,'*  she  said,  "  how  powerful  is  the  aid  of  which 
I  have  unhappily  deprived  this  unfortunate  lady,  by  a  jeal- 
ousy which  I  now  feel  to  have  been  alike  paltry  and  un- 
worthy ;  and,  such  is  my  regret,  that  I  could  find  in  my 
heart  to  retract  my  opposition  to  Count  Robert's  undertak- 
ing this  adventure."  She  looked  at  her  husband  with  some 
anxiety,  as  one  that  had  made  an  offer  she  would  not  will- 
ingly see  accepted,  and  did  not  recover  her  courage  until  he 
said  decidedly,  "Brenhilda,  that  may  not  be.'' 

"And  why,  then,  may  not  Brenhilda  herself  take  the  ad- 
venture," continued  the  Countess,  "  since  she  can  neither  fear 
the  charms  of  the  Princess  nor  the  terrors  of  the  dragon." 

"Lady,"  said  Agelastes,  "The  Princess  must  be  awak- 
ened by  the  kiss  of  love,  and  not  by  that  of  friendship." 

''A  sufficient  reason,"  said  the  Countess,  smiling,  "why 
a  lady  may  not  wish  her  lord  to  go  forth  upon  an  adventure 
of  which  the  conditions  are  so  regulated." 

"Noble  minstrel,  or  herald,  or  by  whatever  name  this 
country  calls  you,"  said  Count  Robert,  "accept  a  small 
remuneration  for  an  hour  pleasantly  spent,  though  spent, 


142  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

unhappily,  in  vain.  I  should  make  some  apology  for  the 
meanness  of  my  offering,  but  French  knights,  you  may  have 
occasion  to  know,  are  more  full  of  fame  than  of  wealth/' 

"Not  for  that,  noble  sir,''  replied  Agelastes,  "would  I 
refuse  your  munificence  :  a  besant  from  your  worthy  hand 
or  that  of  your  noble-minded  lady  were  centupled  in  its 
value  by  the  eminence  of  the  persons  from  whom  it  came. 
I  would  hang  it  round  my  neck  by  a  string  of  pearls,  and 
when  I  came  into  the  presence  of  knights  and  of  ladies  I 
would  proclaim  that  this  addition  to  my  achievement  of 
armorial  distinction  was  bestowed  by  the  renowned  Count 
Eobert  of  Paris  and  his  unequaled  lady."  The  knight  and 
the  countess  looked  on  each  other,  and  the  lady,  taking  from 
her  finger  a  ring  of  pure  gold,  prayed  the  old  man  to  accept 
of  it  as  a  mark  of  her  esteem  and  her  husband's.  "'  With 
one  other  condition,"  said  the  philosopher,  "which  I  trust 
you  will  not  find  altogether  unsatisfactory.  I  have,  on  the 
way  to  the  city  by  the  most  pleasant  road,  a  small  kiosk,  or 
hermitage,  where  I  sometimes  receive  my  friends,  who,  I 
venture  to  say,  are  among  the  most  respectable  personages 
of  this  empire.  Two  or  three  of  these  will  probably  honor 
my  residence  to-day,  and  partake  of  the  provision  it 
affords.  Could  I  add  to  these  the  company  of  the  noble 
Count  and  Countess  of  Paris,  I  should  deem  my  poor  habi- 
tation honored  forever." 

"  How  say  you,  my  noble  wife  ?"  said  the  Count.  "  The 
company  of  a  minstrel  befits  the  highest  birth,  honors  the 
highest  rank,  and  adds  to  the  greatest  achievements ;  and 
the  invitation  does  us  too  much  credit  to  be  rejected." 

"It  grows  somewhat  late,"  said  the  Countess;  "but  we 
came  not  here  to  shun  a  sinking  sun  or  a  darkening  sky, 
and  I  feel  it  my  duty,  as  well  as  my  satisfaction,  to  place  at 
the  command  of  the  good  father  every  pleasure  which  it  is 
in  my  power  to  offer  to  him,  for  having  been  the  means  of 
your  neglecting  his  advice." 

"The  path  is  so  short,"  said  Agelastes,  "that  we  had 
better  keep  our  present  mode  of  traveling,  if  the  lady  should 
not  want  the  assistance  of  horses." 

"  No  horses  on  my  account,"  said  the  Lady  Brenhilda. 
"  My  waiting-woman,  Agatha,  has  what  necessaries  I  may 
require  ;  and,  for  the  rest,  no  knight  ever  traveled  so  little 
embarrassed  with  baggage  as  my  husband." 

Agelastes,  therefore,  led  the  way  through  the  deepening 
wood,  which  was  freshened  by  the  cooler  breath  of  evening, 
and  his  guests  accompanied  him- 


CHAPTER  XI 

"Without,  a  ruin,  broken,  tangled,  cumbrous, 
Within,  it  was  a  little  paradise, 
Where  taste  had  made  her  dwelling.     Statuary, 
First-born  of  human  art,  molded  her  images, 
And  bade  men  mark  and  worship. 

Anonymous. 

The  Count  of  Paris  and  his  lady  attended  the  old  man, 
whose  advanced  age,  his  excellence  in  the  use  of  the  French 
language,  which  he  spoke  to  admiration — above  all  his  skill 
in  applying  it  to  poetical  and  romantic  subjects,  which  was 
essential  to  what  was  then  termed  history  and  belles-lettres — 
drew  from  the  noble  hearers  a  degree  of  applause  which,  as 
Agelastes  had  seldom  been  vain  enough  to  consider  as  his 
due,  so,  on  the  part  of  the  Knight  of  Paris  and  his  lady,  had 
it  been  but  rarely  conferred. 

They  had  walked  for  some  time  by  a  path  which  some- 
times seemed  to  hide  itself  among  the  woods  that  came  down 
to  the  shore  of  the  Propontis,  sometimes  emerged  from  con- 
cealment, and  skirted  the  open  margin  of  the  strait,  while  at 
every  turn  it  seemed  guided  by  the  desire  to  select  a  choice 
and  contrast  of  beauty.  Variety  of  scenes  and  manners 
enlivened,  from  their  novelty,  the  landscape  to  the  pilgrims. 
By  the  sea-shore,  nymphs  were  seen  dancing  and  shepherds 
piping,  or  beating  the  tambourine  to  their  steps,  as  repre- 
sented in  some  groups  of  ancient  statuary.  The  very  faces 
had  a  singular  resemblance  to  the  antique.  If  old,  their  long 
robcSp  uheir  '.titudes,  and  magnificent  heads,  presented  the 
ideas  which  distinguish  prophets  and  saints  ;  while  on  the 
other  hand,  the  features  of  the  young  recalled  the  expressive 
countenances  of  the  heroes  of  antiquity,  and  the  charms  of 
those  lovely  females  by  whom  their  deeds  were  inspired. 

But  the  race  of  the  Greeks  was  no  longer  to  be  seen,  even 
in  its  native  country,  unmixed,  or  in  absolute  purity  ;  on  the 
contrary,  they  saw  groups  of  persons  with  features  which 
argued  a  different  descent. 

In  a  retiring  bosom  of  the  shore,  which  was  traversed  by 
the  path,  the  rocks,  receding  from  the  beach,  rounded  off  a 
spacious  portion  of  level  sand,  and,  in  some  degree,  enclosed 

143 


144  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

it.  A  party  of  heathen  Scythians  whom  they  beheld,  pre* 
sented  the  deformed  features  of  the  demons  they  were  said 
to  worship — flat  noses  with  expanded  nostrils,  which  seemed 
to  admit  the  sight  to  their  very  brain  ;  faces  which  extended 
rather  in  breadth  than  length,  with  strange  unintellectual 
eyes  placed  in  the  extremity  ;  figures  short  and  dwarfish,  yet 
garnished  with  legs  and  arms  of  astonishing  sinewy  strength, 
disproportioned  to  their  bodies.  As  the  travelers  passed, 
the  savages  held  a  species  of  tournament,  as  the  Count  termed 
it.  In  this  they  exercised  themselves  by  darting  at  each 
other  long  reeds,  or  canes,  balanced  for  the  purpose,  which 
in  this  rude  sport,  they  threw  with  such  force  as  not  unfre- 
quently  to  strike  each  other  from  their  steeds,  and  otherwise 
to  cause  serious  damage.  Some  of  the  combatants  being, 
for  the  time,  out  of  the  play,  devoured  with  greedy  looks  the 
beauty  of  the  Countess,  and  eyed  her  in  such  a  manner  that 
she  said  to  Count  Robert — '^  I  have  never  known  fear,  my 
husband,  nor  is  it  for  me  to  acknowledge  it  now ;  but  if 
disgust  be  an  ingredient  of  it,  these  misformed  brutes  are 
qualified  to  inspire  it/' 

^^  What,  ho,  sir  knight  ! "  exclaimed  one  of  the  infidels, 
"Your  wife,  or  your  lady-love,  has  committed  a  fault  against 
the  privileges  of  the  imperial  Scythians,  and  not  small  will 
be  the  penalty  she  has  incurred.  You  may  go  your  way  as 
fast  as  you  will  out  of  this  place,  which  is,  for  the  present, 
our  hippodrome  or  atmeidan,  call  it  which  you  will,  as  you 
prize  the  Roman  or  the  Saracen  language  ;  but  for  your  wife, 
if  the  sacrament  has  united  you,  believe  my  word,  that  she 
parts  not  so  soon  nor  so  easy.'* 

"  Scoundrel  heathen,"  said  the  Christian  knight,  '*  dost 
thou  hold  that  language  to  a  peer  of  France  ?  " 

Agelastes  here  interposed,  and,  using  the  sounding  language 
of  a  Grecian  courtier,  reminded  the  Scythian  (mercenary 
soldiers,  as  they  seemed,  of  the  empire)  that  all  violence 
against  the  European  pilgrims  was,  by  the  imperial  orders, 
strictly  prohibited  under  pain  of  death. 

"  I  know  better,''  said  the  exulting  savage,  shaking  one  or 
two  javelins  with  broad  steel  heads  and  wings  of  the  eagle's 
feather,  which  last  were  dabbled  in  blood.  "  Ask  the  wings 
of  my  javelin,"  he  said,  ^'in  whose  heart's  blood  these 
feathers  have  been  dyed.  They  shall  reply  to  you  that,  if 
Alexius  Comnenus  be  the  friend  of  the  European  pilgrims, 
it  is  only  while  he  looks  upon  them  ;  and  we  are  too  exem- 
plary soldiers  to  serve  our  emperor  otherwise  than  he  wishes 
to  be  served." 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  145 

''  Peace  Toxartis/'  said  the  philosopher,  '^  thou  beliest 
thine  emperor." 

''^ Peace  thou  I"  said  Toxarfcis,  "or  I  will  do  a  deed  that 
misbecomes  a  soldier,  and  rid  the  world  of  a  prating  old  man." 

So  saying  he  put  forth  his  hand  to  take  hold  of  the 
Countess's  veil.  With  the  readiness  which  frequent  use  had 
given  to  the  warlike  lady,  she  withdrew  herself  from  the 
heathen's  grasp,  and  with  her  trenchant  sword  dealt  him  so 
sufficient  a  blow,  that  Toxartis  leaf  lifeless  on  the  plain. 
The  Count  leaped  on  the  fallen  leader's  steed,  and  crying  his 
war-cry,  "  Son  of  Charlemagne  to  the  rescue  ! "  he  rode  amid 
the  rout  of  heathen  cavaliers  with  a  battle-ax,  which  he 
found  at  the  saddle-bow  of  the  deceased  chieftain,  and  wield- 
ing it  with  remorseless  dexterity,  he  soon  slew  or  wounded, 
or  compelled  to  flight,  the  objects  of  his  resentment  ;  nor 
were  there  any  of  them  who  abode  an  instant  to  support  the 
boast  which  they  had  made. 

"  The  despicable  churls  ! "  said  the  Countess  to  Agelastes  ; 
"  It  irks  me  that  a  drop  of  such  coward  blood  should  stain 
the  hands  of  a  noble  knight.  They  call  their  exercise  a 
tournament,  although  in  their  whole  exertions  every  blow  is 
aimed  behind  the  back,  and  not  one  has  the  courage  to  throw 
his  windlestraw,  while  he  perceives  that  of  another  pointed 
against  himself." 

'^  Such  is  their  custom,"  said  Agelastes  ; ' "  not  perhaps  so 
much  from  cowardice  as  from  habit,  in  exercising  before  his 
Imperial  Majesty.  I  have  seen  that  Toxartis  literally  turn 
his  back  upon  the  mark  when  he  bent  his  bow  in  full  career, 
and  when  in  the  act  of  galloping  the  farthest  from  his  object, 
he  pierced  it  through  the  very  center  with  a  broad  arrow." 

"A  force  of  such  soldiers,"  said  Count  Eobert,  who  had 
now  rejoined  his  friends,  '^  could  not,  methinks,  be  very 
formidable  where  there  was  but  an  ounce  of  genuine  courage 
in  the  assailants." 

"  Meantime,  let  us  pass  on  to  my  kiosk,"  said  Agelastes, 
"lest  the  fugitives  find  friends  to  encourage  them  in 
thoughts  of  revenge." 

"Such  friends,"  said  Count  Robert,  "methinks  the  inso- 
lent heathens  ought  not  to  find  in  any  land  which  calls  itself 
Christian  ;  and  if  I  survive  the  conquest  of  the  Holy  Sepul- 
cher,  I  shall  make  it  my  first  business  to  inquire  by  what 
right  your  emperor  retains  in  his  service  a  band  of  paynim 
and  unmannerly  cut-throats,  who  dare  offer  injury  upon  the 
highway,  which  ought  to  be  sacred  to  the  peace  of  God  and 
the  king,  and  to  noble  ladies  and  inoffensive  pilgrims.  It  is 
lo 


146  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

one  of  a  list  of  many  questions  which,  my  vow  accomplished, 
I  will  not  fail  to  put  to  him — ay,  and  expecting  an  answer 
as  they  say,  prompt  and  categorical/' 

*^  You  shall  gain  no  answer  from  me,  though,"  said 
Agelastes  to  himself.  ''  Your  demands,  sir  knight,  are  over- 
peremptory,  and  imposed  under  too  rigid  conditions,  to  be 
replied  to  by  those  who  can  evade  them." 

He  changed  the  conversation,  accordingly,  with  easy  dex- 
terity ;  and  they  had  not  proceeded  much  farther  before 
they  reached  a  spot,  the  natural  beauties  of  which  called 
forth  the  admiration  of  his  foreign  companions.  A  copious 
brook,  gushing  out  of  the  woodland,  descended  to  the  sea 
with  no  small  noise  and  tumult ;  and,  as  if  disdaining  a 
quieter  course,  which  it  might  have  gained  by  a  little  circuit- 
to  the  right,  it  took  the  readiest  road  to  the  ocean,  plunging 
over  the  face  of  a  lofty  and  barren  precipice  which  overhung 
the  seashore,  and  from  thence  led  its  little  tribute,  with  as 
much  noise  as  if  it  had  the  stream  of  a  full  river  to  boast  of, 
to  the  waters  of  the  Hellespont. 

The  rock,  we  have  said,  was  bare,  unless  in  so  far  as  it 
was  clothed  with  the  foaming  waters  of  the  cataract ;  but 
the  banks  on  each  side  were  covered  with  plane-trees,  walnut- 
trees,  cypresses,  and  other  kinds  of  large  timber  proper  to 
the  East.  The  fall  of  water,  always  agreeable  in  a  warm 
climate,  and  generally  produced  by  artificial  means,  was  here 
natural,  and  had  been  chosen,  something  like  the  SibyFs 
temple  at  Tivoli,  for  the  seat  of  a  goddess  to  whom  the  in- 
v^ention  of  polytheism  had  assigned  a  sovereignty  over  the 
department  around.  The  shrine  was  small  and  circular,  like 
many  of  the  lesser  temples  of  the  rustic  deities,  and  inclosed 
by  the  wall  of  an  outer  court.  After  its  desecration  it  had 
probably  been  converted  into  a  luxurious  summer  retreat  by 
Agelastes,  or  some  Epicurean  philosopher.  As  the  building, 
itself  of  a  light,  airy  and  fantastic  character,  was  dimly  seen 
through  the  branches  and  foliage  on  the  edge  of  the  rock, 
so  the  mode  by  which  it  was  accessible  was  not  at  first  ap- 
parent amongst  the  mist  of  the  cascade.  A  pathway,  a  good 
deal  hidden  by  vegetation,  ascended  by  a  gentle  acclivity, 
and,  prolonged  by  the  architect  by  means  of  a  few  broad  and 
easy  marble  steps,  making  part  of  the  original  approach, 
conducted  the  passenger  to  a  small,  but  exquisitely  lovely, 
velvet  lawn  in  front  of  the  turret  or  temple  we  have  described, 
the  back  part  of  which  building  overhung  the  cataract. 


CHAPTER    XII 

The  parties  met.    The  wily,  wordy  Greek, 
Weighing  each  word,  and  canvassing  each  syllable. 
Evading,  arguing,  equivocating ; 
And  the  stern  Frank  came  with  his  two-hand  sword, 
Watching  to  see  which  way  the  balance  sways, 
That  he  may  throw  it  in,  and  turn  the  scales. 

Palestine, 

At  a  signal  made  by  Agelastes,  the  door  of  this  romantic 
retreat  was  opened  by  Diogenes,  the  negro  slave,  to  whom 
our  readers  have  been  already  introduced  ;  nor  did  it  escape 
the  wily  old  man  that  the  Count  and  his  lady  testified  some 
wonder  at  his  form  and  lineaments,  being  the  first  African 
perhaps  whom  they  had  ever  seen  so  closely.  The  philoso- 
pher lost  not  the  opportunity  of  making  an  impression  on 
their  minds  by  a  display  of  the  superiority  of  his  knowledge. 

*'  This  poor  being,"'  he  observed,  *'is  of  the  race  of  Ham, 
the  undutiful  son  of  Noah  ;  for  his  transgressions  against 
his  parent,  he  was  banished  to  the  sands  of  Africa,  and  was 
condemned  to  be  the  father  of  a  race  doomed  to  be  the  slaves 
of  the  issue  of  his  more  dutiful  brethren.'' 

The  knight  and  his  lady  gazed  on  the  wonderful  appear- 
ance before  them,  and  did  not,  it  may  be  believed,  think  of 
doubting  the  information,  which  was  so  much  of  a  piece 
with  their  prejudices,  while  their  opinion  of  their  host  was 
greatly  augmented  by  the  supposed  extent  of  his  knowledge. 

*'It  gives  pleasure  to  a  man  of  humanity,"  continued 
Agelastes,  "when,  in  old  age  or  sickness,  we  must  employ 
the  services  of  others,  which  is  at  other  times  scarce  lawful, 
to  choose  his  assistants  out  of  a  race  of  beings,  hewers  of 
wood  and  drawers  of  water,  from  their  birth  upwards  des- 
tined to  slavery  ;  and  to  whom,  therefore,  by  employing 
them  as  slaves,  we  render  no  injury,  but  carry  into  effect,  in 
a  slight  degree,  the  intentions  of  the  Great  Being  who  made 
us  all." 

"  Are  there  many  of  a  race,"  said  the  Countess,  *'  so  singu- 
larly unhappy  in  their  destination  ?  I  have  hitherto  thought 
the  stories  of  black  men  as  idle  as  those  which  minstrels  telJ 
of  fairies  and  ghosts," 

147 


148  WAVEELEY  NOVELS 

"  Do  not  believe  so/'  said  the  philosopher  ;  ^^  the  race  is 
numerous  as  the  sands  of  the  sea,  neither  are  they  altogether 
unhappy  in  discharging  the  duties  which  their  fate  has 
allotted  them.  Those  who  are  of  worse  character  suffer  even 
in  this  life  the  penance  due  to  their  guilt :  they  become  the 
slaves  of  the  cruel  and  tyrannical,  are  beaten,  starved,  and 
mutilated.  To  those  whose  moral  characters  are  better, 
better  masters  are  provided,  who  share  with  their  slaves  as 
with  their  children,  food  and  raiment,  and  the  other  good 
things  which  they  themselves  enjoy.  To  some  Heaven 
allots  the  favor  of  kings  and  of  conquerors,  and  to  a  few,  but 
those  the  chief  favorites  of  the  species,  hath  been  assigned  a 
place  in  the  mansions  of  philosophy,  where,  by  availing 
themselves  of  the  lights  which  their  masters  can  afford,  they 
gain  a  prospect  into  that  world  which  is  the  residence  of  true 
happiness.-'' 

•  ''  Methinks  I  understand  you,''  replied  the  Countess, 
''  and  if  so,  I  ought  rather  to  envy  our  sable  friend  here  than 
to  pity  him  for  having  been  allotted  in  the  partition  of  his 
kind  to  the  possession  of  his  present  master,  from  whom, 
doubtless,  he  has  acquired  the  desirable  knowledge  which 
you  mention." 

'•^He  learns,  at  least,"  said  Agelastes,  modestly,  "what  I 
can  teach,  and,  above  all,  to  be  contented  with  his  situation. 
Diogenes,  my  good  child,"  said  he,  changing  his  address  to 
the  slave,  ''  thou  seest  I  have  company — what  does  the  poor 
hermit's  larder  afford,  with  which  he  may  regale  his  honored 
guests  ?  " 

Hitherto  they  had  advanced  no  farther  than  a  sort  of  outer 
room,  or  hall  of  entrance,  fitted  up  with  no  more  expense 
than  might  have  suited  one  who  desired  at  some  outlay,  and 
more  taste,  to  avail  himself  of  the  ancient  building  for  a 
sequestered  and  private  retirement.  The  chairs  and  couches 
were  covered  with  Eastern  woven  mats,  and  were  of  the 
simplest  and  most  primitive  form.  But  on  touching  a 
spring,  an  interior  apartment  was  displayed,  which  had  con- 
siderable pretension  to  splendor  and  magnificence. 

The  furniture  and  hangings  of  this  apartment  were  of 
straw-colored  silk,  wrought  on  the  looms  of  Persia,  and 
crossed  with  embroidery,  which  produced  a  rich  yet  simple 
effect.  The  ceiling  was  carved  in  arabesque,  and  the  four 
corners  of  the  apartment  were  formed  into  recesses  for  stat- 
uary, which  had  been  produced  in  a  better  age  of  the  art 
than  that  which  existed  at  the  period  of  our  story.  In  one 
uook  a  shepherd  seemed  to  withdraw  himself,  as  if  ashamed 


COUNT  BOBEBT  OF  PABIS  149 

to  ^jroduce  his  scantily-covered  person,  while  he  was  willing 
to  afford  the  audience  the  music  of  the  reed  which  he  held 
in  his  hand.  Three  damsels,  resembling  the  Graces  in  the 
beautiful  proportions  of  their  limbs,  and  the  slender  clothing 
which  they  wore,  lurked  in  different  attitudes,  each  in  her 
own  niche,  and  seemed  but  to  await  the  first  sound  of  the 
music  to  bound  forth  from  thence  and  join  in  the  frolic 
dance.  The  subject  was  beautiful,  yet  somewhat  light,  to 
ornament  the  study  of  such  a  sage  as  Agelastes  repre- 
sented himself  to  be. 

He  seemed  to  be  sensible  that  this  might  attract  observa- 
tion. "  These  figures,'^  he  said,  ''executed at  the  period  of 
the  highest  excellence  of  Grecian  art,  were  considered  of  old 
as  the  choral  nymphs  assembled  to  adore  the  goddess  of  the 
place,  waiting  but  the  music  to  join  in  the  worship  of  the 
temple.  And,  in  truth,  the  wisest  may  be  interested  in 
seeing  how  near  to  animation  the  genius  of  these  wonderful 
men  could  bring  the  inflexible  marble.  Allow  but  for  the 
absence  of  the  divine  afflatus,  or  breath  of  animation,  and 
an  unenlightened  heathen  might  suppose  the  miracle  of 
Prometheus  was  about  to  be  realized.  But  we,"  said  he, 
looking  upwards,  '*  are  taught  to  form  a  better  judgment 
between  what  man  can  do  and  the  productions  of  the  Deity." 

Some  subjects  of  natural  history  were  painted  on  the 
walls,  and  the  philosopher  fixed  the  attention  of  his  guests 
upon  the  half-reasoning  elephant,  of  which  he  mentioned 
several  anecdotes,  which  they  listened  to  with  great 
eagerness. 

A  distant  strain  was  here  heard,  as  if  of  music  in  the 
woods,  penetrating  by  fits  through  the  hoarse  roar  of  the 
cascade,  which,  as  it  sunk  immediately  below  the  windows, 
filled  the  apartment  with  its  deep  voice. 

''Apparently,"  said  Agelastes,  "the  friends  whom  I 
expected  are  approaching,  and  bring  with  them  the  means 
of  enchanting  another  sense.  It  is  well  they  do  so,  since 
wisdom  tells  us  that  we  best  honor  the  Deity  by  enjoying  the 
gifts  he  has  provided  us." 

These  words  called  the  attention  of  the  philosopher's 
Frankish  guests  to  the  preparations  exhibited  in  this  tasteful 
saloon.  These  were  made  for  an  entertainment  in  the  man- 
ner of  the  ancient  Romans,  and  couches,  which  were  laid 
beside  a  table  ready  decked,  announced  that  the  male  guests, 
at  least,  were  to  assist  at  the  banquet  in  the  usual  recumbent 
posture  of  the  ancients,  while  seats,  placed  among  the 
couches,   seemed  to  say  that  females  were  expected,  who 


150  WA  VERLET  NO  VEL8 

would  observe  the  Grecian  customs,  in  eating  seated.  The 
preparations  for  good  cheer  were  such  as,  though  limited  in 
extent,  could  scarce  be  excelled  in  quality,  either  by  the 
splendid  dishes  which  decked  Trimalchio^s  banquet  of  former 
days,  or  the  lighter  delicacies  of  Grecian  cookery,  or  the 
succulent  and  highly-spiced  messes  indulged  m  by  the 
nations  of  the  East,  to  whichever  they  happened  to  give  the 
preference  ;  and  it  was  with  an  air  of  some  vanity  that 
Agelastes  asked  his  guests  to  share  a  poor  pilgrim's  meal. 

''  We  care  little  for  dainties,"  said  the  Count  ;  '^  nor  does 
our  present  course  of  life  as  pilgrims,  bound  by  a  vow,  allow 
us  much  choice  on  such  subjects.  Whatever  is  food  for 
soldiers  suffices  the  Countess  and  myself  ;  for,  with  our  will, 
we  would  at  every  hour  be  ready  for  battle,  and  the  less  time 
we  use  in  preparing  for  the  field,  it  is  even  so  much  the 
better.  Sit  then,  Brenhilda,  since  the  good  man  will  have 
it  so,  and  let  us  lose  no  time  in  refreshment,  lest  we  waste 
that  which  should  be  otherwise  employed. '' 

'^  A  moment's  forgiveness,"  said  Agelastes,  "  until  the 
arrival  of  my  other  friends,  whose  music  you  may  now  hear 
is  close  at  hand,  and  who  will  not  long,  I  may  safely  promise, 
divide  you  from  your  meal." 

''For  that,"  said  the  Count,  "there  is  no  haste  ;  and 
since  you  seem  to  account  it  a  part  of  civil  manners,  Bren- 
hilda  and  I  can  with  ease  postpone  our  repast ;  unless  you 
will  permit  us,  what  I  own  would  be  more  pleasing,  to  take 
a  morsel  of  bread  and  a  cup  of  water  presently,  and,  thus 
refreshed,  to  leave  the  space  clear  for  your  more  curious  and 
more  familiar  guests  ?  " 

"  The  saints  above  forbid  !"  said  Agelastes.  "Guests  so 
honored  never  before  pressed  these  cushions,  nor  could  do 
so,  if  the  sacred  family  of  the  imperial  Alexius  himself  even 
now  stood  at  the  gate." 

He  had  hardly  uttered  these  words,  when  the  full-blown 
peal  of  a  trumpet,  louder  in  a  tenfold  degree  than  the  strains 
of  music  they  had  before  heard,  was  now  sounded  in  the 
front  of  the  temple,  piercing  through  the  murmur  of  the 
waterfall,  as  a  Damascus  blade  penetrates  the  armor,  and 
assailing  the  ears  of  the  hearers,  as  the  sword  pierces  the 
flesh  of  him  who  wears  the  harness. 

"You  seem  surprised  or  alarmed,  father,"  said  Count 
Kobert.  "Is  there  danger  near,  and  do  you  distrust  our 
protection  ?  " 

"  No,"  said  Agelastes,  "  that  would  give  me  confidence  in 
any  extremity  ;  but  these  sounds  excite  awe,  not  fear.     They 


Cj 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  161 

tell  me  that  some  of  the  imperial  family  are  about  to  be  my 
guests.  Yet  fear  nothing,  my  noble  friends  ;  they,  whose 
look  is  life,  are  ready  to  shower  their  favors  with  profusion 
upon  strangers  so  worthy  of  honor  as  they  will  see  here. 
Meantime,,  my  brow  must  touch  my  threshold  in  order  duly 
to  welcome  them."  So  saying,  he  hurried  to  the  outer  door 
of  the  building. 

^'  Each  land  has  its  customs,"  said  the  Count,  as  he  followed 
his  host,  with  his  wife  hanging  on  his  arm  ;  ''  but,  Brenhilda, 
as  they  are  so  various,  it  is  little  wonder  that  they  appear 
unseemly  to  each  other.  Here,  however,  in  deference  to  my 
entertainer,  I  stoop  my  crest,  in  the  manner  which  seems  to 
be  required."  So  saying,  he  followed  Agelastes  into  the 
ante-room,  where  a  new  scene  awaited  them. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

Agelastes  gained  his  threshold  before  Count  Robert  ol 
Paris  and  his  lady.  He  had,  therefore,  time  to  make  his 
prostrations  before  a  huge  animal,  then  unknown  to  the 
Western  world,  but  now  universally  distinguished  as  the 
elephant.  On  its  back  was  a  pavilion,  or  palanquin,  within 
which  were  inclosed  the  august  persons  of  the  Empress  Irene 
and  her  daughter  Anna  Comnena.  Nicephorus  Briennius 
attended  the  princesses  in  the  command  of  a  gallant  body  of 
light  horse,  whose  splendid  armor  would  have  given  more 
pleasure  to  the  crusader  if  it  had  possessed  less  an  air  of  use- 
less wealth  and  effeminate  magnificence.  But  the  effect 
which  it  produced  in  its  appearance  was  as  brilliant  as  could 
well  be  conceived.  The  officers  alone  of  this  corps  de  garde 
followed  Nicephorus  to  the  platform,  prostrated  themselves 
while  the  ladies  of  the  imperial  house  descended,  and  rose 
up  again  under  a  cloud  of  waving  plumes  and  flashing 
lances  when  they  stood  secure  upon  the  platform  in  front  of 
the  building.  Here  the  somewhat  aged,  but  commanding, 
form  of  the  Empress,  aud  the  still  juvenile  beauties  of  the 
fair  historian,  were  seen  to  great  advantage.  In  the  front 
of  a  deep  background  of  spears  and  waving  crests  stood  the 
sounder  of  the  sacred  trumpet,  conspicuous  by  his  size  and 
the  richness  of  his  apparel ;  he  kept  his  post  on  a  rock  above 
the  stone  staircase,  and,  by  an  occasional  note  of  his  instru- 
ment, intimated  to  the  squadrons  beneath  that  they  should 
stay  their  progress  and  attend  the  motions  of  the  Empress 
and  the  wife  of  the  Caesar. 

The  fair  form  of  the  Countess  Brenhilda,  and  the  fantastic 
appearance  of  her  half-masculine  garb,  attracted  the  atten- 
tion of  the  ladies  of  Alexius's  family,  but  was  too  extraor- 
dinary to  command  their  admiration.  Agelastes  became 
sensible  there  was  a  necessity  that  he  should  introduce  his 
guests  to  each  other,  if  he  desired  they  should  meet  on  satis- 
factory terms.  ^'  May  I  speak,"  he  said,  ^^and  live  ?  The 
armed  strangers  whom  you  find  now  with  me  are  worthy 
companions  of  those  myriads  whom  zeal  for  the  suffering  in- 
habitants of  Palestine  has  brought  from  the  western  extre- 
mity of  Europe,  at  once  to  enjoy  the  countenance  of  Alexius 

152 


'^S.  - 

B^'^-'d 

M^^M^ 

S^S^^I 

^m 

■JI^^Kj 

^H^B 

mm 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^1 

^^K^  r'^g^^^^Hj 

H 

1 

m 

71 

c 

in^^:^£|^V  ^^^^^^^^B 

.-k 

^^     'i 

IpP 

.     ,       .     , 

''■     " 

V"' ......                       "^ 

-«^:v 

"He  had,  therefore,   timt  to  make  his  prostrations  before  a  huge  animal,  then 
unknown  to  the  Western  world.' 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  153 

Comnenus  and  to  aid  him,  since  it  pleases  him  to  accept 
their  assistance,  in  expelling  the  paynims  from  the  bounds 
of  the  sacred  empire,  and  garrison  those  regions  in  their 
stead  as  vassals  of  his  Imperial  Majesty." 

^'  We  are  pleased/'  said  the  Empress,  '^  worthy  Agelastes, 
that  yon  should  be  kind  to  those  who  are  disposed  to  be  so 
reverent  to  the  Emperor.  And  we  are  rather  disposed  to 
talk  with  them  ourselves,  that  our  daughter,  whom  Apollo 
hath  gifted  with  the  choice  talent  of  recording  what  she  sees, 
may  become  acquainted  with  one  of  those  female  warriors 
of  the  West  of  whom  we  have  heard  so  much  by  common 
fame,  and  yet  know  so  little  with  certainty. '^ 

'*  Madam,''  said  the  Count,  ^'  I  can  but  rudely  express  to 
you  what  I  have  to  find  fault  with  in  the  explanation  which 
this  old  man  hath  given  of  our  purpose  in  coming  hither. 
Certain  it  is,  we  neither  owe  Alexius  fealty  nor  had  we  the 
purpose  of  paying  him  any,  when  we  took  the  vow  upon 
ourselves  which  brought  us  against  Asia.  We  came,  because 
we  understood  that  the  Holy  Land  had  been  torn  from  the 
Greek  Emperor  by  the  Pagans,  Saracens,  Turks,  and  other 
infidels  from  whom  we  are  come  to  win  it  back.  The  wisest 
and  most  prudent  among  us  have  judged  it  necessary  to 
acknowledge  the  Emperor's  authority,  since  there  was  no 
such  safe  way  of  passing  to  the  discharge  of  our  vow  as  that 
of  acknowledging  fealty  to  him,  as  the  best  mode  of  prevent- 
ing quarrels  among  Christian  states.  AVe,  though  independ- 
ent of  any  earthly  king,  do  not  pretend  to  be  greater  men 
than  they,  and  therefore  have  condescended  to  pay  the  same 
homage." 

The  Empress  colored  several  times  with  indignation  in  the 
course  of  this  speech,  which,  in  more  passages  than  one,  was 
at  variance  with  those  imperial  maxims  of  the  Grecian  court 
which  held  its  dignity  so  high,  and  plainly  intimated  a  tone 
of  opinion  which  was  depreciating  to  the  Emperor's  power. 
But  the  Empress  Irene  had  received  instructions  from  her 
imperial  spouse  to  beware  how  she  gave,  or  even  took,  any 
ground  of  quarrel  with  the  crusaders,  who,  though  coming 
in  the  appearance  of  subjects,  were,  nevertheless,  too  punc- 
tilious and  ready  to  take  fire  to  render  them  safe  discussers 
of  delicate  differences.  .  She  made  a  graceful  reverence 
accordingly,  as  if  she  had  scarce  understood  what  the  Count 
of  Paris  had  explained  so  bluntly. 

At  this  moment  the  appearance  of  the  principal  persons  on 
either  hand  attracted,  in  a  wonderful  degree,  the  attention 
of  the  other  party,  and  there  seemed  to  exist  among  them  a 


154  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

general  desire  of  further  acquaintance,  and,  at  the  same 
time,  a  manifest  difficulty  in  expressing  such  a  wish. 

Agelastes — to  begin  with  the  master  of  the  house — had 
risen  from  the  ground  indeed,  but  without  venturing  to 
assume  an  upright  posture  :  he  remained  before  the  imperial 
ladies  with  his  body  and  head  still  bent,  his  hand  interposed 
between  his  eyes  and  their  faces,  like  a  man  that  would  shade 
his  eyesight  from  the  level  sun,  and  awaited  in  silence  the 
commands  of  those  to  whom  he  seemed  to  think  it  disrespect- 
ful to  propose  the  slightest  action,  save  by  testifying  in 
general  that  his  house  and  his  slaves  were  at  their  unlimited 
command.  The  Countess  of  Paris,  on  the  other  hand,  and 
her  warlike  husband,  were  the  peculiar  objects  of  curiosity 
to  Irene  and  her  accomplished  daughter,  Anna  Comnena ; 
and  it  occurred  to  both  these  imperial  ladies  that  they  had 
never  seen  finer  specimens  of  human  strength  and  beauty  : 
but,  by  a  natural  instinct,  they  preferred  the  manly  bearing 
of  the  husband  to  that  of  the  wife,  which  seemed  to  her  own 
sex  rather  too  haughty  and  too  masculine  to  be  altogether 
pleasing. 

Count  Robert  and  his  lady  had  also  their  own  object  of 
attention  in  the  newly  arrived  group,  and,  to  speak  truth,  it 
was  nothing  else  than  the  peculiarities  of  the  monstrous 
animal  which  they  now  saw,  for  the  first  time,  employed  as 
a  beast  of  burden  in  the  service  of  the  fair  Irene  and  her 
daughter.  The  dignity  and  splendor  of  the  elder  princess, 
the  grace  and  vivacity  of  the  younger,  were  alike  lost  in 
Brenhilda's  earnest  inquiries  into  the  history  of  the  elephant, 
and  the  use  which  it  made  of  its  trunk,  tusks,  and  huge  ears, 
upon  different  occasions. 

Another  person  who  took  a  less  direct  opportunity  to  gaze 
on  Brenhilda  with  a  deep  degree  of  interest  was  the  Caesar, 
Nicephorus.  This  prince  kept  his  eye  as  steadily  upon  the 
Frankish  countess  as  he  could  well  do  without  attracting 
the  attention,  and  exciting  perhaps  the  suspicions,  of  his 
wife  and  mother-in-law  ;  he  therefore  endeavored  to  restore 
speech  to  an  interview  which  would  have  been  awkward 
without  it.  *'  It  is  possible,^'  he  said,  '^  beautiful  Countess, 
that,  this  being  your  first  visit  to  the  Queen  of  the  World, 
you  have  never  hitherto  seen  the  singularly  curious  animal 
called  the  elephant.*' 

"Pardon  me,"  said  the  Countess,  ''I  have  been  treated 
by  this  learned  gentleman  to  a  sight  and  some  account  of 
that  wonderful  creature. *' 

By  all  who  heard  this  observation,  the  Lady  Brenhilda  was 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  153 

supposed  to  have  made  a  satirical  thrust  at  the  philosopher 
himself,  who,  in  the  imperial  court,  usually  went  by  the 
name  of  the  Elephant. 

^*  No  one  could  describe  the  beast  more  accurately  than 
Agelastes,''  said  the  Princess,  with  a  smile  of  intelligence, 
which  went  round  her  attendants. 

"  He  knows  its  docility,  its  sensibility,  and  its  fidelity," 
said  the  philosopher  in  a  subdued  tone. 

**^  True,  good  Agelastes,"  said  the  Princess;  *' we  should 
not  criticise  the  animal  which  kneels  to  take  us  up.  Come, 
lady  of  a  foreign  land,''  she  continued,  turning  to  the  Frank 
count,  and  especially  his  countess,  "  and  you  her  gallant 
lord  !  When  you  return  to  your  native  country,  you  shall 
say  you  have  seen  the  imperial  family  partake  of  their  food, 
and  in  so  far  acknowledge  themselves  to  be  of  the  same  clay 
with  other  mortals,  sharing  their  poorest  wants,  and  reliev- 
ing them  in  the  same  manner.'' 

**  That,  gentle  lady,  I  can  well  believe,"  said  Count  Eobert ; 
*'  my  curiosity  would  be  more  indulged  by  seeing  this  strange 
animal  at  his  food." 

*'  You  will  see  the  elephant  more  conveniently  at  his  mess 
within  doors,"  answered  the  Princess,  looking  at  Agelastes. 

*'  Lady,"  said  Brenhilda,  "  I  would  not  willingly  refuse  an 
invitation  given  in  courtesy,  but  the  sun  has  waxed  low 
unnoticed,  and  we  must  return  to  the  city." 

^*  Be  not  afraid,"  said  the  fair  historian  :  '^  you  shall  have 
the  advantage  of  our  imperial  escort  to  protect  you  in  your 
return." 

"  Fear — afraid — escort — protect !  These  are  words  I  know 
not.  Know,  lady,  that  my  husband,  the  noble  Count  of 
Paris,  is  my  sufficient  escort ;  and  even  were  he  not  with  me, 
Brenhilda  de  Aspramonte  fears  nothing,  and  can  defend 
herself." 

"Fair  daughter,"  said  Agelastes,  "if  I  may  be  permitted 
to  speak,  you  mistake  the  gracious  intentions  of  the  Princess, 
who  expresses  herself  as.  to  a  lady  of  her  own  land.  What 
she  desires  is  to  learn  from  you  some  of  the  most  marked 
habits  and  manners  of  the  Franks,  of  which  you  are  so 
beautiful  an  example ;  and  in  return  for  such  information 
the  illustrious  princess  would  be  glad  to  procure  your  entrance 
to  those  spacious  collections  where  animals  from  all  corners 
of  the  habitable  world  have  been  assembled  at  the  command 
of  our  Emperor  Alexius,  as  if  to  satisfy  the  wisdom  of  those 
sages  to  whom  all  creation  is  known,  from  the  deer  so  small 
in  size  that  it  is  exceeded  by  an  ordinary  rat  to  that  huge 


156  WA  VERLEY  NOVELS 

and  singular  inhabitant  of  Africa  that  can  browse  on  the 
tops  of  trees  that  are  forty  feet  high,  while  the  length  of  its 
hind  legs  does  not  exceed  the  half  of  that  wondrous  height." 

"  It  is  enough/'  said  the  Countess,  with  some  eagerness  ; 
but  Agelastes  had  got  a  point  of  discussion  after  his  own 
mind. 

''There  is  also/' he  said,  "that  huge  lizard,  which,  re- 
sembling in  shape  the  harmless  inhabitant  of  the  moors  of 
other  countries,  is  in  Egypt  a  monster  thirty  feet  in  length, 
clothed  in  impenetrable  scales,  and  moaning  over  his  prey 
when  he  catches  it,  with  the  hope  and  purpose  of  drawing 
others  within  his  danger,  by  mimicking  the  lamentations  of 
humanity." 

''Say  no  more,  father  \"  exclaimed  the  lady.  "My 
Robert,  we  will  go,  will  we  not,  where  such  objects  are  to  be 
seen  ?  " 

"  There  is  also,"  said  Agelastes,  who  saw  that  he  would 
gain  his  point  by  addressing  himself  to  the  curiosity  of  the 
strangers,  "  the  huge  animal,  wearing  on  its  back  an  in- 
vulnerable vestment,  having  on  its  nose  a  horn,  and  some- 
times two,  the  folds  of  whose  hide  are  of  the  most  immense 
thickness,  and  which  never  knight  was  able  to  wound." 

"  We  will  go,  Robert,  will  we  not  ?  "  reiterated  the  Coun- 
tess. 

"Ay,"  replied  the  Count,  "  and  teach  these  Easterns  how 
to  judge  of  a  knight's  sword  by  a  single  blow  of  my  trusty 
Tranchefer." 

"And  who  knows,"  said  Brenhilda,  "  since  this  is  a  land 
of  enchantment,  but  what  some  person,  who  is  languishing 
in  a  foreign  shape,  may  have  their  enchantment  unexpectedly 
dissolved  by  a  stroke  of  the  good  weapon  ?  " 

"  Say  no  more,  father  ! "  exclaimed  the  Count.  "  We  will 
attend  this  princess,  since  such  she  is,  were  her  whole  escort 
bent  to  oppose  our  passage,  instead  of  being  by  her  com- 
mand to  be  our  guard.  For  know,  all  who  hear  me,  thus 
much  of  the  nature  of  the  Franks,  that,  when  you  tell  us  of 
danger  and  difficulties,  you  give  us  the  same  desire  to  travel 
the  road  where  they  lie  as  other  men  have  in  seeking  either 
pleasure  or  profit  in  the  paths  in  which  such  are  to  be 
found." 

As  the  Count  pronouced  these  words,  he  struck  his  hand 
upon  his  Tranchefer,  as  an  illustration  of  the  manner  in 
which  he  purposed  upon  occasion  to  make  good  his  way. 
The  courtly  circle  startled  somewhat  at  the  clash  of  steel 
and  the  fiery  look  of  the  chivalrous  Count  Robert.     The  Em- 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  157 

press  indulged  lier  alarm  by  retreating  into  the  inner  apart- 
ment of  the  pavilion. 

With  a  grace  which  was  rarely  deigned  to  any  but  those  in 
close  alliance  with  the  imperial  family,  Anna  Comnena  took 
the  arm  of  the  noble  Count.  ''I  see/'  she  said,  ^^that  the 
imperial  mother  has  honored  the  house  of  the  learned  Age- 
lastes  by  leading  the  way ;  therefore,  to  teach  you  Grecian 
breeding  must  fall  to  my  share.'''  Saying  this,  she  conducted 
him  to  the  inner  apartment. 

"  Fear  not  for  your  wife,"  she  said,  as  she  noticed  the  Frank 
look  round  :  "  our  husband,  like  ourselves,  has  pleasure  in 
showing  attention  to  the  stranger,  and  will  lead  the  Countess 
to  our  board.  It  is  not  the  custom  of  the  imperial  family 
to  eat  in  company  with  strangers  ;  but  we  thank  Heaven  for 
having  instructed  us  in  that  civility  which  can  know  no 
degradation  in  dispensing  with  ordinary  rules  to  do  honor  to 
strangers  of  such  merit  as  yours.  I  know  it  will  be  my 
mother's  request  that  you  will  take  your  places  without  cere- 
mony ;  and  also,  although  the  grace  be  somewhat  particular, 
I  am  sure  that  it  will  have  my  imperial  father's  approbation." 

''  Be  it  as  your  ladyship  lists,"  said  Count  Kobert.  "  There 
are  few  men  to  whom  I  would  yield  place  at  the  board,  if 
they  had  not  gone  before  me  in  the  battle-field.  To  a  lady, 
especially  so  fair  a  one,  I  willingly  yield  my  place  and  bend 
my  knee,  whenever  I  have  the  good  hap  to  meet  her." 

The  Princess  Anna,  instead  of  feeling  herself  awkward  in 
the  discharge  of  the  extraordinary,  and,  as  she  might  have 
thought  it,  degrading,  office  of  ushering  a  barbarian  chief  to 
the  banquet,  felt,  on  the  contrary,  flattered  at  having  bent  to 
her  purpose  a  heart  so  obstinate  as  that  of  Count  Robert,  and 
elated,  perhaps,  with  a  certain  degree  of  satisfied  pride  while 
under  his  momentary  protection. 

The  Empress  Irene  had  already  seated  herself  at  the  head 
of  the  table.  She  looked  with  some  astonishment  when  her 
daughter  and  son-in-law,  taking  their  seats  at  her  right  and 
left  hand,  invited  the  Count  and  Countess  of  Paris,  the 
former  to  recline,  the  latter  to  sit  at  the  board,  in  the  places 
next  to  themselves  ;  but  she  had  received  the  strictest  orders 
from  her  husband  to  be  deferential  in  every  respect  to  the 
strangers,  and  did  not  think  it  right,  therefore,  to  interpose 
any  ceremonious  scruples. 

The  Countess  took  her  seat,  as  indicated,  beside  the  Caesar  ; 
and  the  Count,  instead  of  reclining  in  the  mode  of  the  Grecian 
men,  also  seated  himself  in  the  European  fashion  by  the 
Princess. 


158  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

"  I  will  not  lie  prostrate,"  said  he,  laughing,  ''  except  in 
consideration  of  a  blow  weighty  enough  to  compel  me  to  do 
so  ;  nor  then  either,  if  I  am  able  to  start  up  and  return  it." 

The  service  of  the  table  then  began,  and,  to  say  truth,  it 
appeared  to  be  an  important  part  of  the  business  of  the  day. 
The  officers  who  attended  to  perform  their  several  duties  of 
deckers  of  the  table,  sewers  of  the  banquet,  removers  and 
tasters  to  the  imperial  family,  thronged  into  the  banqueting- 
room,  and  seemed  to  vie  with  each  other  in  calling  upon 
Agelastes  for  spices,  condiments,  sauces,  and  wines  of  various 
kinds,  the  variety  and  multiplicity  of  their  demands  being 
apparently  devised  ex  preposito,  for  stirring  the  patience  of 
the  philosopher.  But  Agelastes,  who  had  anticipated  most 
of  their  requests,  however  unusual,  supplied  them  completely, 
or  in  the  greatest  part,  by  the  ready  agency  of  his  active  slave 
Diogenes,  to  whom,  at  the  same  time,  he  contrived  to  trans- 
fer all  blame  for  the  absence  of  such  articles  as  he  was  unable 
to  provide. 

''  Be  Homer  my  witness,  the  accomplished  Virgil,  and  the 
curious  felicity  of  Horace,  that,  trifling  and  unworthy  as  this 
banquet  was,  my  note  of  directions  to  this  thrice-unhappy 
slave  gave  the  instructions  to  procure  every  ingredient  nec- 
essary to  convey  to  each  dish  its  proper  gusto.  Ill-omened 
carrion  that  thou  art,  wherefore  placedst  thou  the  pickled 
cucumber  so  far  apart  from  the  boar's  head,  and  why  are 
these  superb  congers  unprovided  with  a  requisite  quantity 
of  fennel  ?  The  divorce  betwixt  the  shell-fish  and  the  Chian 
wine  in  a  presence  like  this,  is  worthy  of  the  divorce  of  thine 
own  soul  from  thy  body  :  or,  to  say  the  least,  of  a  life-long 
residence  in  the  pistrinum."  While  thus  the  philosopher 
proceeded  with  threats,  curses,  and  menaces  against  his  slave, 
the  stranger  might  have  an  opportunity  of  comparing  the 
little  torrent  of  his  domestic  eloquence,  which  the  manners 
of  the  times  did  not  consider  as  ill-bred,  with  the  louder  and 
deeper  share  of  adulation  towards  his  guests.  They  mingled 
like  the  oil  with  the  vinegar  and  pickles  which  Diogenes 
mixed  for  the  sauce.  Thus  the  Count  and  Countess  had  an 
opportunity  to  estimate  the  happiness  and  the  felicity  re- 
served for  those  slaves  whom  the  omnipotent  Jupiter,  in  the 
plenitude  of  compassion  for  their  state,  and  in  guerdon  of 
their  good  morals,  had  dedicated  to  the  service  of  a  philoso- 
pher. The  share  they  themselves  took  in  the  banquet  was 
finished  with  a  degree  of  speed  which  gave  surprise  not  only 
to  their  host,  but  also  to  the  imperial  guests. 

The  Count  helped  himself  carelessly  out  of  a  dish  which 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  15t 

stood  near  him,  and  partaking  of  a  draught  of  wine,  with- 
out inquiring  whether  it  was  of  the  vintage  which  the  Greeks 
held  it  matter  of  conscience  to  mingle  with  that  species  of 
food,  he  declared  himself  satisfied  ;  nor  could  the  obliging 
entreaties  of  his  neighbor,  Anna  Oomnena,  induce  him  to 
partake  of  other  messes  represented  as  being  either  deli- 
cacies or  curiosities.  His  spouse  eat  still  more  moderately 
of  the  food  which  seemed  most  simply  cooked,  and  stood 
nearest  her  at  the  board,  and  partook  of  a  cup  of  crystal 
water,  which  she  slightly  tinged  with  wine,  at  the  persever- 
ing entreaty  of  the  Caesar.  They  then  relinquishod  the 
farther  business  of  the  banquet,  and,  leaning  back  upon- 
their  seats,  occupied  themselves  in  watching  the  liberal 
credit  done  to  the  feast  by  the  rest  of  the  guests  present. 

A  modern  synod  of  gourmands  would  hardly  have  equaled 
the  imperial  family  of  Greece  seated  at  a  philosophical 
banquet,  whether  in  the  critical  knowledge  displayed  of  the 
science  of  eating  in  all  its  branches  or  in  the  practical  cost 
and  patience  with  which  they  exercised  it ;  the  ladies,  in- 
deed, did  not  eat  much  of  any  one  dish,  but  they  tasted  of 
almost  all  that  were  presented  to  them,  and  their  name  was 
legion.  Yet,  after  a  short  time,  in  Homeric  phrase,  the 
rage  of  thirst  and  hunger  was  assuaged,  or,  more  probably, 
the  Princess  Anna  Oomnena  was  tired  of  being  an  object 
of  some  inattention  to  the  guest  who  satnext  her,  and  who, 
joining  his  high  military  character  to  his  very  handsome 
presence,  was  a  person  by  whom  few  ladies  would  willingly 
be  neglected.  There  is  no  new  guise,  says  our  father 
Chaucer,  but  what  resembles  an  old  one ;  and  the  address 
of  Anna  Comnena  to  the  Frankish  count  might  resemble 
that  of  a  modern  lady  of  fashion  in  her  attempts  to  engage 
in  conversation  the  exquisite  who  sits  by  her  side  in  an  ap- 
parently absent  fit.  ''  We  have  piped  unto  you,"  said  the 
Princess,  "  and  you  have  not  danced.  We  have  sung  to 
you  the  jovial  chorus  of  Evoe,  evoe,  and  you  will  neither 
worship  Comus  nor  Bacchus.  Are  we  then  to  judge  you  a 
follower  of  the  Muses,  in  whose  service,  as  well  as  in  that 
of  Phoebus,  we  ourselves  pretend  to  be  enlisted  ?" 

'^Fair  lady,"  replied  the  Frank,  "  be  not  offended  at  my 
stating  once  for  aU,  in  plain  terms,  that  I  am  a  Christian 
man,  spitting  at  and  bidding  defiance  to  Apollo,  Bacchus, 
Comus,  and  all  other  heathen  deities  whatsoever." 

"  0  !  cruel  interpretation  of  my  unwary  words  !  "  said  the 
Princess.  "  I  did  but  mention  the  gods  of  music,  poetry, 
and  eloquence,  worshiped  by  our  divine  philosophers,  and 


J6Q  WA  VERLE  Y  NO  VELS 

vhose  names  are  still  used  to  distinguisli  the  arts  and 
sciences  over  which  they  presided,  and  the  Count  interprets 
it  seriously  into  a  breach  of  the  Second  Commandment ! 
Our  Lady  preserve  me,  we  must  take  care  how  we  speak, 
when  our  words  are  so  sharply  interpreted/' 

The  Count  laughed  as  the  Princess  spoke.  *'  I  had  no 
offensive  meaning,  madam,"  he  said,  ''  nor  would  I  wish  to 
interpret  your  words  otherwise  than  as  being  most  innocent 
and  praiseworthy.  I  shall  suppose  that  your  speech  con- 
tained all  that  was  fair  and  blameless.  You  are,  I  have 
understood,  one  of  those  who,  like  our  worthy  host,  ex- 
press in  composition  the  history  and  feats  of  the  warlike  time 
in  which  you  live,  and  give  to  the  posterity  which  shall 
succeed  us  the  knowledge  of  the  brave  deeds  which  have  been 
achieved  in  our  day.  I  respect  the  task  to  which  you  have 
dedicated  yourself,  and  know  not  how  a  lady  could  lay  after 
ages  under  an  obligation  to  her  in  the  same  degree,  unless, 
like  my  wife,  Brenhilda,  she  were  herself  to  be  the  actress 
of  deeds  which  she  recorded.  And,  by  the  way,  she  now 
looks  towards  her  neighbor  at  the  table  as  if  she  were  about 
to  rise  and  leave  him ;  her  inclinations  are  towards  Con- 
stantinople, and,  with  your  ladyship's  permission,  I  cannot 
allow  her  to  go  thither  alone.  *' 

''That  you  shall  neither  of  you  do,"  said  Anna  Com- 
nena  ;  ''  since  we  all  go  to  the  capital  directly,  and  for  the 
purpose  of  seeing  those  wonders  of  nature  of  which  nu- 
merous examples  have  been  collected  by  the  splendor  of  my 
imperial  father.  If  my  husband  seems  to  have  given 
offense  to  the  Countess,  do  not  suppose  that  it  was  inten- 
tionally dealt  to  her ;  on  the  contrary,  you  will  find  the 
good  man,  when  you  are  better  acquainted  with  him,  to  be 
one  of  those  simple  persons  who  manage  so  unhappily  what 
they  mean  for  civilities,  that  those  to  whom  they  are 
addressed  receive  them  frequently  in  another  sense." 

The  Countess  of  Paris,  however,  refused  again  to  sit 
down  to  the  table  from  which  she  had  risen,  so  that 
Agelastes  and  his  imperial  guests  saw  themselves  under  the 
necessity  either  to  permit  the  strangers  to  depart,  which  they 
seemed  unwilling  to  do  ;  or  to  detain  them  by  force,  to  at- 
tempt which  might  not  perhaps  have  been  either  safe  or 
pleasant ;  or,  lastly,  to  have  waived  the  etiquette  of  rank, 
and  set  out  along  with  them,  at  the  same  time  managing 
their  dignity  so  as  to  take  the  initiatory  step,  though  the 
departure  took  place  upon  the  motion  of  their  wilful  guests. 
Much  tumult  there  was — bustling,  disputing,  and  shouting 


COUNT  EOBEBT  OF  PABIS  161 

— amon^  the  troops  and  officers  who  were  thus  moved  from 
their  repast  two  hours  at  least  sooner  than  had  been  ex- 
perienced upon  similar  occasions  in  the  memory  of  the  old- 
est among  them.  A  different  arrangement  of  the  imperial 
party  likewise  seemed  to  take  place  by  mutual  consent. 

Nicephorus  Brennius  ascended  the  seat  upon  the  elephant, 
and  remained  there  placed  beside  his  august  mother-in-law. 
Agelastes,  on  a  sober-minded  palfrey,  which  permitted  him 
to  prolong  his  philosophical  harangues  at  his  own  pleasure, 
rode  beside  the  Countess  Brenhilda,  whom  he  made  the  prin- 
cipal object  of  his  oratory.  The  fair  historian,  though  she 
usually  traveled  in  a  litter,  preferred  upon  this  occasion  a 
spirited  horse,  which  enabled  her  to  keep  pace  with  Count 
Eobert  of  Paris,  on  whose  imagination,  if  not  his  feelings, 
she  seemed  to  have  it  in  view  to  work  a  marked  impression. 
The  conversation  of  the  Empress  with  hor  son  in-law  requires 
no  special  detail.  It  was  a  tissue  of  criticisms  upon  the  man- 
ners and  behavior  of  the  Franks,  and  a  hearty  wish  that 
they  might  be  soon  transported  from  the  realms  of  Greece, 
never  more  to  return.  Such  was  at  least  the  tone  of  the 
Empress,  nor  did  the  Caesar  find  it  convenient  to  express  any 
more  tolerant  opinion  of  the  strangers.  On  the  other  hand, 
Agelastes  made  a  long  circuit  ere  he  ventured  to  approach 
the  subject  which  he  wished  to  introduce.  He  spoke  of  the 
menagerie  of  the  Emperor  as  a  most  superb  collection  of 
natural  history  ;  he  extolled  different  persons  at  court  for 
having  encouraged  Alexius  Comnenus  in  this  wise  and  phil- 
osophical amusement ;  but,  finally,  the  praise  of  all  others 
was  abandoned  that  the  philosopher  might  dwell  upon  that 
of  Nicephorus  Briennus  to  whom  the  cabinet  or  collection 
of  Constantinople  was  indebted,  he  said,  for  the  principal 
treasures  it  contained. 

*'  I  am  glad  it  is  so,"  said  the  haughty  countess,  without 
lowering  her  voice  or  affecting  any  change  of  manner — '^  I 
am  glad  that  he  understands  some  things  better  worth  un- 
derstanding than  whispering  with  stranger  young  women. 
Credit  me,  .if  he  gives  much  license  to  his  tongue  among 
such  women  of  my  country  as  these  stirring  times  may  bring 
hither,  some  one  or  other  of  them  will  fling  him  into  the 
cataract  which  dashes  below." 

'*  Pardon  me,  fair  lady,"  said  Agelastes  ;  ''  no  female  heart 
could  meditate  an  action  so  atrocious  against  so  fine  a  form 
as  that  of  the  Caesar  Nicephorus  Briennius." 

"  Put  it  not  on  that  issue,  father,"  said  the  offended  coun- 
tess ;  ''for,  by  my  patroness  saint.  Our  Lady  of  the  Broken 
II 


162  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

Lances,  had  it  not  been  for  regard  to  these  two  ladies,  who 
seemed  to  intend  some  respect  to  my  husband  and  myself, 
that  same  Nicephorns  should  have  been  as  perfectly  a  Lord 
of  the  Broken  bones  as  any  Caesar  who  has  borne  the  title 
since  the  great  Julius." 

The  philosopher,  upon  this  explicit  information,  began  to 
entertain  some  personal  fear  for  himself,  and  hastened,  by 
diverting  the  conversation,  which  he  did  with  great  dexterity; 
to  the  story  of  Hero  and  Leander,  to  put  the  affront  received 
out  of  the  head  of  this  unscrupulous  amazon. 

Meantime,  Count  Robert  of  Paris  was  engrossed,  as  it 
may  be  termed,  by  the  fair  Anna  Comnena.  She  spoke  on 
all  subjects,  on  some  better,  doubtless,  others  worse,  but  on 
none  did  she  suspect  herself  of  any  deficiency  ;  while  the 
good  count  wished  heartily  within  himself  that  his  compan- 
ion had  been  safely  in  bed  with  the  enchanted  Princess  of 
Zulichium.  She  performed,  right  or  wrong,  the  part  of  a 
panegyrist  of  the  Normans,  until  at  length  the  Count,  tired 
of  hearing  her  prate  of  she  knew  not  exactly  what,  broke  in 
as  follows  : — 

'' Lady,"  he  said,  '^  notwithstanding  I  and  my  followers 
are  sometimes  so  named,  yet  we  are  not  Normans,  who  come 
hither  as  a  numerous  and  separate  body  of  pilgrims,  under 
the  command  of  their  Duke  Robert,  a  valiant,  though  ex- 
travagant, thoughtless,  and  weak  man.  I  say  nothing  against 
the  fame  of  these  Normans.  They  conquered,  in  our  father's 
day,  a  kingdom  far  stronger  than  their  own,  which  men  call 
England  ;  I  see  that  you  entertain  some  of  the  natives  of 
which  country  in  your  pay,  under  the  name  of  Varangians. 
Although  defeated,  as  I  said,  by  the  Normans,  they  are, 
nevertheless,  a  brave  race  ;  nor  would  we  think  ourselves 
much  dishonored  by  mixing  in  battle  with  them.  Still, 
we  are  the  valiant  Franks  who  had  their  dwelling  on  the 
eastern  banks  of  the  Rhine  and  of  the  Saale,  who  were  con- 
verted to  the  Christian  faith  by  the  celebrated  Clovis,  and  are 
sufficient,  by  our  numbers  and  courage,  to  reconquer  the 
Holy  Land,  should  all  Europe  besides  stand  neutral  in  the 
contest." 

There  are  few  things  more  painful  to  the  vanity  of  a  per- 
son like  the  Princess  than  the  being  detected  in  an  egre- 
gious error  at  the  moment  she  is  taking  credit  to  herself  for 
being  peculiarly  accurately  informed. 

"  A  false  slave,  who  knew  not  what  he  was  saying,  I  sup- 
pose,^' said  the  Princess,  ''  imposed  upon  me  the  belief  that 
the  Varangians  were  the  natural  enemies  of  the  Normans. 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  163 

I  see  liim  marcliing  there  by  the  side  of  Achilles  Tatius,  the 
leader  of  his  corps.  Call  him  hither,  you  officers, — yonder 
tall  man,  I  mean,  with  the  battle-ax  upon  his  shoulder/' 

Hereward,  distinguished  by  his  post  at  the  head  of  the 
squadron,  was  summoned  from  thence  to  the  presence  of  the 
Princess,  where  he  made  his  military  obeisance  with  a  cast 
of  sternness  in  his  aspect,  as  his  glance  lighted  upon  the 
proud  look  of  the  Frenchman  who  rode  beside  Anna  Oomnena. 

"  Did  I  not  understand  thee,  fellow,''  said  Anna  Comnena, 
''to  have  informed  me,  nearly  a  month  ago,  that  the  Nor- 
mans and  the  Franks  were  the  same  people,  and  enemies  to 
the  race  from  which  you  spring  ?  " 

''  The  Normans  are  our  mortal  enemies,  lady,"  answered 
Hereward,  '*  by  whom  we  were  driven  from  our  native  land. 
The  Franks  are  subjects  of  the  same  lord-paramount  with 
the  Normans,  and  therefore  they  neither"  love  the  Varan- 
gians nor  are  beloved  by  them." 

*'  Good  fellow,"  said  the  French  count,  ''  you  do  the 
Franks  wrong,  and  ascribe  to  the  Varangians,  although  not 
unnaturally,  an  undue  degree  of  importance,  when  you 
suppose  that  a  race  which  has  ceased  to  exist  as  an  independ- 
ent nation  for  more  than  a  generation  can  be  either  an 
object  of  interest  or  resentment  to  such  as  we  are." 

''  I  am  no  stranger,"  said  the  Varangian,  ''  to  the  pride  of 
your  heart,  or  the  precedence  which  you  assume  over  those 
who  have  been  less  fortunate  in  war  than  yourselves.  It  is 
God  who  casteth  down  and  who  buildeth  up,  nor  is  there  in 
the  world  a  prospect  to  which  the  Varangians  would  look 
forward  with  more  pleasure  than  that  a  hundred  of  their 
number  should  meet  in  a  fair  field,  either  with  the  oppressive 
Normans  or  their  modern  compatriots,  the  vain  Frenchmen, 
and  let  God  be  the  judge  which  is  most  worthy  of  victory." 

''You  take  an  insolent  advantage  of  the  chance,"  said 
the  Count  of  Paris,  "which  gives  you  an  unlooked-for 
opportunity  to  brave  a  nobleman." 

"It  is  my  sorrow  and  shame,"  said  the  Varangian,  "  that 
that  opportunity  is  not  complete  ;  and  that  there  is  a  chain 
around  me  which  forbids  me  to  say,  '  Slay  me,  or  Fll  kill 
thee  before  we  part  from  this  spot ! ' " 

"Why,  thou  foolish  and  hot-brained  churl,"  replied  the 
Count,  "  what  right  hast  thou  to  the  honor  of  dying  by  my 
blade  ?  Thou  art  mad,  or  hast  drained  the  ale-cup  so  deeply 
that  thou  knowest  not  what  thou  thinkest  or  sayest." 

"Thou  liest,"  said  the  Varangian,  "though  such  a  re- 
proach be  the  utmost  scandal  of  thy  race." 


164  WA  VERLEY  NO VEL8 

The  Frencliman  motioned  his  hand  quicker  than  light  to 
his  sword,  but  instantly  withdrew  it,  and  said  with  dignity, 
''  Thou  canst  not  offend  me." 

^'  But  thou,"  said  the  exile,  "  hast  offended  me  in  a  mat- 
ter which  can  only  be  atoned  by  thy  manhood." 

*^*^  Where  and  how  ?"  answered  the  Count;  '^although  it 
is  needless  to  ask  the  question,  which  thou  canst  not  answer 
rationally." 

''  Thou  hast  this  day,"  answered  the  Varangian,  "put  a 
mortal  affront  upon  a  great  prince,  whom  thy  master  calls 
his  ally,  and  by  whom  thou  hast  been  received  with  every 
rite  of  hospitality.  Him  thou  hast  affronted  as  one  peasant 
at  a  merry-making  would  do  shame  to  another,  and  this 
dishonor  thou  hast  done  to  him  in  the  very  face  of  his  own 
chiefs  and  princes,  and  the  nobles  from  every  court  of 
Europe." 

"  It  was  thy  master's  part  to  resent  my  conduct,"  said 
the  Frenchman,  "if  in  reality  he  so  much  felt  it  as  an 
affront." 

"  But  that,"  said  Hereward,  "  did  not  consist  with  the 
manners  of  his  country  to  do.  Besides  that,  we  trusty 
Varangians  esteem  ourselves  bound  by  our  oath  as  much  to 
defend  our  Emperor,  while  the  service  lasts,  on  every  inch 
of  his  honor  as  on  every  foot  of  his  territory  ;  I  therefore 
tell  thee,  sir  knight,  sir  count,  or  whatever  thou  callest  thy- 
self, there  is  mortal  quarrel  between  thee  and  the  Varan- 
gian Guard,  ever  and  until  thou  hast  fought  it  out  in  fair 
and  manly  battle,  body  to  body,  with  one  of  the  said  Impe- 
rial Varangians,  when  duty  and  opportunity  shall  permit — 
and  so  God  schaw  the  right  ! " 

As  this  passed  in  the  French  language,  the  meaning 
escaped  the  understanding  of  such  imperialists  as  were 
within  hearing  at  the  time  ;  and  the  Princess,  who  waited 
with  some  astonishment  till  the  crusader  and  the  Varangian 
had  finished  their  conference,  when  it  was  over,  said  to  him 
with  interest,  "  I  trust  you  feel  that  poor  man's  situation  to 
be  too  much  at  a  distance  from  your  own  to  admit  of  your 
meeting  him  in  what  is  termed  knightly  battle  ?" 

"  On  such  a  question,"  said  the  knight,  "  I  have  but  one 
answer  to  any  lady  who  does  not,  like  my  Brenhilda,  cover 
herself  with  a  shield,  and  bear  a  sword  by  her  side  and  the 
heart  of  a  knight  in  her  bosom." 

"And  suppose  for  once,"  said  the  Princess  Anna  Comnena, 
"  that  I  possessed  such  titles  to  your  confidence,  what  would 
your  answer  be  to  me  ?  " 


COUNT  BOBERT  OF  PA  BIS  165 

"  There  can  be  little  reason  for  concealing  it/*  said  the 
Count.  ''  The  Varangian  is  a  brave  man  and  a  strong  one  ; 
it  is  contrary  to  my  vow  to  shun  his  challenge,  and  perhaps 
I  shall  derogate  from  my  rank  by  accepting  it ;  but  the 
world  is  wide,  and  he  is  yet  to  be  born  who  has  seen  Eobert 
of  Paris  shun  the  face  of  mortal  man.  By  means  of  some 
gallant  officer  among  the  Emperor's  guards  this  poor  fellow, 
who  nourishes  so  strange  an  ambition,  shall  learn  that  he 
shall  have  his  wish  gratified.'' 

'^And  then ?"  said  Anna  Comnena. 

*' Why,  then,"  said  the  Count,  *^in  the  poor  man's  own 
language,  God  schaw  the  right ! " 

''  Which  is  to  say,"  said  the  Princess,  '^  that,  if  my  father 
has  an  officer  of  his  guards  honorable  enough  to  forward  so 
pious  and  reasonable  a  purpose,  the  Emperor  must  lose  an 
ally,  in  whose  faith  he  puts  confidence,  or  a  most  trusty  and 
faithful  soldier  of  his  personal  guard,  who  has  distinguished 
himself  upon  many  occasions  ?" 

"  I  am  happy  to  hear,"  said  the  Count,  ''  that  the  man 
bears  such  a  character.  In  truth,  his  ambition  ought  to 
have  some  foundation.  The  more  I  think  of  it,  the  rather 
am  I  of  opinion  that  there  is  something  generous,  rather 
than  derogatory,  in  giving  to  the  poor  exile,  whose  thoughts 
are  so  high  and  noble,  those  privileges  of  a  man  of  rank 
which  some  who  were  born  in  such  lofty  station  are  too  cow- 
ardly to  avail  themselves  of.  Yet  despond  not,  noble 
princess  ;  the  challenge  is  not  yet  accepted  of,  and  if  it  was, 
the  issue  is  in  the  hand  of  God.  As  for  me,  whose  trade  is 
war,  the  sense  that  I  have  something  so  serious  to  transact 
with  this  resolute  man  will  keep  me  from  other  less  honor- 
able quarrels,  in  which  a  lack  of  occupation  might  be  apt  to 
involve  me." 

The  Princess  made  no  farther  observation,  being  resolved, 
by  private  remonstrance  to  Achilles  Tatius,  to  engage  him 
to  prevent  a  meeting  which  might  be  fatal  to  the  one  or  the 
other  of  two  brave  men.  The  town  now  darkene(\  before 
them,  sparkling,  at  the  same  time,  through  its  obscurity,  by 
the  many  lights  which  illuminated  the  houses  of  the  citi- 
zens. The  royal  cavalcade  held  their  way  to  the  Golden 
Gate,  where  the  trusty  centurion  put  his  guard  under  arms 
to  receive  them. 

''  We  must  now  break  off,  fair  ladies,"  said  the  Count,  as 
the  party,  having  now  dismounted,  were  standing  together 
at  the  private  gate  of  the  Blacquernal  Palace,  "  and  find  as 
we  can  the  lodgings  which  we  occupied  last  night/' 


166  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

''Under  your  favor,  no,"  said  the  Empress.  ''Yon  mnst 
be  content  to  take  your  supper  and  repose  in  quarters  more 
fitting  your  rank  ;  and,"  added  Irene,  "  with  no  worse  quar- 
termaster than  one  of  the  imperial  family  who  has  been  your 
traveling  companion." 

This  the  Count  heard  with  considerable  inclination  to 
accept  the  hospitality  which  was  so  readily  offered.  Although 
as  devoted  as  a  man  could  well  be  to  the  charms  of  his 
Brenhilda,  the  very  idea  never  having  entered  his  head  of 

Preferring  another's  beauty  to  hers,  yet,  nevertheless,  he 
ad  naturally  felt  himself  flattered  by  the  attentions  of  a 
woman  of  eminent  beauty  and  very  high  rank  ;  and  the 
praises  with  which  the  Princess  had  loaded  him  had  not 
entirely  fallen  to  the  ground.  He  was  no  longer  in  the 
humor  in  which  the  morning  had  found  him,  disposed  to 
outrage  the  feelings  of  the  Emperor  and  to  insult  his 
dignity  ;  but,  flattered  by  the  adroit  sycophancy  which 
the  old  philosopher  had  learned  from  the  schools,  and  the 
beautiful  princess  had  been  gifted  with  by  nature,  he 
assented  to  the  Empress's  proposal ;  the  more  readily,  per- 
haps, that  the  darkness  did  not  permit  him  to  see  that 
there  was  distinctly  a  shade  of  displeasure  on  the  brow 
of  Brenhilda.  Whatever  the  cause,  she  cared  not  to  express 
it,  and  the  married  pair  had  just  entered  that  labyrinth 
of  passages  through  which  Hereward  had  formerly  wan- 
dered, when  a  chamberlain  and  a  female  attendant,  richly 
dressed,  bent  the  knee  before  them,  and  offered  them  the 
means  and  place  to  adjust  their  attire,  ere  they  entered 
the  imperial  presence.  Brenhilda  looked  upon  her  apparel 
and  arms,  spotted  with  the  blood  of  the  insolent  Scythian, 
and,  amazon  as  she  was,  felt  the  shame  of  being  carelessly 
and  improperly  dressed.  The  arms  of  the  knight  were 
also  bloody,  and  in  disarrangement. 

"  Tell  my  female  squire,  Agatha,  to  give  her  attendance,'* 
said  the  Countess.  "  She  alone  is  in  the  habit  of  assisting 
to  unai:m  and  to  attire  me." 

"  Now,  God  be  praised,"  thought  the  Grecian  lady  of  the 
bed-chamber,  "that  I  am  not  called  to  a  toilet  where 
smiths'  hammers  and  tongs  are  likely  to  be  the  instru- 
ments most  in  request  I " 

"  Tell  Marcian,  my  armorer,"  said  the  Count,  "  to  attend 
with  the  silver  and  blue  suit  of  plate  and  mail  which  I  won 
in  a  wager  from  the  Count  of  Tholouse."  * 

"  Might  I  not  have  the  honor  of  adjusting  your  armor,* 
♦  See  Note  8. 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PABI8  '    16t 

gaid  a  splendidly  drest  courtier,  with  some  marks  of  the 
armorer's  profession,  '^  since  I  have  put  on  that  of  the 
Emperor  himself,  may  his  name  be  sacred  ?  " 

"And  how  many  rivets  hast  thou  clenched  upon  the  oc- 
casion with  this  hand,"  said  the  Count,  catching  hold  of  it, 
"  which  looks  as  if  it  had  never  been  washed  save  with  milk 
of  roses, — and  with  this  childish  toy  ?  "  pointing  to  a  ham- 
mer, with  ivory  haft  and  silver  head,  which,  stuck  into  a 
milk-white  kidskin  apron,  the  official  wore  as  badges  of  his 
duty. 

The  armorer  fell  back  in  some  confusion.  "  His  grasp,'' 
he  said  to  another  domestic,  *Ms  like  the  seizure  of  a  vice.'' 

While  this  little  scene  passed  apart,  the  Empress  Irene, 
her  daughter,  and  her  son-in-law  left  the  company,  under 
pretense  of  making  a  necessary  change  in  their  apparel. 
Immediately  after,  Agelastes  was  required  to  attend  the 
Emperor,  and  the  strangers  were  conducted  to  two  adjacent 
chambers  of  retirement,  splendidly  fitted  up,  and  placed  for 
the  present  at  their  disposal  and  that  of  their  attendants. 
There  we  shall  for  a  time  leave  them,  assuming,  with  the  as- 
sistance of  their  own  attendants,  a  dress  which  their  ideas 
regarded  as  most  fit  for  a  great  occasion  ;  those  of  the  Grecian 
court  willingly  keeping  apart  from  a  task  which  they  held 
nearly  as  formidable  as  assisting  at  the  lair  of  a  royal  tiger 
or  his  bride. 

Agelastes  found  the  Emperor  sedulously  arranging  his 
most  splendid  court-dress  ;  for,  as  in  the  court  of  Pekin, 
the  change  of  ceremonial  attire  was  a  great  part  of  the  ritual 
observed  at  Constantinople. 

"  Thou  hast  done  well,  wise  Agelastes,"  said  Alexius  to 
the  philosopher,  as  he  approached  with  abundance  of  pros- 
trations and  genuflexions — "  thou  hast  done  well,  and  we 
are  content  with  thee.  Less  than  thy  wit  and  address  must 
have  failed  in  separating  from  their  company  this  tameless 
bull  and  unyoked  heifer,  over  whom,  if  we  obtain  influence, 
we  shall  command,  by  every  account,  no  small  interest  among 
those  who  esteem  them  the  bravest  in  the  host." 

"  My  humble  understanding,"  said  Agelastes,  "  had  been 
infinitely  inferior  to  the  management  of  so  prudent  and 
sagacious  a  scheme,  had  it  not  been  shaped  forth  and  sug- 
gested by  the  inimitable  wisdom  of  your  Most  Sacred  Im- 
perial Highness." 

"  We  are  aware,"  said  Alexius,  ''that  we  had  the  merit  of 
blocking  forth  the  scheme  of  detaining  these  persons,  either 
by  their  choice  as  allies  or  by  main  force  as  hostages.     Theit 


108  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

friends,  ere  yet  they  have  missed  them,  will  be  engaged  in 
war  with  the  Turks,  and  at  no  liberty,  if  the  devil  should 
suggest  such  an  undertaking,  to  take  arms  against  the  sacred 
empire.  Thus,  Agelastes,  we  shall  obtain  hostages  at  least 
as  important  and  as  valuable  as  that  Count  of  Vermandois, 
whose  liberty  the  tremendous  Godfrey  of  Bouillon  extorted 
from  us  by  threats  of  instant  war." 

''  Pardon,"  said  Agelastes,  ''  if  I  add  another  reason  to  those 
which  of  themselves  so  happily  support  your  august  resolu- 
tion. It  is  possible  that  we  may,  by  observing  the  greatest 
caution  and  courtesy  towards  these  strangers,  win  them  in 
good  earnest  to  our  side." 

''1  conceive  you — I  conceive  you,"  said  the  Emperor; 
''  and  this  very  night  I  will  exhibit  myself  to  this  count  and 
his  lady  in  the  royal  presence-chamber,  in  the  richest  robes 
which  our  wardrobe  can  furnish.  The  lions  of  Solomon 
shall  roar,  the  golden  tree  of  Oomnenus  shall  display  its  won- 
ders, and  the  feeble  eyes  of  these  Franks  shall  be  altogether 
dazzled  by  the  splendor  of  the  empire.  These  spectacles  can- 
not but  sink  into  their  minds,  and  dispose  them  to  become 
the  allies  and  servants  of  a  nation  so  much  more  powerful, 
skilful,  and  wealthy  than  their  own.  Thou  hast  something 
to  say,  Agelastes.  Years  and  long  study  have  made  thee 
wise  ;  though  we  have  given  our  opinion,  thou  mayst  speak 
thine  own  and  live." 

Thrice  three  times  did  Agelastes  press  his  brow  against  the 
hem  of  the  Emperor's  garment,  and  great  seemed  his  anxiety 
to  find  such  words  as  might  intimate  his  dissent  from  his 
sovereign,  yet  save  him  from  the  informality  of  contradicting 
him  expressly. 

*'  These  sacred  words,  in  which  your  Sacred  Highness  has 
uttered  your  most  just  and  accurate  opinions,  are  undeniable, 
and  incapable  of  contradiction,  were  any  vain  enough  to 
attempt  to  impugn  them.  Nevertheless,  be  it  lawful  to  say, 
that  men  show  the  wisest  arguments  in  vain  to  those  who 
do  not  understand  reason,  just  as  you  would  in  vain  exhibit 
a  curious  piece  of  limning  to  the  blind,  or  endeavor  to  bribe, 
as  Scripture  saith,  a  sow  by  the  offer  of  a  precious  stone. 
The  fault  is  not,  in  such  case,  in  the  accuracy  of  your  sacred 
reasoning,  but  in  the  obtuseness  and  perverseness  of  the 
barbarians  to  whom  it  is  applied." 

'^  Speak  more  plainly,"  said  the  Emperor ;  '^  how  often 
must  we  tell  thee  that,  in  cases  in  which  we  really  want 
counsel,  we  know  we  must  be  contented  to  sacrifice  cere* 
mony  ?  " 


COUNT  BOBERT  OF  PABI8  169 

"  Then,  in  plain  words/'  said  Agelastes,  "  these  European 
barbarians  are  like  no  others  under  the  cope  of  the  universe, 
either  in  the  things  on  which  they  look  with  desire  or  in 
those  which  they  consider  as  discouraging.  The  treasure* 
of  this  noble  empire,  so  far  as  they  affected  their  wishes, 
would  merely  inspire  them  with  the  desire  to  go  to  war  with 
a  nation  possessed  of  so  much  wealth,  and  who,  in  their  self- 
conceited  estimation,  were  less  able  to  defend  than  they 
themselves  are  powerful  to  assail.  Of  such  a  description, 
for  instance,  is  Bohemond  of  Tarentum,  and  such  a  one  is 
many  a  crusader  less  able  and  sagacious  than  he  ;  for  I  think 
1  need  not  tell  your  Imperial  Divinity  that  he  holds  his  own 
self-interest  to  be  the  devoted  guide  of  his  whole  conduct 
through  this  extraordinary  war  ;  and  that,  therefore,  you  can 
justly  calculate  his  course  when  once  you  are  aware  from 
which  point  of  the  compass  the  wind  of  avarice  and  self-in- 
terest breathes  with  respect  to  him.  But  there  are  spirits 
among  the  Franks  of  a  very  different  nature,  and  who  must 
be  acted  upon  by  very  different  motives,  if  we  would  make 
ourselves  masters  of  their  actions  and  the  principles  by  which 
they  are  governed.  If  it  were  lawful  to  do  so,  I  would  re- 
quest your  Majesty  to  look  at  the  manner  by  which  an  art- 
ful juggler  of  your  court  achieves  his.  imposition  upon  the 
eyes  of  spectators,  yet  heedfully  disguises  the  means  by  which 
lT.e  attains  his  object.  This  people — I  mean  the  more  lofty- 
minded  of  these  crusaders,  who  act  up  to  the  pretenses  of  the 
doctrine  which  they  call  chivalry — despise  the  thirst  of  gold, 
and  gold  itself,  unless  to  hilt  their  swords,  or  to  furnish  forth 
some  necessary  expenses,  as  alike  useless  and  contemptible. 
The  man  who  can  be  moved  by  the  thirst  of  gain  they  con- 
temn, scorn,  and  despise,  and  liken  him,  in  the  meanness  of 
his  6bjects,  to  the  most  paltry  serf  that  ever  followed  the 
plow  or  wielded  the  spade.  On  the  other  hand,  if  it  hap- 
pens that  they  actually  need  gold,  they  are  sufficiently  un- 
ceremonious in  taking  it  where  they  can  most  easily  find  it. 
Thus,  they  are  neither  easily  to  be  bribed  by  giving  them 
sums  of  gold  nor  to  be  starved  into  compliance  by  withhold- 
ing what  chance  may  render  necessary  for  them.  In  the  one 
case,  they  set  no  value  upon  the  gift  of  a  little  paltry  yellow 
dross  ;  on  the  other,  they  are  accustomed  to  take  what  they 
want." 

'^  Yellow  dross  !  "  interrupted  Alexius.  *'  Do  they  call 
that  noble  metal,  equally  respected  by  Eoman  and  barbarian, 
by  rich  and  poor,  by  ^reat  and  mean,  by  churchmen  and  lay- 
men, which  all  mankind  are  fighting  for,  plotting  for,  plan- 


170  WAVEBLEY  N0VEL8 

ning  for,  intriguing  for,  and  damning  themselves  for,  both 
soul  and  body,  by  the  opprobrious  name  of  yellow  dross  ? 
They  are  mad,  Agelastes — utterly  mad.  Perils  and  dangers, 
penalties  and  scourges,  are  the  only  arguments  to  which  men 
who  are  above  the  universal  influence  which  moves  all  others 
can  possibly  be  accessible/' 

*'  Nor  are  they,''  said  Agelastes,  ''  more  accessible  to  fear 
than  they  are  to  self-interest.  They  are  indeed,  from  their 
boyhood,  brought  up  to  scorn  those  passions  which  influence 
ordinary  minds,  whether  by  means  of  avarice  to  impel  or  of 
fear  to  hold  back.  So  much  is  this  the  case,  that  what  is 
enticing  to  other  men  must,  to  interest  them,  have  the  pi- 
quant sauce  of  extreme  danger.  I  told,  for  instance,  to  this 
very  hero  a  legend  of  a  Princess  of  Zulichium,  who  lay  on 
an  enchanted  couch,  beautiful  as  an  angel,  awaiting  the 
chosen  knight  who  should,  by  dispelling  her  enchanted 
slumbers,  become  master  of  her  person,  of  her  kingdom  of 
Zulichium,  and  of  her  countless  treasures  ;  and,  would  your 
Imperial  Majesty  believe  me,  I  could  scarce  get  the  gallant 
to  attend  to  my  legend,  or  take  any  interest  in  the  adventure, 
till  I  assured  him  he  would  have  to  encounter  a  winged 
dragon,  compared  to  which  the  largest  of  those  in  the  Frank 
romances  was  but  like  a  mere  dragon-fly  ?  " 

''And  did  this  move  the  gallant  ?"  said  the  Emperor. 

''  So  much  so,"  replied  the  philosopher,  ''  that,  had  I  not 
unfortunately,  by  the  earnestness  of  my  description,  awak 
ened  the  jealousy  of  his  Penthesilea  of  a  countess,  he  had 
forgotton  the  crusade  and  all  belonging  to  it,  to  go  in  quest 
of  Zulichium  and  its  slumbering  sovereign." 

"Nay,  then,"  said  the  Emperor,  ''we  have  in  our  empire 
— make  us  sensible  of  the  advantage  ! — innumerable  tale- 
tellers who  are  not  possessed  in  the  slightest  degree  of  that 
noble  scorn  of  gold  which  is  proper  to  the  Franks,  but  shall, 
for  a  brace  of  besants,  lie  with  the  devil,  and  beat  him  to 
boot,  if  in  that  manner  we  can  gain,  as  mariners  say,  the 
weather-gage  of  the  Franks." 

"  Discretion,"  said  Agelastes,  "is  in  the  highest  degree 
necessary.  Simply  to  lie  is  no  very  great  matter  :  it  is 
merely  a  departure  from  the  truth,  which  is  little  different 
from  missing  a  mark  at  archery,  where  the  whole  horizon, 
one  point  alone  excepted,  will  alike  serve  the  shooter's  pur- 
pose ;  but  to  move  the  Frank  as  is  desired  requires  a  perfect 
knowledge  of  his  temper  and  disposition,  great  caution  and 
presence  of  mind,  and  the  most  versatile  readiness  in  chang- 
ing from  one  subject  to  another.     Had  I  not  myself  been 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  171 

somewhat  alert,  I  might  have  paid  the  penalty  of  a  false  step 
in  your  Majesty^s  service  by  being  flung  into  my  own  cascade 
by  the  virago  whom  I  offended." 

*'  A  perfect  Thalestris  ! "  said  the  Emperor.  "  I  shall 
take  care  what  offense  I  give  her." 

'^  If  I  might  speak  and  live,"  said  Agelastes,  '^  Caesar 
Nicephorus  Briennius  had  best  adopt  the  same  precau- 
tion." 

"  Nicephorus,"  said  the  Emperor,  ^^  must  settle  that  with 
our  daughter.  I  have  ever  told  her  that  she  gives  him  too 
much  of  that  history,  of  which  a  page  or  two  is  sufficiently 
refreshing  ;  but  by  our  own  self  we  must  swear  it,  A.gelastes, 
that,  night  after  night,  hearing  nothing  else  would  subdue 
the  patience  of  a,  saint.  Forget,  good  Agelastes,  that  thou 
hast  heard  me  say  such  a  thing — more  especially,  remember 
it  not  when  thou  art  in  the  presence  of  our  imperial  wife  and 
daughter." 

'*  Nor  were  the  freedoms  taken  by  the  Caesar  beyond  the 
bounds  of  an  innocent  gallantry,"  said  Agelastes  ;  '^  but  the 
Countess,  I  must  needs  say,  is  dangerous.  She  killed  this 
day  the  Scythian  Toxartis,  by  what  seemed  a  mere  fillip  on 
the  head." 

''Hah !"  said  the  Emperor,  "I  knew  that  Toxartis,  and 
he  was  like  enough  to  deserve  his  death,  being  a  bold,  un- 
scrupulous marauder.  Take  notes,  however,  how  it  hap- 
pened, the  names  of  witnesses,  etc.,  that,  if  necessary,  we 
may  exhibit  the  fact  as  a  deed  of  aggression  on  the  part  of 
the  Count  and  Countess  of  Paris,  to  the  assembly  of  the 
crusaders." 

"I  trust,"  said  Agelastes,  "your  Imperial  Majesty  will 
not  easily  resign  the  golden  opportunity  of  gaining  to  your 
standard  persons  whose  character  stands  so  very  high  in 
chivalry.  It  would  cost  you  but  little  to  bestow  upon  them 
a  Grecian  island,  worth  a  hundred  of  their  own  paltry  lord- 
ship of  Paris  ;  and  if  it  were  given  under  the  condition  of 
their  expelling  the  infidels  or  the  disaffected  who  may  have 
obtained  the  temporary  possession,  it  would  be  so  much  the 
more  likely  to  be  an  acceptable  offer.  I  need  not  say  that 
the  whole  knowledge,  wisdom,  and  skill  of  the  poor  Age- 
lastes is  at  your  Imperial  Majesty^s  disposal." 

The  Emperor  paused  for  a  moment,  and  then  said,  as  if 
on  full  consideration,  ''Worthy  Agelastes,  I  dare  trust  thee 
in  this  difficult  and  somewhat  dangerous  matter  ;  but  I  will 
keep  my  purpose  of  exhibiting  to  them  the  lions  of  Solomon 
and  the  golden  tree  of  our  imperial  house." 


172  WAVEBLET  NOVELS 

"  To  tliafc  there  can  be  no  objection,"  returned  the  philos- 
opher ;  '*  only  remember  to  exhibit  few  guards,  for  these 
Franks  are  like  a  fiery  horse  :  when  in  temper  he  may  be 
ridden  with  a  silk  thread,  but  when  he  has  taken  umbrage 
or  suspicion,  as  they  would  likely  do  if  they  saw  many  armed 
men,  a  steel  bridle  would  not  restrain  him." 

'^  I  will  be  cautious,"  said  the  Emperor,  "in  that  partic- 
ular, as  well  as  others.  •  Sound  the  silver  bell,  Agelastes, 
that  the  officers  of  our  wardrobe  may  attend. '' 

''^One  single  word  while  your  Highness  is  alone,"  said 
Agelastes.  '^  Will  your  Imperial  Majesty  transfer  to  me  the 
direction  of  your  menagerie  or  collection  of  extraordinary 
creatures  ? "  .       ^ 

*'  You  make  me  wonder,"  said  the  Emperor,  taking  a  sig- 
net, bearing  upon  it  a  lion,  with  the  legend,  Vicit  Leo  ex 
trihii  JudcB,  "  This,"  he  said,  '^  will  give  thee  the  com- 
mand of  our  dens.  And  now  be  candid  for  once  with  thy 
master,  for  deception  is  thy  nature  even  with  me — by  what 
charm  wilt  thou  subdue  these  untamed  savages  ?  " 

'^  By  the  power  of  falsehood,"  replied  Agelastes,  with  deep 
reverence. 

'*  I  believe  thee  an  adept  in  it,"  said  the  Emperor.  "  And 
to  which  of  their  foibles  wilt  thou  address  it  ?  " 

'*  To  their  love  of  fame,"  said  the  philosopher  ;  and  re- 
treated backwards  out  of  the  royal  apartment,  as  the  officers 
of  the  wardrobe  entered  to  complete  the  investment  of  the 
Emperor  in  his  imperial  habiliments. 


CHAPTEE  XIV 

I  will  converse  with  iron-witted  fools, 
And  unrespective  boys  ;  none  are  for  me, 
That  look  into  me  with  considerate  eyes  ; — 
High-reaching  Buckingham  grows  circumspect. 

Richard  III. 

As  they  parted  from  each  other,  the  Emperor  and  philoso- 
pher had  each  their  own  anxious  thoughts  on  the  interview 
which  had  passed  between  them — thoughts  which  they  ex- 
pressed in  broken  sentences  and  ejaculations,  though,  for 
the  better  understanding  of  the  degree  of  estimation  in 
which  they  held  each  other,  we  will  give  them  a  more  regu- 
lar and  intelligible  form. 

"  Thus,  then,"  half-muttered,  half-said  Alexius,  but  so 
low  as  to  hide  his  meaning  from  the  officers  of  the  wardrobe, 
who  entered  to  do  their  office — ^'  thus,  then,  this  bookworm, 
this  remnant  of  old  heathen  philosophy,  who  hardly  believes, 
so  God  save  me,  the  truth  of  the  Christian  creed,  has  topped 
his  part  so  well  that  he  forces  his  Emperor  to  dissemble  in 
his  presence.  Beginning  by  being  the  buffoon  of  the  court, 
he  has  wormed  himself  into  all  its  secrets,  made  himself 
master  of  all  its  intrigues,  conspired  with  my  own  son-in-law 
against  me,  debauched  my  guards — indeed  so  woven  his  web 
of  deceit,  that  my  life  is  safe  no  longer  than  he  believes  me 
the  imperial  dolt  which  I  have  affected  to  seem,  in  order  to 
deceive  him;  fortunate  that  even  so  I  can  escape  his  cau- 
tionary anticipation  of  my  displeasure,  by  avoiding  to  pre- 
cipitate his  measures  of  violence.  But,  were  this  sudden 
storm  of  the  crusade  fairly  passed  over,  the  ungrateful 
Caesar,  the  boastful  coward  Achilles  Tatius,  and  the  bosom 
serpent  Agelastes  shall  know  whether  Alexius  Comnenus 
has  been  born  their  dupe.  When  Greek  meets  Greek,  comes 
the  strife  of  subtlety,  as  well  as  the  tug  of  war."  Thus 
saying,  he  resigned  himself  to  the  officers  of  his  wardrobe, 
who  proceeded  to  ornament  him  as  the  solemnity  required. 

^'  I  trust  him  not,"  said  Agelastes,  the  meaning  of  whose 
gestures  and  exclamations  we,  in  like  manner,  render  into  a 
connected  meaning.  *'  I  cannot  and  do  not  trust  him  :  he 
somewhat  overacts  his  part.     He  has  borne  himself  upon 

173 


174  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

other  occasions  with  the  shrewd  wit  of  his  family  the  Com- 
neni ;  yet  he  now  trusts  to  the  effect  of  his  trumpery  lions 
upon  such  a  shrewd  people  as  the  Franks  and  Normans, 
and  seems  to  rely  upon  me  for  the  character  of  men  with 
whom  he  has  been  engaged  in  peace  and  war  for  many 
years.  This  can  be  but  to  gain  my  confidence  ;  for  there 
were  imperfect  looks  and  broken  sentences  which  seemed  to 
say,  '  Agelastes,  the  Emperor  knows  thee,  and  confides  not 
m  thee.'  Yet  the  plot  is  successful  and  undiscovered,  as 
far  as  can  be  Judged  ;  and  were  I  to  attempt  to  recede  now, 
I  were  lost  forever.  A  little  time  to  carry  on  this  intrigue 
with  the  Frank,  when  possibly,  by  the  assistance  of  this 
gallant,  Alexius  shall  exchange  the  crown  for  a  cloister,  or  a 
still  narrower  abode  ;  and  then,  Agelastes,  thou  deservest  to 
be  blotted  from  the  roll  of  philosophers  if  thou  canst  not 
push  out  of  the  throne  the  conceited  and  luxurious  Ca3sar, 
and  reign  in  his  stead,  a  second  Marcus  Antoninus,  when 
the  wisdom  of  thy  rule,  long  unfelt  in  a  world  which  has 
been  guided  by  tyrants  and  voluptuaries,  shall  soon  oblit- 
erate recollection  of  the  manner  in  which  thy  power  was 
acquired.  To  work  then — be  active,  and  be  cautious.  The 
time  requires  it,  and  the  prize  deserves  it." 

While  these  thoughts  passed  through  his  mind,  he  arrayed 
himself,  by  the  assistance  of  Diogenes,  in  a  clean  suit  of 
that  simple  apparel  in  which  he  always  frequented  the 
court — a  garb  as  unlike  that  of  a  candidate  for  royalty  as  it 
was  a  contrast  to  the  magnificent  robes  with  which  Alexius 
was  now  investing  himself. 

In  their  separate  apartments,  or  dressing-rooms,  the  Count 
of  Paris  and  his  lady  put  on  the  best  apparel  which  they  had 
prepared  to  meet  such  a  chance  upon  their  journey.  Even 
m  France,  Eobert  was  seldom  seen  in  the  peaceful  cap  and 
sweeping  mantle  whose  high  plumes  and  flowing  folds  were 
the  garb  of  knights  in  times  of  peace.  He  was  now  arrayed 
in  a  splendid  suit  of  armor,  all  except  the  head,  which  was 
bare  otherwise  than  as  covered  by  his  curled  locks.  The 
rest  of  his  person  was  sheathed  in  the  complete  mail  of  the 
time,  richly  inlaid  with  silver,  which  contrasted  with  the 
azure  in  which  the  steel  was  damasked.  His  spurs  were 
upon  his  heels,  his  sword  was  by  his  side,  and  his  triangular 
shield  was  suspended  round  his  neck,  bearing,  painted  upon 
it,  a  number  of  jleurs-de-lis  semees,  as  it  is  called,  upon  the 
field,  being  the  origin  of  those  lily  flowers  which  after  times 
reduced  to  three  only,  and  which  were  the  terror  of  Europe, 
until  they  suffered  so  many  reverses  in  our  own  time. 


COUNT  BOBERT  OF  PABI8  176 

The  extreme  height  of  Count  Robert's  person  adapted  him 
for  a  garb  which  had  a  tendency  to  make  persons  of  a  lower 
stature  appear  rather  dwarfish  and  thick  when  arrayed  cap- 
a-pie.  The  features  with  their  self-collected  composure, 
and  noble  contempt  of  whatever  could  have  astounded  or 
shaken  an  ordinary  mind,  formed  a  well-fitted  capital  to  the 
excellently  porportioned  and  vigorous  frame  which  they 
terminated.  The  Countess  was  in  more  peaceful  attire  ;  but 
her  robes  were  short  and  succinct,  like  those  of  one  who 
might  be  called  to  hasty  exercise.  The  upper  part  of  her 
dress  consisted  of  more  than  one  tunic,  sitting  close  to  the 
body,  while  a  skirt,  descending  from  the  girdle,  and  reach- 
ing to  the  ankles,  embroidered  elegantly  but  richly,  completed 
'an  attire  which  a  lady  might  have  worn  in  much  more  mod- 
ern times.  Her  tresses  were  covered  with  a  light  steel  head- 
piece, though  some  of  them,  escaping,  played  round  her 
face,  and  gave  relief  to  those  handsome  features  which  might 
otherwise  have  seemed  too  formal,  if  closed  entirely  within 
the  verge  of  steel.  Over  these  under-garments  was  flung  a 
rich  velvet  cloak  of  a  deep  green  color,  descending  from  the 
head,  where  a  species  of  hood  was  loosely  adjusted  over  the 
hemlet,  deeply  laced  upon  its  verges  and  seams,  and  sc  long 
as  to  sweep  the  ground  behind.  A  dagger  of  rich  materials 
ornamented  a  girdle  of  curious  goldsmith's  work,  and  was 
the  only  offensive  weapon  which,  notwithstanding  her  mili- 
tary occupation,  she  bore  upon  this  occasion. 

The  toilet,  as  modern  times  would  say,  of  the  Countess 
was  not  nearly  so  soon  ended  as  that  of  Count  Robert,  who 
occupied  his  time,  as  husbands  of  every  period  are  apt  to  do, 
in  little  sub-acid  complaints,  between  jest  and  earnest  upon 
the  dilatory  nature  of  ladies,  and  the  time  which  they  lose 
in  doffing  and  donning  their  garments.  But  when  the 
Countess  Brenhilda  came  forth  intheprideof  loveliness  from 
the  inner  chamber  where  she  had  attired  herself,  her  husband, 
who  was  still  her  lover,  clasped  her  to  his  breast,  and  ex- 
pressed his  privilege  by  the  kiss  ^vhich  he  took  as  of  right 
from  a  creature  so  beautiful.  Chiding  him  for  his  folly,  yet 
almost  returning  the  kiss  which  she  received,  Brenhilda  be- 
gan now  to  wonder  how  they  were  to  find  their  way  to  the 
presence  of  the  Emperor. 

The  query  was  soon  solved,  for  a  gentle  knock  at  the  door 
announced  Agelastes,  to  whom,  as  best  acquainted  with  the 
Frankish  manners,  had  been  committed  by  the  Emperor  the 
charge  of  introducing  the  noble  strangers.  A  distant  sound, 
like  that  of  the  roaring  of  a  lion,  or  not  unsimilar  to  a  large 


176  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

and  deep  gong  of  modern  times,  intimated  the  commence- 
ment of  the  ceremonial.  The  black  slaves  upon  guard,  who, 
as  hath  been  observed,  were  in  small  numbers,  stood  ranged 
in  their  state  dresses  of  white  and  gold,  bearing  in  one  hand 
a  naked  saber,  and  in  the  other  a  torch  of  white  wax,  which 
served  to  guide  the  Count  and  Countess  through  the  pas- 
sages that  led  to  the  interior  of  the  palace,  and  to  the  most 
secret  hall  of  audience. 

The  door  of  this  sanctum  sanctorum  was  lower  than  usual, 
a  simple  stratagem  devised  by  some  superstitious  officer  of 
the  imperial  household  to  compel  the  lofty-crested  Frank  to 
lower  his  body  as  he  presented  himself  in  the  imperial  pres- 
ence. Eobert,  when  the  door  flew  open,  and  he  discovered 
in  the  background  the  Emperor  seated  upon  his  throne' 
amidst  a  glare  of  light,  which  was  broken  and  reflected  in 
ten  thousandfold  by  the  jewels  with  which  his  vestments 
were  covered,  stopped  short,  and  demanded  the  meaning  of 
introducing  him  through  so  low  an  arch  ?  Agelastes 
pointed  to  the  Emperor,  by  way  of  shifting  from  himself 
a  question  which  he  could  not  have  answered.  The  mute,  to 
apologize  for  his  silence,  yawned,  and  showed  the  loss  of  his 
tongue. 

'^  Holy  Virgin  ! "  said  the  Countess,  ''  what  can  these  un- 
happy Africans  have  done,  to  have  deserved  a  condemnation 
which  involves  so  cruel  a  fate  ?" 

''The  hour  of  retribution  is  perhaps  come,'*  said  the 
Count,  in  a  displeased  tone,  while  Agelastes,  with  such 
hurry  as  time  and  place  permitted,  entered,  making  his 
prostrations  and  genuflexions,  little  doubting  that  the  Frank 
must  follow  him,  and  to  do  so  must  lower  his  body  to  the 
Emperor.  The  Count,  however,  in  the  height  of  displeas- 
ure at  the  trick  which  he  conceived  had  been  intended  him, 
turned  himself  round  and  entered  the  presence-chamber 
with  his  back  purposely  turned  to  the  sovereign,  and  did  not 
face  Alexius  until  he  reached  the  middle  of  the  apartment, 
when  he  was  joined  by  the  Countess,  who  had  made  her  ap- 
proach in  a  more  seemly  manner.  The  Emperor,  who  had 
prepared  to  acknowledge  the  Count's  expected  homage  in 
the  most  gracious  manner,  found  himself  now  even  more 
unpleasantly  circumstanced  than  when  this  uncompromis- 
ing Frank  had  usurped  the  royal  throne  in  the  course  of  the 
day. 

The  officers  and  nobles  who  stood  around,  though  a  very 
select  number,  were  more  numerous  than  usual,  as  the  meet- 
ing was  not  held  for  counsel,  but  merely  for  state.     These 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  177 

assumed  such  an  appe^-rance  of  mingled  displeasure  and  con- 
fusion as  might  best  suit  with  the  perplexity  of  Alexius, 
while  the  wily  features  of  the  Norman-Italian,  Bohemond  of 
Tarentum,  who  was  also  present,  had  a  singular  mixture  of 
fantastical  glee  and  derision.  It  is  the  misfortune  of  the 
weaker  on  such  occasions,  or  at  least  the  more  timid,  to  be 
obliged  to  take  the  petty  part  of  winking  hard,  as  if  not 
able  to  see  what  they  cannot  avenge. 

Alexius  made  the  signal  that  the  ceremonial  of  the  grand 
reception  should  immediately  commence.  Instantly  the 
lions  of  Solomon,  which  had  been  newly  furbished,  raised 
their  heads,  erected  their  manes,  brandished  their  tails,  until 
they  excited  the  imagination  of  Count  Robert,  who,  being 
already  on  fire  at  the  circumstances  of  his  reception,  con- 
ceived the  bellowing  of  these  automata  to  be  the  actual  an- 
nunciation of  immediate  assault.  Whether  the  lions  whose 
forms  he  beheld  were  actually  lords  of  the  forest,  whether 
they  were  mortals  who  had  suffered  transformation,  whether 
they  were  productions  of  the  skill  of  an  artful  juggler  or 
profound  naturalist,  the  Count  neither  knew  nor  cared. 
All  that  he  thought  of  the  danger  was,  that  it  was  worthy 
of  his  courage  ;  nor  did  his  heart  permit  him  a  moment's 
irresolution.  He  strode  to  the  nearest  lion,  which  seemed 
in  the  act  of  springing  up,  and  said,  in  a  tone  loud  and  for- 
midable as  its  own,  '^How  now,  dog  \"  At  the  same  time 
he  struck  the  figure  with  his  clenched  fist  and  steel  gauntlet 
with  so  much  force  that  its  head  burst,  and  the  steps  and 
carpet  of  the  throne  were  covered  with  wheels,  springs,  and 
other  machinery,  which  had  been  the  means  of  producing 
its  mimic  terrors. 

On  this  display  of  the  real  nature  of  the  cause  of  his  anger, 
Count  Robert  could  not  but  feel  a  little  ashamed  of  having 
given  way  to  passion  on  such  an  occasion.  He  was  still 
more  confused  when  Bohemond,  descending  from  his  station 
near  the  Emperor,  addressed  him  in  the  Frank  language — 
"  You  have  done  a  gallant  deed,  truly.  Count  Robert,  in 
freeing  the  court  of  Byzantium  from  an  object  of  fear  which 
has  long  been  used  to  frighten  peevish  children  and  unruly' 
barbarians  ! " 

Enthusiasm  has  no  greater  enemy  than  ridicule.  *'  Why, 
then,''  said  Count  Robert,  blushing  deeply  at  the  same  time, 
'^  did  they  exhibit  its  fantastic  terrors  to  me  ?  I  am  neither 
child  nor  barbarian." 

"  Address  yourself  to  the  Emperor,  then,  as  an  intelligent 
man,"  answered  Bohemond.     *'  Say  something  to  him  in 

12 


178  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

excuse  of  your  conduct,  and  show  thaf  our  bravery  has  not 
entirely  run  away  with  our  common  sense.  And  hark  you 
also,  while  I  have  a  moment's  speech  of  you  :  do  you  and 
your  wife  heedfully  follow  my  example  at  supper/'  These 
words  were  spoken  with  a  significant  tone  and  correspond- 
ing look. 

The  opinion  of  Bohemond,  from  his  long  intercourse, 
both  in  peace  and  war,  with  the  Grecian  Emperor,  gave  him 
great  influence  with  the  other  crusaders,  and  Count  Robert 
yielded  to  his  advice.  He  turned  towards  the  Emperor 
with  something  liker  an  obeisance  than  he  had  hitherto  paid. 
''  I  crave  your  pardon,''  he  said  '^^for  breaking  that  gilded 
piece  of  pageantry ;  but,  in  sooth,  the  wonders  of  sorcery 
and  the  portents  of  accomplished  and  skilful  jugglers  are  so 
numerous  in  this  country  that  one  does  not  clearly  dis- 
tinguish what  is  true  from  what  is  false,  or  what  is  real  from 
what  is  illusory." 

The  Emperor,  notwithstanding  the  presence  of  mind  for 
which  he  was  remarkable,  and  the  courage  in  which  he  was 
not  held  by  his  countrymen  to  be  deficient,  received  this 
apology  somewhat  awkwardly.  Perhaps  the  rueful  complai- 
sance with  which  he  accepted  the  Count's  apology  might  be 
best  compared  to  that  of  a  lady  of  the  present  day  when  an 
awkward  guest  has  broken  a  valuable  piece  of  china.  He 
muttered  something  about  the  machines  having  been  long 
preserved  in  the  imperial  family,  as  being  made  on  the  model 
of  those  which  guarded  the  throne  of  the  wise  king  of  Israel ; 
to  which  the  blunt,  plain-spoken  Count  expressed  his  doubt 
in  reply,  whether  the  wisest  prince  in  the  world  ever  con- 
descended to  frighten  his  subjects  or  guests  by  the  mimic 
roarings  of  a  wooden  lion.  '^  If,"  said  he,  ''  I  too  hastily 
took  it  for  a  living  creature,  I  have  had  the  worst,  by 
damaging  my  excellent  gauntlet  in  dashing  to  pieces  its 
timber  skull." 

The  Emperor,  after  a  little  more  had  been  said,  chiefly  on 
the  same  subject,  proposed  that  they  should  pass  to  the 
banquet-room.  Marshaled,  accordingly,  by  the  grand  sewer 
of  the  imperial  table,  and  attended  by  all  present,  excepting 
the  Emperor  and  the  immediate  members  of  his  family,  the 
Frankish  guests  were  guided  through  a  labyrinth  of  apart- 
ments, each  of  which  was  filled  with  wonders  of  nature  and 
art,  calculated  to  enhance  their  opinion  of  the  wealth  and 
grandeur  which  had  assembled  together  so  much  that  was 
wonderful.  Their  passage,  being  necessarily  slow  and  in- 
terrupted, gave   the   Emperor  time   to   change   his   dress. 


COUNT  BOBEBT  OF  PABIS  179 

according  to  the  ritual  of  his  court,  which  did  not  permit 
his  appearing  twice  in  the  same  vesture  before  the  same 
spectators.  He  took  the  opportunity  to  summon  Agelastes 
into  his  presence,  and,  that  their  conference  might  be  secret, 
he  used,  in  assisting  his  toilet,  the  agency  of  some  of  the 
mutes  destined  for  the  service  of  the  interior. 

The  temper  of  Alexius  Comnenus  was  considerably  moved, 
although  it  was  one  of  the  peculiarities  of  his  situation  to  be 
ever  under  the  necessity  of  disguising  the  emotions  of  his 
mind,  and  of  affecting,  in  presence  of  his  subjects,  a  supe- 
riority to  human  passion  which  he  was  far  from  feeling.  It 
was  therefore  with  gravity,  and  even  reprehension,  that  he 
asked,  '^  By  whose  error  it  was  that  the  wily  Bohemond, 
half-Italian  and  half-Norman,  was  present  at  this  interview  ? 
Surely,  if  there  be  one  in  the  crusading  army  likely  to  con- 
duct that  foolish  youth  and  his  wife  behind  the  scenes  of  the 
exhibition  by  which  we  hoped  to  impose  upon  them,  the 
Count  of  Tarentum,  as  he  entitles  himself,  is  that  person.^' 

"  It  was  that  old  man,^'  said  Agelastes,  '^  if  I  may  reply 
and  live — Michael  Cantacuzene,  who  deemed  that  his  pres- 
ence was  peculiarly  desired :  but  he  returns  to  the  camp 
this  very  night.'' 

'^  Yes,"  said  Alexius,  "  to  inform  Godfrey  and  the  rest  of 
the  crusaders  that  one  of  the  boldest  and  most  highly  es- 
teemed of  their  number  is  left,  with  his  wife,  a  hostage  in 
our  imperial  city,  and  to  bring  back,  perhaps,  an  alterna- 
tive of  instant  war,  unless  they  are  delivered  up  ! '' 

**If  it  is  your  Imperial  Highnesses  will  to  think  so,''  said 
Agelastes,  ^'^you  can  suffer  Count  Eobert  and  his  wife  to 
return  to  the  camp  with  the  Italian-Norman." 

^^What!"  answered  the  Emperor,  ^'and  so  lose  all  the 
fruits  of  an  enterprise  the  preparations  for  which  have 
already  cost  us  so  much  in  actual  expense  ;  and,  were  our 
heart  made  of  the  same  stuff  with  that  of  ordinary  mortals, 
would  have  cost  us  so  much  more  in  vexation  and  anxiety  ? 
No — no ;  issue  warning  to  the  crusaders  who  are  still  on  the 
hither  side  that  farther  rendering  of  homage  is  dispensed 
with,  and  that  they  repair  to  the  quays  on  the  banks  of  the 
Bosphorus  by  peep  of  light  to-morrow.  Let  our  admiral,  as 
he  values  his  head,  pass  every  man  of  them  over  to  the 
farther  side  before  noon.  Let  there  be  largesses,  a  princely 
banquet  on  the  farther  bank — all  that  may  increase  their 
anxiety  to  pass.  Then,  Agelastes,  we  will  trust  to  ourselves 
to  meet  this  additional  danger,  either  by  bribing  the  ve- 
nality of  Bohemond  or  by  bidding  defiance  to  the  crusaders. 
Their  forces  are  scattered,  and  the  chief  of  them,  with  the 


180  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

leaders  themselves,  are  all  now — or  by  far  the  greater  part — 
on  the  east  side  of  the  Bosphorus.  And  now  to  the  banquet, 
seeing  that  the  change  of  dress  has  been  made  sufficient  to 
answer  the  statutes  of  the  household,  since  our  ancestors 
chose  to  make  rules  for  exhibiting  us  to  our  subjects  as 
priests  exhibit  their  images  at  their  shrines." 

*'  Under  grant  of  life,"  said  Agelastes,  ''  it  was  not  done 
inconsiderately,  but  in  order  that  the  emperor,  ruled  ever  by 
the  same  laws  from  father  to  son,  might  ever  be  regarded  as 
something  beyond  the  common  laws  of  humanity — the  divine 
image  of  a  saint,  therefore,  rather  than  a  human  being." 

"  We  know  it,  good  Agelastes,"  answered  the  Emperor, 
with  a  smile,  '*  and  we  are  also  aware  that  many  of  our  sub- 
jects, like  the  worshipers  of  Bel  in  Holy  Writ,  treat  us  so  far  as 
an  image  as  to  assist  us  in  devouring  the  revenues  of  our  prov- 
inces, which  are  gathered  in  our  name  and  for  our  use.  These 
things  we  now  only  touch  lightly,  the  time  not  suiting  them." 

Alexius  left  the  secret  council  accordingly,  after  the  order 
for  the  passage  of  the  crusaders  had  been  written  out  and 
subscribed  in  due  form,  and  in  the  sacred  ink  of  the  impe- 
rial chancery. 

Meantime,  the  rest  of  the  company  had  arrived  in  a  hall 
which,  like  the  other  apartments  in  the  palace,  was  most 
tastefully  as  well  as  gorgeously  fitted  up,  except  that  a  table, 
which  presented  a  princely  banquet,  might  have  been 
deemed  faulty  in  this  respect,  that  the  dishes,  which  were 
most  splendid,  both  in  the  materials  of  which  they  were 
composed  and  in  the  viands  which  they  held,  were  elevated 
by  means  of  feet,  so  as  to  be  upon  a  level  with  female  guests 
as  they  sat,  and  with  men  as  they  lay  recumbent,  at  the 
banquet  which  it  offered. 

Around  stood  a  number  of  black  slaves  richly  attired, 
while  the  grand  sewer,  Michael  Cantacuzene,  arranged  the 
strangers  with  his  golden  wand,  and  conveyed  orders  to 
them,  by  signs,  that  all  should  remain  standing  around  the 
table  until  a  signal  should  be  given. 

The  upper  end  of  the  board,  thus  furnished  and  thus  sur- 
rounded, was  hidden  by  a  curtain  of  muslin  and  silver,  which 
fell  from  the  top  of  the  arch  under  which  the  upper  part 
seemed  to  pass.  On  this  curtain  the  sewer  kept  a  wary  eye  ; 
and  when  he  observed  it  slightly  shake,  he  waved  his  wand 
of  office,  and  all  expected  the  result. 

As  if  self-moved,  the  mystic  curtain  arose,  and  discovered 
behind  it  a  throne  eight  steps  higher  than  the  end  of  the 
table,  decorated  in  the  most  magnificent  manner,  and  having 
placed  before  it  a  small  table  of  ivory  inlaid  with  silver. 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  ISl 

behind  which  was  seated  Alexins  Comnenus,  in  a  dress  en- 
tirely different  from  what  he  had  worn  in  the  conrse  of  the 
day,  and  so  much  more  gorgeous  than  his  former  vestments, 
that  it  seemed  not  unnatural  that  his  subjects  should  pros- 
trate themselves  before  a  figure  so  splendid.  His  wife,  his 
daughter,  and  his  son-in-law  the  Caesar  stood  behind  him 
with  faces  bent  to  the  ground,  and  it  was  with  deep  humility 
that,  descending  from  the  throne  at  the  Emperor^s  command, 
they  mingled  with  the  guests  of  the  lower  table,  and,  exalted 
as  they  were,  proceeded  to  the  festive  board  at  the  signal  of 
the  grand  sewer  ;  so  that  they  could  not  be  said  to  partake 
of  the  repast  with  the  Emperor  nor  to  be  placed  at  the  im- 
perial table,  although  they  supped  in  his  presence,  and  were 
encouraged  by  his  repeated  request  to  them  to  make  good 
cheer.  No  dishes  presented  at  the  lower  table  were  offered 
at  the  higher  ;  but  wines  and  more  delicate  sorts  of  food, 
which  arose  before  the  Emperor  as  if  by  magic,  and  seemed 
designed  for  his  own  proper  use,  were  repeatedly  sent,  by  his 
special  directions,  to  one  or  other  of  the  guests  whom  Alexius 
delighted  to  honor,  among  these  the  Franks  being  par- 
ticularly distinguished. 

The  behavior  of  Bohemond  was  on  this  occasion  particu- 
larly remarkable. 

Count  Kobert,  who  kept  an  eye  upon  him,  both  from  his 
recent  words  and  owing  to  an  expressive  look  which  he  once 
or  twice  darted  towards  him,  observed,  that  in  no  liquors  or 
food,  not  even  those  sent  from  the  Emperor's  own  table,  did 
this  astucious  prince  choose  to  indulge.  A  piece  of  bread, 
taken  from  the  canister  at  random,  and  a  glass  of  pure  water 
was  the  only  refreshment  of  which  he  was  pleased  to  partake. 
His  alleged  excuse  was  the  veneration  due  to  the  Holy  Festival 
of  the  Advent,  which  chanced  to  occur  that  very  night,  and 
which  both  the  Greek  and  Latin  rule  agreed  to  hold  sacred. 

"  I  had  not  expected  this  of  you.  Sir  Bohemond,"  said  the 
Emperor,  '^  that  you  should  have  refused  my  personal  hos- 
pitality at  my  own  board,  on  the  very  day  on  which  you 
honored  me  by  entering  into  my  service  as  vassal  for  the 
principality  of  Antioch." 

*'  Antioch  is  not  yet  conquered,"  said  Sir  Bohemond  ; 
'^  and  conscience,  dread  sovereign,  must  always  have  its  ex- 
ceptions in  whatever  temporal  contracts  we  may  engage." 

"  Come,  gentle  count,"  said  the  Emperor,  who  obviously 
regarded  Bohemond's  inhospitable  humor  as  something  aris- 
ing more  from  suspicion  than  devotion,  "  we  invite,  though 
it  is  not  our  custom,  our  children,  our  noble  guests,  and  our 
principal  officers  here  present  to  a  general  carouse.     Fill  the 


182  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

cups  called  the  Nine  Muses  ;  let  tliem  be  brimful  of  tbe  wine 
which  is  said  to  be  sacred  to  the  imperial  lips/^ 

At  the  Emperor's  command  the  cups  were  filled  ;  they 
were  of  pure  gold,  and  there  was  richly  engraved  upon  each 
the  effigy  of  the  Muse  to  whom  it  was  dedicated. 

*' You  at  least/'  said  the  Emperor,  *^my  gentle  Count 
Robert — you  and  your  lovely  lady,  will  not  have  any  scruple 
to  pledge  your  imperial  host  ?  " 

"  If  that  scruple  is  to  imply  suspicion  of  the  provisions 
with  which  we  are  here  served,  I  disdain  to  nourish  such,'' 
said  Count  Robert.  '^If  it  is  a  sin  which  I  commit  by  tast- 
ing wine  to-night,  it  is  a  venial  one  ;  nor  shall  I  greatly 
augment  my  load  by  carrying  it,  with  the  rest  of  my  tres- 
passes, to  the  next  confessional." 

''  Will  you  then.  Prince  Bohemond,  not  be  ruled  by  the 
conduct  of  your  friend  ?  "  said  the  Emperor. 

"Methinks,"  replied  the  Norman-Italian,  '^my  friend 
might  have  done  better  to  have  been  ruled  by  mine  ;  but  be 
it  as  his  wisdom  pleases.  The  flavor  of  such  exquisite  wine 
is  sufficient  for  me." 

So  saying,  he  emptied  the  wine  into  another  goblet,  and 
seemed  alternately  to  admire  the  carving  of  the  cup  and  the 
flavor  of  what  it  had  lately  contained. 

'^  You  are  right.  Sir  Bohemond,"  said  the  Emperor,  ^Hhe 
fabric  of  that  cup  is  beautiful ;  it  was  done  by  one  of  the 
ancient  gravers  of  Greece.  The  boasted  cup  of  Nestor,  which 
Homer  has  handed  down  to  us,  was  a  good  deal  larger  per- 
haps, but  neither  equaled  these  in  the  value  of  the  material 
nor  the  exquisite  beauty  of  the  workmanship.  Let  each  one, 
therefore,  of  my  stranger  guests  accept  of  the  cup  which  he 
either  has  or  might  have  drunk  out  of,  as  a  recollection  of 
me ;  and  may  the  expedition  against  the  infidels  be  as  propi- 
tious as  their  confidence  and  courage  deserve  ! " 

"  If  I  accept  your  gift,  mighty  emperor,"  said  Bohemond, 
"^  it  is  only  to  atone  for  the  apparent  discourtesy,  when  my 
devotion  compels  me  to  decline  your  imperial  pledge,  and  to 
show  you  that  we  part  on  the  most  intimate  terms  of 
friendship." 

So  saying,  he  bowed  deeply  to  the  Emperor,  who  answered 
him  with  a  smile,  into  which  was  thrown  a  considerable 
portion  of  sarcastic  expression. 

^'  And  I,"  said  the  Count  of  Paris,  ''  having  taken  upon 
my  conscience  the  fault  of  meeting  your  imperial  pledge, 
may  stand  excused  from  incurring  the  blame  of  aiding  to 
dismantle  your  table  of  these  curious  drinking-cups.     We 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  183 

empty  them  to  your  health,  and  we  canuot  in  any  other 
respect  profit  by  them/' 

'^  But  Prince  Bohemond  can/*  said  the  Emperor  ;  ''  to 
whose  quarters  they  shall  be  carried,  sanctioned  by  your 
generous  use.  And  we  have  still  a  set  for  you,  and  for  your 
lovely  countess,  equal  to  that  of  the  Graces,  though  no 
longer  matching  in  number  the  nymphs  of  Parnassus.  The 
evening  bell  rings,  and  calls  us  to  remember  the  hour  of 
rest,  that  we  may  be  ready  to  meet  the  labors  of  to-morrow. '' 

The  party  then  broke  up  for  the  evening.  Bohemond  left 
the  palace  that  night,  not  forgetting  the  Muses,  of  whom  he 
was  not  in  general  a  devotee.  The  result  was,  as  the  wily 
Greek  had  intended,  that  he  had  established  between  Bohe- 
mond and  the  Count,  not  indeed  a  quarrel,  but  a  kind  of 
difference  of  opinion,  Bohemond  feeling  that  the  fiery  Count 
of  Paris  must  think  his  conduct  sordid  and  avaricious,  while 
Count  Eobert  was  far  less  inclined  than  before  to  rely  on 
him  as  a  counselor. 


CHAPTER  XV 

The  Count  of  Paris  and  his  lady  were  that  night  lodged  in 
the  Imperial  Palace  of  Blacquernal.  Their  apartments  were 
contiguous,  but  the  communication  between  them  was  cut 
off  for  the  night  by  the  mutual  door  being  locked  and  barred. 
They  marveled  somewhat  at  this  precaution.  The  obser- 
vance, however,  of  the  festival  of  the  church  was  pleaded  as 
an  admissible,  and  not  unnatural,  excuse  for  this  extraordi- 
nary circumstance.  Neither  the  Count  nor  his  lady  enter- 
tained, it  may  be  believed,  the  slightest  personal  fear  for 
anything  which  could  happen  to  them.  Their  attendants, 
Marcian  and  Agatha,  having  assisted  their  master  and  mis- 
tress in  the  performance  of  their  usual  offices,  left  them,  in 
order  to  seek  the  places  of  repose  assigned  to  them  among 
persons  of  their  degree. 

The  preceding  day  had  been  one  of  excitation,  and  of 
much  bustle  and  interest ;  perhaps,  also,  the  wine,  sacred 
to  the  imperial  lips,  of  which  Count  Robert  had  taken  a 
single,  indeed,  but  a  deep  draught,  was  more  potent  than 
the  delicate  and  high-flavored  juice  of  the  Gascogne  grape, 
to  which  he  was  accustomed  ;  at  any  rate,  it  seemed  to  him 
that,  from  the  time  he  felt  that  he  had  slept,  daylight 
ought  to  have  been  broad  in  his  chamber  when  he  awaked, 
and  yet  it  was  still  darkness  almost  palpable.  Somewhat 
surprised,  he  gazed  eagerly  around,  but  could  discern 
nothing,  except  two  balls  of  red  light  which  shone  from 
among  the  darkness  with  a  self-emitted  brilliancy,  like  the 
eyes  of  a  wild  animal  while  it  glares  upon  its  prey.  The 
Count  started  from  bed  to  put  on  his  armor,  a  necessary 
precaution  if  what  he  saw  should  really  be  a  wild  creature 
and  at  liberty  ;  but  the  instant  he  stirred,  a  deep  growl  was 
uttered,  such  as  the  Count  had  never  heard,  but  which 
might  be  compared  to  the  sound  of  a  thousand  monsters 
at  once ;  and,  as  the  symphony,  was  heard  the  clash  of 
iron  chains,  and  the  springing  of  a  monstrous  creature 
towards  the  bedside,  which  appeared,  however,  to  be  with- 
held by  some  fastening  from  attaining  the  end  of  its  bound. 
The  roars  which  it  uttered  now  ran  thick  on  each  other. 
They  were  most  tremendous,  and  must  have  been  heard 

184 


COUNT  BOBEBT  OF  PABI8  185 

throughout  the  whole  palace.  The  creature  seemed  to 
gather  itself  many  yards  nearer  to  the  bed  than  by  its  glar- 
ing eyeballs  it  appeared  at  first  to  be  stationed^,  and  how 
much  nearer,  or  what  degree  of  motion  might  place  him 
within  the  monster's  reach,  the  Count  was  totally  uncertain. 
Its  breathing  was  even  heard,  and  Count  Robert  thought  he 
felt  the  heat  of  its  respiration,  while  his  defenseless  limbs 
might  not  be  two  yards  distant  from  the  fangs  which  he 
heard  grinding  against  each  other,  and  the  claws  which  tore 
up  fragments  of  wood  from  the  oaken  floor.  The  Count  of 
Paris  was  one  of  the  bravest  men  who  lived  in  a  time  when 
bravery  was  the  universal  property  of  all  who  claimed  a  drop 
of  noble  blood,  and  the  knight  was  a  descendant  of  Charle- 
magne. He  was,  however,  a  man,  and  therefore  cannot  be 
said  to  have  endured  nnappalled  a  sense  of  danger  so  un- 
expected and  so  extraordinary.  But  his  was  not  a  sudden 
alarm  or  panic  ;  it  was  a  calm  sense  of  extreme  peril,  quali- 
fied by  a  resolution  to  exert  his  faculties  to  the  uttermost,  to 
save  his  life  if  it  were  possible.  He  withdrew  himself  with- 
in the  bed,  no  longer  a  place  of  rest,  being  thus  a  few  feet 
further  from  the  two  glaring  eyeballs  which  remained  so 
closely  fixed  upon  him  that,  in  spite  of  his  courage,  nature 
painfully  suggested  the  bitter  imagination  of  his  limbs  being 
mangled,  torn,  and  churned  with  their  life-blood,  in  the 
jaws  of  some  monstrous  beast  of  prey.  One  saving  thought 
alone  presented  itself  :  this  might  be  a  trial,  an  experiment 
of  the  philosopher  Agelastes,  or  of  the  Emperor  his  master, 
for  the  purpose  of  proving  the  courage  of  which  the  Chris- 
tians vaunted  so  highly,  and  punishing  the  thoughtless  in- 
sult which  the  Count  had  been  unadvised  enough  to  put 
upon  the  Emperor  the  preceding  day. 

^^  Well  is  it  said,"  he  reflected  in  his  agony,  '^  beard  not 
the  lion  in  his  den.  Perhaps  even  now  some  base  slave  de- 
liberates whether  I  have  yet  tasted  enough  of  the  preliminary 
agonies  of  death,  and  whether  he  shall  yet  slip  the  chain 
which  keeps  the  savage  from  doing  his  work.  Bat  come 
death  when  it  will,  it  shall  never  be  said  that  Count  Eobert 
was  heard  to  receive  it  with  prayers  for  compassion  or  with 
cries  of  pain  or  terror."  He  turned  his  face  to  the  wall,  and 
waited,  with  a  strong  mental  exertion,  the  death  which  he 
conceived  to  be  fast  approaching. 

His  first  feelings  had  been  unavoidably  of  a  selfish  nature. 
The  danger  was  too  instant,  and  of  a  description  too  horri- 
ble, to  admit  of  any  which  involved  a  more  comprehensive 
view  of  his  calamity  ;  and  other  reflections  of  a  more  distant 


186  WAVERLET  NOVELS 

kind  were  at  first  swallowed  up  in  the  all-engrossing  thought 
of  immediate  death.  But  as  his  ideas  became  clearer,  the 
safety  of  his  countess  rushed  upon  his  mind — what  might 
she  now  be  suffering  !  and,  while  he  was  subjected  to  a  trial 
so  extraordinary,  for  what  were  her  weaker  frame  and  female 
courage  reserved  ?  Was  she  still  within  a  few  yards  of  him, 
as  when  he  lay  down  the  last  night  ?  or  had  the  barbarians, 
who  had  devised  for  him  a  scene  so  cruel,  availed  them- 
selves of  his  and  his  lady's  incautious  confidence  to  inflict 
upon  her  some  villainy  of  the  same  kind,  or  even  yeb  more 
perfidious  ?  Did  she  sleep  or  wake,  or  could  she  sleep  within 
the  close  hearing  of  that  horrible  cry,  which  shook  all 
around  ?  He  resolved  to  utter  her  name,  warning  her,  if 
possible,  to  be  upon  her  guard,  and  to  answer  without  ven- 
turing rashly  into  the  apartment  which  contained  a  guest  so 
horribly  perilous. 

He  uttered,  therefore,  his  wife's  name,  but  in  trembling 
accents,  as  if  he  had  been  afraid  of  the  savage  beast  over- 
hearing him. 

''  Brenhilda — Brenhilda,  there  is  danger  ;  awake  and 
speak  to  me,  but  do  not  arise."  There  was  no  answer. 
"  What  am  I  become,"  he  said  to  himself,  "  that  I  call  upon 
Brenhilda  of  Aspramonte,  like  a  child  on  its  sleeping  nurse, 
and  all  because  there  is  a  wild  cat  in  the  same  room  with 
me  ?  Shame  on  thee.  Count  of  Paris !  Let  thy  arms  be 
rent  and  thy  spurs  be  hacked  from  thy  heels  !  What  ho  ! " 
he  cried  aloud,  but  still  with  a  tremulous  voice,  *'  Brenhilda, 
we  are  beset :  the  foe  are  upon  us.     Answer  me,  but  stir  not." 

A  deep  growl  from  the  monster  which  garrisoned  his 
apartment  was  the  only  answer.  The  sound  seemed  to  say, 
**  Thou  hast  no  hope  ; "  and  it  ran  to  the  knight's  bosom  as 
the  genuine  expression  of  despair. 

**  Perhaps,  however,  I  am  still  too  cold  in  making  my 
misery  known.     What,  ho  !  my  love — Brenhilda  ! " 

A  voice,  hollow  and  disconsolate  as  that  which  might 
have  served  an  inhabitant  of  the  grave,  answered  as  if  from 
a  distance.  "  What  disconsolate  wretch  art  thou,  who  ex- 
pectest  that  the  living  can  answer  thee  from  the  habitations 
of  the  dead?" 

"  I  am  a  Christian  man,  a  free  noble  of  the  kingdom  of 
France,"  answered  the  Count, — "  yesterday  the  captain  of 
five  hundred  men,  the  bravest  in  France — the  bravest,  that 
is,  who  breathe  mortal  air — and  I  am  here  without  a  glimpse 
of  light  to  direct  me  how  to  avoid  the  comer  in  which  lies 
a  wild  tiger-cat,  prompt  to  spring  upon  and  to  devour  me.** 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  187 

^'  Thou  art  an  example,"  replied  the  voice,  '*■  and  wilt  not 
long  be  the  last,  of  the  changes  of  fortune.  I,  who  am  now 
suffering  in  my  third  year,  was  that  mighty  Ursel  who 
rivaled  Alexius  Comnenus  for  the  crown  of  Greece,  was 
betrayed  by  my  confederates,  and  being  deprived  of  that 
eyesight  which  is  the  chief  blessing  of  humanity,  I  inhabit 
these  vaults,  no  distant  neighbor  of  the  wild  animals  by 
whom  they  are  sometimes  occupied,  and  whose  cries  of  joy 
I  hear  when  unfortunate  victims  like  thyself  are  delivered 
up  to  their  fury/' 

*' Didst  thou  not  then  hear,'*  said  Count  Kobert,  in  return, 
'^  a  warlike  guest  and  his  bride  conducted  hither  last  night, 
with  sounds  as  it  might  seem  of  bridal  music  ?  0,  Bren- 
hilda !  hast  thou,  so  young,  so  beautiful,  been  so  treacher- 
ously done  to  death  by  means  so  unutterably  horrible  ?" 

*' Think  not,''  answered  Ursel,  as  the  voice  had  called  its 
owner,  "  that  the  Greeks  pamper  their  wild  beasts  on  such 
lordly  fare.  For  their  enemies,  which  term  includes  not 
only  all  that  are  really  such,  but  all  those  whom  they  fear 
or  hate,  they  have  dungeons  whose  locks  never  revolve  ;  hot 
instruments  of  steel,  to  sear  the  eyeballs  in  the  head  ;  lions 
and  tigers,  when  it  pleases  them  to  make  a  speedy  end  of 
their  captives — but  these  are  only  for  the  male  prisoners. 
While  for  the  women,  if  they  be  young  and  beautiful,  the 
princes  of  the  land  have  places  in  their  bed  and  bower  ;  nor 
are  they  employed,  like  the  captives  of  Agamemnon's  host, 
to  draw  water  from  an  Argive  spring,  but  are  admired  and 
adored  by  those  whom  fate  has  made  the  lords  of  their 
destiny." 

*^  Such  shall  never  be  the  doom  of  Brenhilda,"  exclaimed 
Count  Robert :  "  her  husband  still  lives  to  assist  her,  and 
should  he  die,  she  knows  well  how  to  follow  him  without 
leaving  a  blot  in  the  epitaph  of  either." 

The  captive  did  not  immediately  reply,  and  a  short  pause 
ensued,  which  was  broken  by  TJrsel's  voice.  "  Stranger,'^ 
he  said,  ''  what  noise  is  that  I  hear  ?" 

"  Nay,  I  hear  nothing,"  said  Count  Robert. 

''  But  I  do,"  said  Ursel.  *'  The  cruel  deprivation  of  my 
eyesight  renders  my  other  senses  more  acute. " 

"  Disquiet  not  thyself  about  the  matter,  fellow-prisoner," 
answered  the  Count,  '*but  wait  the  event  in  silence." 

Suddenly  a  light  arose  in  the  apartment,  lurid,  red,  and 
smoky.  The  knight  had  bethought  him  of  a  flint  and 
match  which  he  usually  carried  about  him,  and  with  as 
little  noise  as  possible  had  lighted  the  torch  by  the  bedside  ; 


188  iVAVERLEY  NOVELS 

this  he  instantly  applied  to  the  curtains  of  his  bed,  which, 
being  of  thin  muslin,  were  in  a  moment  in  flames.  The 
knight  sprung  at  the  same  instanfc  from  the  bed.  The 
tiger,  for  such  it  was,  terrified  at  the  flame,  leaped  back- 
wards as  far  as  his  chain  would  permit,  heedless  of  anything 
save  this  new  object  of  terror.  Count  Eobert  upon  this 
seized  on  a  massive  wooden  stool,  which  was  the  only  offen- 
sive weapon  on  which  he  could  lay  his  hand,  and,  marking 
at  those  eyes  which  now  reflected  the  blaze  of  fire,  and 
which  had  recently  seemed  so  appalling,  he  discharged 
against  them  this  fragment  of  ponderous  oak,  with  a  force 
which  less  resembled  human  strength  than  the  impetus  with 
which  an  engine  hurls  a  stone.  He  had  employed  his 
instant  of  time  so  well,  and  his  aim  was  so  true,  that  the 
missile  went  right  to  the  mark  and  with  incredible  force. 
The  skull  of  the  tiger,  which  might  be,  perhaps,  somewhat 
exaggerated  if  described  as  being  of  the  very  largest  size, 
was  fractured  by  the  blow,  and  with  the  assistance  of  his 
dagger,  which  had  fortunately  been  left  with  him,  the 
French  count  despatched  the  monster,  and  had  the  satis- 
faction to  see  him  grin  his  last,  and  roll,  in  the  agony  of 
death,  those  eyes  which  were  lately  so  formidable. 

Looking  around  him,  he  discovered,  by  the  light  of  the 
fire  which  he  had  raised,  that  the  apartment  in  which  he 
now  lay  was  different  from  that  in  which  he  had  gone  to  bed 
overnight ;  nor  could  there  be  a  stronger  contrast  between 
the  furniture  of  both  than  the  flickering,  half-burnt  remains 
of  the  thin  muslin  curtains,  and  the  strong,  bare,  dungeon- 
looking  walls  of  the  room  itself,  or  the  very  serviceable 
wooden  stool,  of  which  he  had  made  such  good  use. 

The  knight  had  no  leisure  to  form  conclusions  upon  such 
a  subject.  He  hastily  extinguished  the  fire,  which  had, 
indeed,  nothing  that  it  could  lay  hold  of,  and  proceeded,  by 
the  light  of  the  flambeau,  to  examine  the  apartment  and  its 
means  of  entrance.  It  is  scarce  necessary  to  say,  that  he 
saw  no  communication  with  the  room  of  Brenhilda,  which 
convinced  him  that  they  had  been  separated  the  evening 
before,  under  pretense  of  devotional  scruples,  in  order  to 
accomplish  some  most  villainous  design  u^on  one  or  both  of 
them.  His  own  part  of  the  night's  adventure  we  have 
already  seen ;  and  success  so  far,  over  so  formidable  a 
danger,  gave  him  a  trembling  hope  that  Brenhilda,  by  her 
own  worth  and  valor,  would  be  able  to  defend  herself 
against  all  attacks  of  fraud  or  force  until  he  could  find  his 
way  to  her  rescue.     '*  I  should  have  paid  more  regard,"  he 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  189 

said,  ''to  Bohemond's  caution  last  night,  who,  I  think, 
intimated  to  me  as  plainly  as  if  he  had  spoke  it  in  direct 
terms  that  that  same  cup  of  wine  was  a  drugged  potion. 
But  then,  fie  upon  him  for  an  avaricious  hound  !  how  was 
it  possible  I  should  think  he  suspected  any  such  thing,  when 
he  spoke  not  out  like  a  man,  but,  for  sheer  coldness  of  heart 
or  base  self-interest,  suffered  me  to  run  the  risk  of  being 
poisoned  by  the  wily  despot  ?  " 

Here  he  heard  a  voice  from  the  same  quarter  as  before. 
''  Ho,  there  !  Ho,  stranger  !  Do  you  live,  or  have  you  been 
murdered  ?  What  means  this  stifling  smell  of  smoke  ?  For 
God's  sake,  answer  him  who  can  receive  no  information  from 
eyes  closed,  alas,  forever  ! " 

*^I  am  at  liberty,''  said  the  Count,  "and  the  monster 
destined  to  devour  me  has  groaned  its  last.  I  would,  my 
friend  Ursel,  since  such  is  thy  name,  thou  hadst  the  advan- 
tage of  thine  eyes,  to  have  borne  witness  to  yonder  combat ; 
it  had  been  worth  thy  while,  though  thou  shouldst  have  lost 
them  in  a  minute  afterwards,  and  it  would  have  greatly 
advantaged  whoever  shall  have  the  task  of  compiling  my 
history." 

While  he  gave  a  thought  to  that  vanity  which  strongly 
ruled  him,  he  lost  no  time  in  seeking  some  mode  of  escape 
from  the  dungeon,  for  by  that  means  only  might  he  hope  to 
recover  his  countess.  At  last  he  found  an  entrance  in  the 
wall,  but  it  was  strongly  locked  and  bolted.  "  I  have  found 
the  passage,"  he  called  out ;  ''  and  its  direction  is  the  same 
in  which  thy  voice  is  heard.  But  how  shall  I  undo  the 
door?" 

''  I'll  teach  thee  that  secret,"  said  Ursel.  ''  I  would  I 
could  as  easily  unlock  each  bolt  that  withholds  us  from  the 
open  air  ;  but  as  for  thy  seclusion  within  the  dungeon,  heave 
up  the  door  by  main  strength,  and  thou  shalt  lift  the  locks 
to  a  place  where,  pushing  then  the  door  from  thee,  the 
fastenings  will  find  a  grooved  passage  in  the  wall,  and  the 
door  itself  will  open.  Would  that  I  could  indeed  see  thee, 
not  only  because,  being  a  gallant  man,  thou  must  be  a  goodly 
sight,  but  also  because  I  should  thereby  know  that  I  was  not 
caverned  in  darkness  forever." 

While  he  spoke  thus,  the  Count  made  a  bundle  of  his 
armor,  from  which  he  missed  nothing  except  his  sword, 
Tranchefer,  and  then  proceeded  to  try  what  efforts  he  could 
make,  according  to  the  blind  man's  instructions,  to  open  the 
door  of  his  prison-house.  Pushing  in  a  direct  line  was,  he 
soon  found,  attended  with  no  effect ;  but  when  he  applied 


190  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

his  gigantic  strength,  and  raised  the  door  as  high  as  it  would 
go,  he  had  the  satisfaction  to  find  that  the  bolts  yielded, 
though  reluctantly.  A  space  had  been  cut  so  as  to  allow  them 
to  move  out  of  the  socket  into  which  they  had  been  forced ; 
and  without  the  turn  of  a  key,  but  by  a  powerful  thrust  for- 
wards, a  small  passage  was  left  open.  The  knight  entered, 
bearing  his  armor  in  his  hand. 

"  I  hear  thee,''  said  Ursel,  "  0  stranger !  and  am  aware 
thou  art  come  into  my  place  of  captivity.  For  three  years 
have  I  been  employed  in  cutting  these  grooves,  correspond- 
ing to  the  sockets  which  hold  these  iron  bolts,  and  preserving 
the  knowledge  of  the  secret  from  the  prison-keepers.  Twenty 
such  bolts,  perhaps,  must  be  sawn  through  ere  my  steps  shall 
approach  the  upper  air.  What  prospect  is  there  that  I  shall 
have  strength  of  mind  sufficient  to  continue  the  task  ?  Yet, 
credit  me,  noble  stranger,  I  rejoice  in  having  been  thus  far 
aiding  to  thy  deliverance  ;  for  if  Heaven  blesses  not,  in  any 
farther  degree,  our  aspirations  after  freedom,  we  may  still 
be  a  comfort  to  each  other,  while  tyranny  permits  our 
mutual  life.'' 

Count  Robert  looked  around,  and  shuddered  that  a  human 
being  should  talk  of  anything  approaching  to  comfort  con- 
nected with  his  residence  in  what  seemed  a  living  tomb. 
Ursel's  dungeon  was  not  above  twelve  feet  square,  vaulted  in 
the  roof,  and  strongly  built  in  the  walls  by  stones  which  the 
chisel  had  mortised  closely  together.  A  bed,  a  coarse  foot- 
stool, like  that  which  Robert  had  just  launched  at  the  head 
of  the  tiger,  and  a  table  of  equally  massive  materials,  were 
its  only  articles  of  furniture.  On  a  long  stone  above  the  bed 
were  these  few,  but  terrible,  words  : — ''  Zedekias  Ursel,  im- 
prisoned here  on  the  Ides  of  March,  a.d. .     Died  and 

interred  on  the  spot ."     A  blank  was  left  for  filling  up 

the  period.  The  figure  of  the  captive  could  hardly  be  dis- 
cerned amid  the  wildness  of  his  dress  and  dishabille.  The 
hair  of  his  head,  uncut  and  uncombed,  descended  in  elf-locks, 
and  mingled  with  a  beard  of  extravagant  length. 

'^  Look  on  me,"  said  the  captive,  ''  and  rejoice  •  that 
thou  canst  yet  see  the  wretched  condition  to  which  iron- 
hearted  tyranny  can  reduce  a  fellow-creature,  both  in  mortal 
existence  and  in  future  hope." 

"  Was  it- thou,"  said  Count  Robert,  whose  blood  ran  cold 
in  his  veins,  '^  that  hadst  the  heart  to  spend  thy  time  in 
sawing  through  the  blocks  of  stone  by  which  these  bolts  are 
secured  ?  " 

Alas  I "  said  Ursel,  ''  what  could  a  blind  man  do  ?  Busy 


t< 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  191 

I  must  be,  if  I  would  preserve  my  senses.  Great  as  the  labor 
was,  it  was  to  me  the  task  of  three  years  ;  nor  can  you  won- 
der that  I  should  have  devoted  to  it  my  whole  time,  when  I 
had  no  other  means  of  occupying  it.  Perhaps,  and  most 
likely,  my  dungeon  does  not  admit  the  distinction  of  day 
and  night  ;  but  a  distant  cathedral  clock  told  me  how  hour 
after  hour  fled  away,  and  found  me  expending  them  in  rub- 
bing one  stone  against  another.  But  when  the  door  gave 
way,  I  found  I  had  only  cut  an  access  into  a  prison  more 
strong  than  that  which  held  me.  I  rejoice,  nevertheless, 
since  it  has  brought  us  together,  given  thee  an  entrance  to 
my  dungeon,  and  me  a  companion  in  my  misery.^' 

'^  Think  better  than  that,"  said  Count  Eobert — ^'  think  of 
liberty — think  of  revenge.  I  cannot  believe  such  unjust 
treachery  will  end  successfully,  else  needs  must  I  say  the 
Heavens  are  less  just  than  priests  tell  us  of.  How  art  thou 
supplied  with  food  in  this  dungeon  of  thine  ?  " 

"  A  warder,"'  said  Ursel,  '^  and  who,  I  think,  understands 
not  the  Greek  language — at  least  he  never  either  answers  or 
addresses  me — brings  a  loaf  and  a  pitcher  of  water,  enough 
to  supply  my  miserable  life  till  two  days  are  past.  I  must, 
therefore,  pray  that  you  will  retire  for  a  space  into  the  next 
prison,  so  that  the  warder  may  have  no  means  of  knowing 
that  we  can  hold  correspondence  together." 

"I  see  not,"  said  Count  Eobert,  '^by  what  access  the  bar- 
barian, if  he  is  one,  can  enter  my  dungeon  without  passing 
through  yours  ;  but  no  matter,  I  will  retire  into  the  inner  or 
outer  room,  whichever  it  happens  to  be,  and  be  thou  then 
well  aware  that  the  warder  will  have  some  one  to  grapple 
with  ere  he  leaves  his  prison-work  to-day.  Meanwhile,  think 
thyself  dumb  as  thou  art  blind,  and  be  assured  that  the 
offer  of  freedom  itself  would  not  induce  me  to  desert  the 
cause  of  a  companion  in  adversity." 

"  Alas,"  said  the  old  man,  ^'  I  listen  to  thy  promises  as  I 
should  to  those  of  the  morning  gale,  which  tells  me  that  the 
sun  is  about  to  arise,  although  I  know  that  I  at  least  shall 
never  behold  it.  Thou  art  one  of  those  wild  and  undespair- 
ing  knights  whom  for  so  many  years  the  west  of  Europe  hath 
sent  forth  to  attempt  impossibilities,  and  from  thee,  there- 
fore, I  can  only  hope  for  such  a  fabric  of  relief  as  an  idle 
boy  would  blow  out  of  soap  bubbles." 

"  Think  better  of  us,  old  man,"  said  Count  Eobert,  re- 
tiring ;  ^^at  least  let  me  die  with  my  blood  warm,  and  be- 
lieving it  possible  for  me  to  be  once  more  united  to  m^ 
beloved  Brenhilda." 


192  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

So  saying,  he  retired  into  his  own  cell,  and  replaced  the 
door,  so  that  the  operations  of  Ursel,  which  indeed  were  only 
such  as  three  years'  solitude  could  have  achieved,  should 
escape  observation  when  again  visited  by  the  warder.  "  It 
is  ill  luck,"  said  he,  when  once  more  within  his  own  prison 
— for  that  in  which  the  tiger  had  been  secured  he  instinct- 
ively concluded  to  be  destined  for  him — ^'it  is  ill  luck  that 
I  had  not  found  a  young  and  able  fellow-captive,  instead  of 
one  decrepit  by  imprisonment,  blind,  and  broken  down  past 
exertion.  But  God's  will  be  done  !  I  will  not  leave  behind 
me  the  poor  wretch  whom  I  have  found  in  such  a  condition, 
though  he  is  perfectly  unable  to  assist  me  in  accomplishing 
my  escape,  and  is  rather  more  likely  to  retard  it.  Mean- 
time, before  we  put  out  the  torch,  let  us  see  if,  by  close 
examination,  we  can  discover  any  door  in  the  wall  save  that 
to  the  blind  man's  dungeon.  If  not,  I  much  suspect  that 
my  descent  has  been  made  through  the  roof.  That  cup  of 
wine — that  Muse,  as  they  called  it — had  a  taste  more  like 
medicine  than  merry  companions'  pledge." 

He  began  accordingly  a  strict  survey  of  the  walls,  which  he 
resolved  to  conclude  by  extinguishing  the  torch,  that  he 
might  take  the  person  who  should  enter  his  dungeon  dark- 
ling and  by  surprise.  For  a  similar  reason  he  dragged  into 
the  darkest  corner  the  carcass  of  the  tiger,  and  covered  it 
with  the  remains  of  the  bedclothes,  swearing,  at  the  same 
time,  that  a  half  tiger  should  be  his  crest  in  future,  if  he 
had  the  fortune,  which  his  bold  heart  would  not  suffer  him 
to  doubt,  of  getting  through  the  present  danger.  ^'But," 
he  added,  *^if  these  necromantic  vassals  of  hell  shall  raise 
the  devil  upon  me,  what  shall  I  do  then  ?  And  so  great  is 
the  chance  that  methinks  I  would  fain  dispense  with  ex- 
tinguishing the  flambeau.  Yet  it  is  childish  for  one  dubbed 
in  the  chapel  of  Our  Lady  of  the  Broken  Lances  to  make 
much  difference  between  a  light  room  and  a  dark  one.  Let 
them  come,  as  many  fiends  as  the  cell  can  hold,  and  we  shall 
see  if  we  receive  them  not  as  becomes  a  Christian  knight ; 
and  surely  Our  Lady,  to  whom  I  was  ever  a  true  votary,  will 
hold  it  an  acceptable  sacrifice  that  I  tore  myself  from  my 
Brenhilda,  even  for  a  single  moment,  in  honor  of  her  Advent, 
and  thus  led  the  way  for  our  wof ul  separation.  Fiends  !  I 
defy  ye  in  the  body  as  in  the  spirit,  and  I  retain  the  remains 
of  this  flambeau  until  some  more  convenient  opportunity. " 
He  dashed  it  against  the  wall  as  he  spoke,  and  then  quietly 
sat  down  in  a  corner  to  watch  what  should  next  happen. 

Thought  after  thought  chased  each  other  through  his 


COUNT  BOBERT  OF  PABIS  193 

mind.  His  confidence  in  his  wife's  fidelity,  and  his  trust  in 
her  uncommon  strength  and  activity,  were  the  greatest  com- 
forts which  he  had  ;  nor  could  her  danger  present  itself  to 
him  in  any  shape  so  terrible,  but  that  he  found  consolation 
in  these  reflections  :  ''She  is  pure,''  he  said,  ''as  the  dew 
of  heaven,  and  Heaven  will  not  abandon  its  own/' 
13 


CHAPTEB  XVI 

Strange  ape  of  man !  who  loathes  thee  while  he  scorns  thee  | 

Half  a  reproach  to  us  and  half  a  jest. 

What  fancies  can  be  ours  ere  we  have  pleasure 

In  viewing  our  own  form,  our  pride  and  passions. 

Reflected  m  a  shape  grotesque  as  thine  ? 


CouN^T  Robert  of  Paris,  having  ensconced  himself  behind 
the  ruins  of  the  bed,  so  that  he  could  not  well  be  observed, 
unless  a  strong  light  was  at  once  flung  upon  the  place  of  his 
retreat,  waited,  with  anxiety  how  and  in  what  manner  the 
warder  of  the  dungeon,  charged  with  the  task  of  bringing 
food  to  the  prisoners,  should  make  himself  visible  ;  nor  was 
it  long  ere  symptoms  of  his  approach  began  to  be  heard  and 
observed. 

A  light  was  partially  seen,  as  from  a  trap-door  opening  in 
the  roof,  and  a  voice  was  heard  to  utter  these  words  in 
Anglo-Saxon,  '^  Leap,  sirrah  ;  come,  no  delay ;  leap,  my 
good  Sylvan,  show  your  honor's  activity."  A  strange, 
chuckling,  hoarse  voice,  in  a  language  totally  unintelligible 
to  Count  Robert,  was  heard  to  respond,  as  if  disputing  the 
,  orders  which  were  received. 

"What,  sir,"  said  his  companion,  ''you  must  contest  the 
point,  must  you  ?  Nay,  if  thou  art  so  lazy,  I  must  give 
your  honor  a  ladder,  and  perhaps  a  kick,  to  hasten  youi 
journey."  Something  then,  of  very  great  size,  in  the  form 
of  a  human  being,  jumped  down  from  the  trap-door,  though 
the  height  might  be  above  fourteen  feet.  This  figure  wai 
gigantic,  being  upwards  of  seven  feet  high.  In  its  left  hana 
it  held  a  torch,  and  in  its  right  a  skein  of  fine  silk,  which, 
unwinding  itself  as  it  descended,  remained  unbroken,  though 
it  was  easy  to  conceive  it  could  not  have  afforded  a  creature 
so  large  any  support  in  his  descent  from  the  roof.  He 
alighted  with  perfect  safety  and  activity  upon  his  feet,  and,  as 
if  rebounding  from  the  floor,  he  sprung  upwards  again,  so 
as  almost  to  touch  the  roof.  In  this  last  gambaud  the  torch 
which  he  bore  was  extinguished ;  but  this  extraordinary 
warder  whirled  it  round  his  head  with  infinite  velocity,  so 

194 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  195 

that  it  again  ignited.  The  bearer,  who  appeared  to  intend 
the  accomplishment  of  this  object,  endeavored  to  satisfy 
himself  that  it  was  really  attained  by  approaching,  as  if 
cautiously,  its  left  hand  to  the  flame  of  the  torch.  This 
practical  experiment  seemed  attended  with  consequences 
which  the  creature  had  not  expected,  for  it  howled  with 
pain,  shaking  the  burnt  hand,  and  chattering  as  if  bemoan- 
ing itself. 

*^  Take  heed  there,  Sylyanus,"  said  the  same  voice  in 
Anglo-Saxon,  and  in  a  tone  of  rebuke.  '*  Ho,  there  !  mind 
thy  duty.  Sylvan.  Carry  food  to  the  blind  man,  and  stand 
not  there  to  play  thyself,  lest  I  trust  thee  not  again  alone  on 
such  an  errand.^' 

The  creature — for  it  would  have  been  rash  to  have  termed 
it  a  man — turning  its  eyes  upwards  to  the  place  from  whence 
the  voice  came,  answered  with  a  dreadful  grin  and  shaking 
of  its  fist,  yet  presently  began  to  undo  a  parcel,  and  rum- 
mage in  the  pockets  of  a  sort  of  jerkin  and  pantaloons 
which  it  wore,  seeking,  it  appeared,  a  bunch  of  keys,  which 
at  length  it  produced,  while  it  took  from  the  pocket  a  loaf 
of  bread.  Heating  the  stone  of  the  wall,  it  affixed  the  torch 
to  it  by  a  piece  of  wax,  and  then  cautiously  looked  out  for 
the  entrance  to  the  old  man's  dungeon,  which  it  opened  with 
a  key  selected  from  the  bunch.  Within  the  passage  it 
seemed  to  look  for  and  discover  the  handle  of  a  pump,  at 
which  it  filled  a  pitcher  that  it  bore,  and  bringing  back  the 
fragments  of  the  former  loaf,  and  remains  of  the  pitcher  of 
water,  it  eat  a  little,  as  if  it  were  in  sport,  and  very  soon, 
making  a  frightful  grimace,  flung  the  fragments  away.  The 
Count  of  Paris,  in  the  mean  while,  watched  anxiously  the 
proceedings  of  this  unknown  animal.  His  first  thought 
was,  that  the  creature,  whose  limbs  were  so  much  larger 
than  humanity,  whose  grimaces  were  so  frightful,  and 
whose  activity  seemed  supernatural,  could  be  no  other  than 
the  Devil  himself,  or  some  of  his  imps,  whose  situation  and 
office  in  those  gloomy  regions  seemed  by  no  means  hard  to 
conjecture.  The  human  voice,  however,  which  he  had 
heard  was  less  that  of  a  necromancer  conjuring  a  fiend  than 
that  of  a  person  giving  commands  to  a  wild  animal,  over 
whom  he  had,  by  training,  obtained  a  great  superiority. 

"A  shame  on  it,"  said  the  Count,  ^'  if  I  suffer  a  common 
jackanapes — for  such  I  take  this  devil-seeming  beast  to  be, 
although  twice  as  large  as  any  of  its  fellows  whom  I  have 
ever  seen — to  throw  an  obstacle  in  the  way  of  my  obtaining 
daylight  and  freedom  I    Let  us  but  watch,  and  the  chance 


196  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

is  that  we  make  that  furry  gentleman  our  guide  to  the  upper 

regions/' 

Meantime  the  creature,  which  rummaged  about  everj 
where,  at  length  discovered  the  body  of  the  tiger,  touched 
it,  stirred  it,  with  many  strange  motions,  and  seemed  to 
lament  and  wonder  at  its  death.  At  once  it  seemed  struck 
with  the  idea  that  some  one  must  have  slain  it,  and  Count 
Robert  had  the  mortification  to  see  it  once  more  select  the 
key,  and  spring  towards  the  door  of  Ursers  prison  with  such 
alacrity  that,  had  its  intentions  been  to  strangle  him,  it 
would  have  accomplished  its  purpose  before  the  interference 
of  Count  Robert  could  have  prevented  its  revenge  taking 
place.  Apparently,  however,  it  reflected  that,  for  reasons 
which  seemed  satisfactory,  the  death  of  the  tiger  could  not 
be  caused  by  the  unfortunate  Ursel,  but  had  been  accom- 
plished by  some  one  concealed  within  the  outer  prison. 

Slowly  grumbling,  therefore,  and  chattering  to  itself,  and 
peeping  anxiously  into  every  corner,  the  tremendous  crea- 
ture, so  like,  yet  so  very  unlike,  to  the  human  form,  came 
stealing  along  the  walls,  moving  whatever  he  thought  could 
seclude  a  man  from  his  observation.  Its  extended  legs  and 
arms  were  protruded  forward  with  great  strides,  and  its  sharp 
eyes,  on  the  watch  to  discover  the  object  of  its  search, 
kept  prying,  with  the  assistance  of  the  torch,  into  every 
corner. 

Considering  the  vicinity  of  Alexius's  collection  of  ani- 
mals, the  reader,  by  this  time,  can  have  little  doubt  that 
the  creature  in  question,  whose  appearance  seemed  to  the 
Count  of  Paris  so  very  problematical,  was  a  specimen  of  that 
gigantic  species  of  ape — if  it  is  not  indeed  some  animal 
more  nearly  allied  to  ourselves — to  which,  I  believe,  natur- 
alists have  given  the  name  of  the  ourang-outang.  This 
creature  differs  from  the  rest  of  its  fraternity,  in  being 
comparatively  more  docile  and  serviceable  ;  and  though 
possessing  the  power  of  imitation  which  is  common  to  the 
whole  race,  yet  making  use  of  it  less  in  mere  mockery  than 
in  the  desire  of  improvement  and  instruction  perfectly 
unknown  to  his  brethren.  The  aptitude  which  it  possesses 
of  acquiring  information  is  surprisingly  great,  and  prob- 
ably, if  placed  in  a  favorable  situation,  it  might  admit  of 
being  domesticated  in  a  considerable  degree ;  but  such 
advantages  the  ardor  of  scientific  curiosities  has  never 
afforded  this  creature.  The  last  we  have  heard  of  was 
seen,  we  believe,  in  the  Island  of  Sumatra ;  it  was  of  great 
size  and  strength,  and   upwards   of  seven  feet   high.     It 


COUNT  EOBERT  OF  PARIS  197 

died  defending  desperately  its  innocent  life  against  a  party 
of  Europeans,  who,  we  cannot  help  thinking,  might  have 
better  employed  the  superiority  which  their  knowledge  gave 
them  over  the  poor  native  of  the  forest.  Ifc  was  probably 
this  creature,  seldom  seen,  but  when  once  seen  never  forgot- 
ten, which  occasioned  the  ancient  belief  in  the  god  Pan, 
with  his  sylvans  and  satyrs.  Nay,  but  for  the  gift  of  speech, 
which  we  cannot  suppose  any  of  the  family  to  have  attained, 
we  should  have  believed  the  satyr  seen  by  St.  Anthony  in 
the  desert  to  have  belonged  to  this  tribe. 

We  can,  therefore,  the  more  easily  credit  the  annals  which 
attest  that  the  collection  of  natural  history  belonging  to 
Alexius  Comnenus  preserved  an  animal  of  this  kind,  which 
had  been  domesticated  and  reclaimed  to  a  surprising  extent, 
and  showed  a  degree  of  intelligence  never  perhaps  to  be 
attained  in  any  other  case.  These  explanations  being 
premised,  we  return  to  the  thread  of  our  story. 

The  animal  advanced  with  long,  noiseless  steps  ;  its  shadow 
on  the  wall,  when  it  held  the  torch  so  as  to  make  it  visible  to 
the  Frank,  forming  another  fiend-resembling  mimicry  of  its 
own  large  figure  and  extravagant-looking  members.  Count 
Robert  remained  in  his  lurking-hole,  in  no  hurry  to  begin  a 
stri.3  of  which  it  was  impossible  to  foretell  the  end.  In  the 
meirii  time,  the  man  of  the  woods  came  nigh,  and  every  step 
by  V  hich  he  approached  caused  the  Count^s  heart  to  vibrate 
aim  «3t  audibly,  at  the  idea  of  meeting  danger  of  a  nature  so 
stra  ge  and  new.  At  length  the  creature  approached  the 
bed  ,  his  hideous  eyes  were  fixed  on  those  of  the  Count ;  and, 
as  much  surprised  at  seeing  him  as  Robert  was  at  the  meet- 
ing, he  skipped  about  fifteen  paces  backwards  at  one  spring, 
with  a  cry  of  instinctive  terror,  and  then  advanced  on  tiptoe, 
holding  his  torch  as  far  forward  as  he  could  between  him 
and  the  object  of  his  fears,  as  if  to  examine  him  at  the  safest 
possible  distance.  Count  Robert  caught  up  a  fragment  of 
the  bedstead,  large  enough  to  form  a  sort  of  club,  with  which 
he  menaced  the  native  of  the  wilds. 

Apparently  this  poor  creature^s  education,like  education  of 
most  kinds,  had  not  been  acquired  without  blows,  of  which 
the  recollection  was  as  fresh  as  that  of  the  lessons  which  they 
enforced.  Sir  Robert  of  Paris  was  a  man  at  once  to  discover 
and  to  avail  himself  of  the  advantage  obtained  by  finding 
that  he  possessed  a  degree  of  ascendency  over  his  enemy 
which  he  had  not  suspected.  He  erected  his  warlike  figure, 
assumed  a  step  as  if  triumphant  in  the  lists,  and  advanced 
threatening  his  enemy  with  his    club,  as  he  would  have 


168         ,  WA  VERLEY  NO  VEL8 

menaced  his  antagonist  with  the  redoubtable  Tranchefer. 
The  man  of  the  woods,  on  the  other  hand,  obviously  gave 
way,  and  converted  his  cautious  advance  into  a  retreat  no  less 
cautious.  Yet  apparently  the  creature  had  not  renounced 
some  plan  of  resistance  :  he  chattered  in  an  angry  and  hostile 
tone,  held  out  his  torch  in  opposition,  and  seemed  about  to 
strike  the  crusader  with  it.  Count  Robert,  however,  deter- 
mined to  take  his  opponent  at  advantage,  while  his  fears 
influenced  him,  and  for  this  purpose  resolved,  if  possible,  to 
deprive  him  of  his  natural  superiority  in  strength  and  agility, 
which  his  singular  form  showed  he  could  not  but  possess  over 
the  human  species.  A  master  of  his  weapon,  therefore,  the 
Count  menaced  his  savage  antagonist  with  a  stroke  on  the 
right  side  of  his  head,  but  suddenly  averting  the  blow,  struck 
him  with  his  whole  force  on  the  left  temple,  and  in  an  instant 
was  kneeling  above  him,  when,  drawing  his  dagger,  he  was 
about  to  deprive  him  of  life. 

The  ourang-outang,  ignorant  of  the  nature  of  this  new 
weapon  with  which  he  was  threatened,  attempted  at  one  and 
the  same  moment  to  rise  from  the  ground,  overthrow  his 
antagonist,  and  wrench  the  dagger  from  his  grasp.  In  the 
first  attempt  he  would  probably  have  succeeded  ;  and  as  it 
was,  he  gained  his  knees,  and  seemed  likely  to  prevail  in  the 
struggle,  when  he  became  sensible  that  the  knight,  drawing 
his  poniard  sharply  through  his  grasp,  had  cut  his  paw  severe- 
ly, and  seeing  him  aim  the  trenchant  weapon  at  his  throat, 
became  probably  aware  that  his  enemy  had  his  life  at  com- 
mand. He  suffered  himself  to  be  borne  backwards  without 
further  resistance,  with  a  deep  wailing  and  melancholy  cry, 
having  in  it  something  human,  which  excited  compassion. 
He  covered  his  eyes  with  the  unwounded  hand,  as  if  he 
would  have  hid  from  his  own  sight  the  death  which  seemed 
approaching  him. 

Count  Eobert,  notwithstanding  his  military  frenzy,  was, 
in  ordinary  matters,  a  calm-tempered  and  mild  man,  and  par- 
ticularly benevolent  to  the  lower  classes  of  creation.  The 
thought  rushed  through  his  mind,  "  Why  take  from  this 
unfortunate  monster  the  breath  which  is  in  its  nostrils,  after 
which  it  cannot  know  another  existence  ?  And  then,  may 
it  not  be  some  prince  or  knight  changed  to  this  grotesque 
shape,  that  it  may  help  to  guard  these  vaults,  and  the  won- 
derful adventures  that  attach  to  them  ?  Should  I  not,  then, 
be  guilty  of  a  crime  by  slaying  him,  when  he  has  rendered 
himself,  rescue  or  no  rescue,  which  he  has  done  as  completely 
as  his  transformed  figure  permits  ;   and  if  he  be  actually  a 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  199 

bestial  creature,  may  lie  not  have  some  touch  of  gratitude  ? 
I  have  heard  the  minstrels  sing  the  lay  of  Androcles  and  the 
Lion,     I  will  be  on  my  guard  with  him/' 

So  saying,  he  rose  from  above  the  man  of  the  woods,  and 
permitted  him  also  to  arise.  The  creature  seemed  sensible 
of  the  clemency,  for  he  muttered,  in  a  low  and  supplicating 
tone,  which  seemed  at  once  to  crave  for  mercy  and  to  return 
thanks  for  what  he  had  already  experienced.  He  wept  too, 
as  he  saw  the  blood  dropping  from  his  wound,  and  with  an 
anxious  countenance,  which  had  more  of  the  human  now 
that  it  was  composed  into  an  expression  of  pain  and  melan- 
choly, seemed  to  await  in  terror  the  doom  of  a  being  more 
powerful  than  himself. 

The  pocket  which  the  knight  wore  under  his  armor, 
capable  of  containing  bmt  few  things,  had,  however,  some 
vulnerary  balsam,  for  which  its  owner  had  often  occasion,  a 
little  lint,  and  a  small  roll  of  linen  ;  these  the  knight  took 
out,  and  motioned  to  the  animal  to  hold  forth  his  wounded 
hand.  The  man  of  the  woods  obeyed  with  hesitation  and 
reluctance,  and  Count  Robert  applied  the  balsam  and  the 
dressings,  acquainting  his  patient,  at  the  same  time,  in  a 
severe  tone  of  voice,  that  perhaps  he  did  wrong  in  putting  to 
his  use  a  balsam  compounded  for  the  service  of  the  noblest 
knights ;  but  that,  if  he  saw  the  least  sign  of  his  making 
an  ungrateful  use  of  the  benefit  he  had  conferred,  he  would 
bury  the  dagger,  of  which  he  had  felt  the  efficacy,  to  the 
very  handle  in  his  body. 

The  sylvan  looked  fixedly  upon  Count  Robert  almost  as  if 
he  understood  the  language  used  to  him,  and,  making  one  of 
its  native  murmurs,  it  stooped  to  the  earth,  kissed  the  feet 
of  the  knight,  and  embracing  his  knees,  seemed  to  swear  to 
him  eternal  gratitude  and  fidelity.  Accordingly,  when  the 
Count  retired  to  the  bed  and  assumed  his  armor,  to  await 
the  re-opening  of  the  trap-door,  the  animal  sat  down  by  his 
side,  directing  its  eyes  in  the  line  with  his,  and  seemed 
quietly  to  wait  till  the  door  should  open. 

After  waiting  about  an  hour,  a  slight  noise  was  heard  in 
the  upper  chamber,  and  the  wild  man  plucked  the  Frank  by 
the  cloak,  as  if  to  call  his  attention  to  what  was  about  tm 
happen.  The  same  voice  which  had  before  spoken,  was^ 
after  a  whistle  or  two,  heard  to  call,  "  Sylvan — Sylvan, 
where  loiterest  thou  ?  Come  instantly,  or,  by  the  rood, 
thou  shalt  abye  thy  sloth.'' 

The  poor  monster,  as  Trinculo  might  have  called  him, 
seemed  perfectly  aware  of  the  meaning  of  this  threat,  and 


200  WA VEELET  NOVELS 

showed  his  sense  of  it  by  pressing  close  to  the  side  of  Count 
Robert,  making  at  the  same  time  a  kind  of  whining, 
entreating,  it  would  seem,  the  knight's  protection.  Forget- 
ting the  great  improbability  there  was,  even  in  his  own 
opinion,  that  the  creature  could  understand  him.  Count 
Robert  said,  '*  Why,  my  friend,  thou  hast  already  learned 
the  principal  court  prayer  of  this  country,  by  which  men 
entreat  permission  to  speak  and  live.  Fear  nothing,  poor 
creature — I  am  thy  protector/' 

*'  Sylvan,  what,  ho  !"  said  the  voice  again  ;  ''  whom  hast 
thou  got  for  a  companion  ?  Some  of  the  fiends,  or  ghosts  of 
murdered  men,  who  they  say  are  frequent  in  these  dungeons  ? 
Or  dost  thou  converse  with  the  old  blind  rebel  Grecian  ?  Or, 
finally,  is  it  true  what  men  say  of  thee,  that  thou  canst  talk 
intelligibly  when  thou  wilt,  and  only  gibberest  and  chat- 
terest  for  fear  thou  art  sent  to  work  ?  Come,  thou  lazy 
rascal,  thou  shalt  have  the  advantage  of  the  ladder  to  ascend 
by,  though  thou  needst  it  no  more  than  a  daw  to  ascend  the 
steeple  of  the  cathedral  of  St.  Sophia.*  Come  along,  then,'' 
he  said  putting  a  ladder  down  the  trap-door,  ''and  put  me 
not  to  the  trouble  of  descending  to  fetch  thee,  else,  by  St. 
Swithin,  it  shall  be  the  worse  for  thee.  Come  along,  there- 
fore, like  a  good  fellow,  and  for  once  I  shall  spare  the  whip." 

The  animal,  apparently,  was  moved  by  this  rhetoric,  for, 
with  a  doleful  look,  which  Count  Robert  saw  by  means  of 
the  nearly  extinguished  torch,  he  seemed  to  bid  him  farewell, 
and  to  creep  away  towards  the  ladder  with  the  same  excellent 
good-will  wherewith  a  condemned  criminal  performs  the  like 
evolution.  But  no  sooner  did  the  Count  look  angry  and 
shake  the  formidable  dagger  than  the  intelligent  animal 
seemed  at  once  to  take  his  resolution,  and  clenching  his 
hands  firmly  together  in  the  fashion  of  one  who  has  made  up 
his  mind,  he  returned  from  the  ladder's  foot,  and  drew  up 
behind  Count  Robert,  with  the  air,  however,  of  a  deserter, 
who  feels  himself  but  little  at  home  when  called  into  the 
field  against  his  ancient  commander. 

In  a  short  time  the  w^arder's  patience  was  exhausted,  and 
despairing  of  the  sylvan's  voluntary  return,  he  resolved  to 
descend  in  quest  of  him.  Down  the  ladder  he  came,  a  bundle 
of  keys  in  one  hand,  the  other  assisting  his  descent,  and  a 
sort  of  dark  lantern,  whose  bottom  was  so  fashioned  that  he 
could  wear  it  upon  his  head  like  a  hat.  He  had  scarce  stept 
on  the  floor  when  he  was  surrounded  by  the  nervous  arms  of 

*  Now  the  chief  mosque  of  the  Ottoman  capital. 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  201 

the  Count  of  Paris.  At  first  the  warder's  idea  was  that  he 
was  seized  by  the  recusant  Sylvan. 

"  How  now,  villain/'  he  said  ;  'Met  me  go,  or  thou  shalt 
die  the  death." 

"Thou  diest  thyself,"  said  the  Count,  who,  between  tho 
surprise  and  his  own  skill  in  wrestling,  felt  fully  his  advan- 
tage in  the  struggle. 

"  Treason — treason  ! "  cried  the  warder,  hearing  by  tho 
voice  that  a  stranger  had  mingled  in  the  contest.  ''  'Help, 
ho  !  above  there  !-^  help,  Hereward — Varan;2jian — Anglo- 
Saxon,  or  whatever  accursed  name  thou  callest  thyself  ! " 

While  he  spoke  thus,  the  irresistible  grasp  of  Count  Robert 
seized  his  throat  and  choked  his  utterance.  They  fell 
heavily,  the  jailer  undermost,  upon  the  floor  of  the  dungeon, 
and  Robert  of  Paris,  the  necessity  of  whose  case  excused  the 
action,  plunged  his  dagger  in  the  throat  of  the  unfortunate. 
Just  as  he  did  so,  a  noise  of  armor  was  heard,  and,  rattling 
down  the  ladder,  our  acquaintance  Hereward  stood  on  the 
floor  of  the  dungeon.  The  light,  which  had  rolled  from  the 
head  of  the  warder,  continued  to  show  him  streaming  with 
blood  and  in  the  death-grasp  of  a  stranger.  Hereward 
hesitated  not  to  fly  to  his  assistance,  and,  seizing  upon  ^  the 
Count  of  Paris  at  the  same  advantage  which  that  knight 
had  gained  over  his  own  adversary  a  moment  before,  held 
him  forcibly  down  with  his  face  to  the  earth. 

Count  Robert  was  one  of  the  strongest  men  of  that  mili- 
tary age,  but  then  so  was  the  Varangian  ;  and,  save  that  the 
latter  had  obtained  a  decided  advantage  by  having  his  antag- 
onist beneath  him,  it  could  not  certainly  have  been  con- 
jectured which  way  the  combat  was  to  go. 

"  Yield,  as  your  own  Jargon  goes,  rescue  or  no  rescue," 
said  the  Varangian,  "or  die  on  the  point  of  my  dagger." 

"  A  French  count  never  yields,"  answered  Robert,  who 
began  to  conjecture  with  what  sort  of  person  he  was  en- 
gaged, "  above  all  to  a  vagabond  slave  like  thee."  With 
this  he  made  an  effort  to  rise,  so  sudden,  so  strong,  so 
powerful,  that  he  had  almost  freed  himself  from  the  Varan- 
gian's grasp,  had  not  Hereward,  by  a  violent  exertion  of  his 
great  strength,  preserved  the  advantage  he  had  gained,  and 
raised  his  poniard  to  end  the  strife  forever  ;  but  a  loud, 
chuckling  laugh  of  an  unearthly  sound  was  at  this  instant 
heard.  The  Varangian's  extended  arm  was  seized  with 
vigor,  while  a  rough  arm,  embracing  his  throat,  turned  him 
over  on  his  back,  and  gave  the  French  count  an  opportunity 
of  springing  up. 


202  WAVEJRLEY  NOVELS 

''Death  to  thee,  wretch!"  said  the  Varangian,  scarce 
knowing  whom  he  threatened  ;  but  the  man  of  the  woods  ap- 
parently had  an  awful  recollection  of  the  prowess  of  human 
beings.  He  fled,  therefore,  swiftly  up  the  ladder,  and  left 
Hereward  and  his  deliverer  to  fight  it  out  with  what  success 
chance  might  determine  between  them. 

The  circumstances  seemed  to  argue  a  desperate  combat. 
Both  were  tall,  strong,  and  courageous,  both  had  defensive 
armor,  and  the  fatal  and  desperate  poniard  was  their  only 
offensive  weapon.  They  paused  facing  each  other,  and  ex- 
amined eagerly  into  their  respective  means  of  defense  before 
hazarding  a  blow  which,  if  it  missed  its  attaint,  would  cer- 
tainly be  fatally  requitted.  During  this  deadly  pause,  a 
gleam  shone  from  the  trap-door  above,  as  the  wild  and 
alarmed  visage  of  the  man  of  the  woods  was  seen  peering 
down  by  the  light  of  a  newly-kindled  torch  which  he  held 
as  low  into  the  dungeon  as  he  well  could. 

''  Fight  bravely,  comrade,"  said  Count  Eobert  of  Paris, 
"  for  we  no  longer  battle  in  private,  this  respectable  person 
having  chosen  to  constitute  himself  judge  of  the  field." 

Hazardous  as  his  situation  was,  the  Varangian  looked  up, 
and  was  so  struck  with  the  wild  and  terrified  expression 
which  the  creature  had  assumed,  and  the  strife  between  cu- 
riosity and  terror  which  its  grotesque  features  exhibited,  that 
he  could  not  help  bursting  into  a  fit  of  laughter. 

''Sylvan  is  among  those,"  said  Hereward,  "  who  would 
rather  hold  the  candle  to  a  dance  so  formidable  than  join  in 
it  himself." 

"Is  there,  then,"  said  Count  Eobert,  "any  absolute 
necessity  that  thou  and  I  perform  this  dance  at  all  ?  " 

"  None  but  our  own  pleasure,"  answered  Hereward,  "  for 
I  suspect  there  is  not  between  us  any  legitimate  cause  of 
quarrel  demanding  to  be  fought  out  in  such  a  place,  and 
before  such  a  spectator.  Thou  art,  if  I  mistake  not,  the 
bold  Frank  who  was  yesternight  imprisoned  in  this  place 
with  a  tiger,  chained  within  no  distant  spring  of  his  bed  ?" 
.  "I  am,"  answered  the  Count. 

"And  where  is  the  animal  who  was  opposed  to  thee  ?" 

"He  lies  yonder,"  answered  the  Count,  "  never  again  to 
\>e  the  object  of  more  terror  than  the  deer  whom  he  may 
have  preyed  on  in  his  day."  He  pointed  to  the  body  of  the 
tiger,  which  Hereward  examined  by  the  light  of  the  dark 
lantern  already  mentioned. 

"And  this,  then,  was  thy  handiwork  ?"  said  the  wonder- 
ing Anglo  Saxon, 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  203 

"  Sooth  to  say  it  was/'  answered  the  Count,  with  indiffer- 
ence. 

"  And  thon  hast  slain  my  comrade  of  this  strange  watch  ?'* 
said  the  Varangian. 

'^  Mortally  wounded  him  at  the  least/'  said  Count  Robert. 

"With  your  patience,  I  will  be  beholden  to  you  for  a 
moment's  truce,  while  I  examine  his  wound,"  said  Here- 
ward. 

"  Assuredly,"  answered  the  Count ;  "  blighted  be  the  arm 
which  strikes  a  foul  blow  at  an  open  antagonist !" 

Without  demanding  further  security,  the  Varangian  quitted 
his  posture  of  defense  and  precaution,  and  set  himself,  by 
the  assistance  of  the  dark  lantern,  to  examine  the  wound 
of  the  first  warder  who  appeared  on  the  field,  who  seemed, 
by  his  Eoman  military  dress,  to  be  a  soldier  of  the  bands 
called  Immortals.  He  found  him  in  the  death-agony,  but 
still  able  to  speak. 

'^  So,  Varangian,  thou  art  come  at  last,  and  it  is  to  thy 
sloth  or  treachery  that  I  am  to  impute  my  fate  ?  Nay, 
answer  me  not.  The  stranger  struck  me  over  the  collar- 
bone ;  had  we  lived  long  together,  or  met  often,  I  had  done 
the  like  by  thee,  to  wipe  out  the  memory  of  certain  trans- 
actions at  the  Golden  Gate.  I  know  the  use  of  the  knife 
too  well  to  doubt  the  effect  of  a  blow  aimed  over  the  collar- 
bone by  so  strong  a  hand — I  feel  it  coming.  The  Immortal, 
so  called,  becomes  now,  if  priests  say  true,  an  immortal 
indeed,  and  Sebastes  of  Mitylene's  bow  is  broken  ere  his 
quiver  is  half-emptied." 

The  robber  Greek  sunk  back  in  Hereward's  arms,  and 
closed  his  life  with  a  groan,  which  was  the  last  sound  he 
uttered.  The  Varangian  laid  the  body  at  length  on  the 
dungeon  floor. 

"This  is  a  perplexed  matter,"  he  said  ;  "I  am  certainly 
not  called  upon  to  put  to  death  a  brave  man,  although  my 
national  enemy,  because  he  hath  killed  a  miscreant  who  was 
privately  meditating  my  own  murder.  Neither  is  this  a  place 
or  a  light  by  which  to  fight  as  becomes  the  champions  of 
two  nations.  Let  that  quarrel  be  still  for  the  present.  How 
say  you,  then,  noble  sir,  if  we  adjourn  the  present  dispute 
till  we  effect  your  deliverance  from  the  dungeons  of  the 
Blacquernal,  and  your  restoration  to  your  own  friends  and 
followers  ?  If  a  poor  Varangian  should  be  of  service  to 
you  in  this  matter,  would  you,  when  it  was  settled,  refuse 
to  meet  him  in  fair  fight,  with  your  national  weapons  or  his 
own  ?*' 


204  WAVEBLET  NOVELS 

"  If/'  said  Count  Eobert,  ''  whether  friend  or  enemy,  thon 
wilt  extend  thy  assistance  to  my  wife,  who  is  also  imprisoned 
somewhere  in  this  inhospitable  palace,  be  assured  that,  what- 
ever be  thy  rank,  whatever  be  thy  country,  whatever  be  thy 
condition,  Robert  of  Paris  will,  at  thy  choice,  proffer  thee 
his  right  hand  in  friendship,  or  raise  it  against  thee  in  fair 
and  manly  battle — a  strife  not  of  hatred,  but  of  honor  and 
esteem  ;  and  this  I  vow  by  the  soul  of  Charlemagne,  my  an- 
cestor, and  by  the  shrine  of  my  patroness.  Our  Lady  of  the 
Broken  Lances/' 

'^  Enough  said,"  replied  Hereward.  "  I  am  as  much  bound 
to  the  assistance  of  your  lady  countess,  being  a  poor  exile, 
as  if  I  were  the  first  in  the  ranks  of  chivalry  ;  for  if  any- 
thing can  make  the  cause  of  worth  and  bravery  yet  more 
obligatory,  it  must  be  its  being  united  with  that  of  a  help- 
less and  suffering  female." 

'^I  ought,"  said  Count  Robert,  ''to  be  here  silent,  with- 
out loading  thy  generosity  with  farther  requests  ;  yet  thou 
art  a  man  whom,  if  fortune  has  not  smiled  at  thy  birth,  by 
ordaining  thee  to  be  born  within  the  ranks  of  noblesse  and 
knighthood,  yet  Providence  hath  done  thee  more  justice  by 
giving  thee  a  more  gallant  heart  than  is  always  possessed,  I 
fear,  by  those  who  are  inwoven  in  the  gayest  wreath  of  chiv- 
alry. There  lingers  here  in  these  dungeons — for  I  cannot 
say  he  lives — a  blind  old  man,  to  whom  for  three  years  every- 
thing beyond  his  prison  has  been  a  universal  blot.  His  food 
is  bread  and  water,  his  intercourse  limited  to  the  conversa- 
tion of  a  sullen  warder,  and  if  death  can  ever  come  as  a 
deliverer,  it  must  be  to  this  dark  old  man.  What  sayst 
thou  ?  Shall  he,  so  unutterably  miserable,  not  profit  by 
perhaps  the  only  opportunity  of  freedom  that  may  ever 
occur  to  him  ?" 

''  By  St.  Dunstan,"  answered  the  Varangian,"  thou  keepest 
over  truly  the  oath  thou  hast  taken  as  a  redresser  of  wrongs. 
Thine  own  case  is  well-nigh  desperate,  and  thou  art  willing 
to  make  it  utterly  so  by  uniting  with  it  that  of  every  un- 
happy person  whom  fate  throws  in  thy  way." 

*'  The  more  of  human  misery  we  attempt  to  relieve,"  said 
Robert  of  Paris,  "the  more  we  shall  carry  with  us  the  bless- 
ing of  our  merciful  saints  and  Our  Lady  of  the  Broken 
Lances,  who  views  with  so  much  pain  every  species  of  human 
suffering  or  misfortune  save  that  which  occurs  within  the 
inclosure  of  the  lists.  But  come,  valiant  Anglo-Saxon, 
resolve  me  on  my  request  as  speedily  as  thou  canst.  There 
is  something  in  thy  face  of  candor  as  well  as  sense,  and  it  is 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  205 

with  no  small  confidence  that  I  desire  to  see  us  set  forth  in 
quest  of  my  heloved  countess,  who  when  her  deliverance  is 
once  achieved,  will  be  a  powerful  aid  to  us  in  recovering 
that  of  others.*' 

''So  be  it,  then,'*  said  the  Varangian  ;  '*  we  will  proceed 
in  quest  of  the  Countess  Brenhilda ;  and  if,  on  recovering 
her,  we  find  ourselves  strong  enough  to  procure  the  freedom 
of  the  dark  old  man,  my  cowardice,  or  want  of  compassioa, 
shall  never  stop  the  attempt/' 


CHAPTER  XVn 

Tis  strange  that,  in  the  dark  sulphurous  inlatt» 
Where  wild  ambition  piles  its  ripening  stores 
Of  slumbering  thunder,  Love  will  interpose 
His  tiny  torch,  and  cause  the  stern  explosion 
To  burst,  when  the  deviser's  least  aware. 

AnmiymoiLS. 

About  noon  of  the  same  day,  Agelastes  met  with  Achilles 
Tatius,  the  commander  of  the  Varangian  Guard,  in  those 
ruins  of  the  Egyptian  temple  in  which  we  formerly  mentioned 
Hereward  having  had  an  interview  with  the  philosopher. 
They  met,  as  it  seemed,  in  a  very  different  humor.  Tatius 
was  gloomy,  melancholy,  and  downcast  ;  while  the  phil- 
osopher maintained  the  calm  indifference  which  procured 
for  him,  and  in  some  sort  deserved,  the  title  of  the  Elephant. 
'^  Thou  blenchest,  Achilles  Tatius,"  said  the  philosopher," 
"  now  that  thou  hast  frankly  opposed  thyself  to  all  the  dan- 
gers, which  stood  between  thee  and  greatness.  Thou  art  like 
the  idle  boy  who  turned  the  mill-stream  upon  the  machine, 
and  that  done,  instead  of  making  a  proper  use  of  it,  was 
terrified  at  seeing  it  in  motion." 

^'  Thou  dost  me  wrong,  Agelastes,"  answered  the  Acolyte 
— '^foul  wrong;  I  am  but  like  the  mariner,  who,  although 
determined  upon  his  voyage,  yet  cannot  forbear  a  sorrowing 
glance  at  the  shore,  before  he  parts  with  it,  it  may  be  for- 
ever." 

"  It  may  have  been  right  to  think  of  this,  but  pardon  me, 
valiant  Tatius,  when  I  tell  you  the  account  should  have  been 
made  up  before ;  and  the  grandson  of  Algeric  the  Hun  ought 
to  have  computed  chances  and  consequences  ere  he  stretched 
his  hand  to  his  master's  diadem." 

*^  Hush  !  for  Heaven's  sake,"  said  Tatius,  looking  round  ; 
''  that,  thou  knowest,  is  a  secret  between  our  two  selves  ;  for 
if  Nicephorus,  the  Caesar,  should  learn  it,  where  were  we 
and  our  conspiracy  ?  " 

''Our  bodies  on  the  gibbet,  probably,"  answered  Age- 
lastes, ''  and  our  souls  divorced  from  them,  and  in  the  way 
of  discovering  the  secrets  which  thou  hast  hitherto  taken 
upon  trust/' 

206 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  207 

''  Well,"  said  Achilles,  /'  and  should  not  the  consciousness 
of  the  possibility  of  this  fate  render  us  cautious  ?  " 

'^Cautious  men  it  you  will,"  answered  Agelastes,  *'but 
not  timid  children." 

"  Stone  walls  can  hear,"  said  the  Follower,  lowering  his 
voice.  ^'  Dionysius  the  tyrant,  I  have  read,  had  an  ear 
which  conveyed  to  him  the  secrets  spoken  within  his  state- 
prison  at  Syracuse." 

''  And  that  ear  is  still  stationary  at  Syracuse,"  said  the 
Philosopher.  '^  Tell  me,  my  most  simple  friend,  art  thou 
afraid  it  has  been  transported  hither  in  one  night,  as  the 
Latins  believe  of  Our  Lady's  house  of  Loretto  ?" 

**No,"  answered  Achilles,  ''  but  in  an  affair  so  important 
too  much  caution  cannot  be  used." 

^'  Well,  thou  most  cautious  of  candidates  for  empire,  and 
most  cold  of  military  leaders,  know  that  the  Caesar,  deem- 
ing, I  think,  that  there  is  no  chance  of  the  empire  falling 
to  any  one  but  himself,  hath  taken  in  his  head  to  consider 
his  succession  to  Alexius  as  a  matter  of  course  whenever  the 
election  takes  place.  In  consequence,  as  matters  of  course 
are  usually  matters  of  indifference,  he  has  left  all  thoughts 
of  securing  his  interest  upon  this  material  occasion  to  thee 
and  to  me,  while  the  foolish  voluptuary  hath  himself  run 
mad — for  what,  think  you  ?  Something  between  man  and 
woman — female  in  her  lineaments,  her  limbs,  and  a  part  at 
least  of  her  garments  ;  but,  so  help  me  St.  George,  most 
masculine  in  the  rest  of  her  attire,  in  her  propensities,  and 
in  her  exercises." 

^'  The  amazonian  wife,  thou  meanest,"  said  Achilles,  ''  of 
that  iron-handed  Frank,  who  dashed  to  pieces  last  night  the 
golden  lion  of  Solomon  with  a  blow  of  his  fist  ?  By  St.  George, 
the  least  which  can  come  of  such  an  amour  is  broken  bones." 

'*  That,"  said  Agelastes,  '^  is  not  quite  so  improbable  as 
that  Dionysius's  ear  should  fly  hither  from  Syracuse  in  a 
single  night ;  but  he  is  presumptuous  in  respect  of  the 
influence  which  his  supposed  good  looks  have  gained  him 
among  the  Grecian  dames." 

"He  was  too  presumptuous,  I  suppose,"  said  Achilles 
Tatius,  '^to  make  a  proper  allowance  for  his  situation  as 
Caesar  and  the  prospect  of  his  being  emperor." 

"  Meantime,"  said  Agelastes,  "  I  have  promised  him  an 
interview  with  his  Bradamante,  who  may  perhaps  reward 
his  tender  epithets  of  zoe   Jcai   psyche*   by  divorcing  hia 
amorous  soul  from  his  unrivalled  person." 
*  Life  and  soul. 


208  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

''Meantime,''  said  the  Follower,  '^thou  obtainest,  I  con- 
clude, such  orders  and  warrants  as  the  Caesar  can  give  for 
the  furtherance  of  our  plot  ?  " 

"  Assuredly,"  said  Agelastes,  ''  it  is  an  opportunity  not  to 
be  lost.  This  love  fit,  or  mad  fit,  has  blinded  him ;  and 
without  exciting  too  much  attention  to  the  progress  of  the 
plot,  we  can  thus  in  safety  conduct  matters  our  own  way, 
without  causing  malevolent  remarks  ;  and  though  I  am  con- 
scious that  in  doing  so  I  act  somewhat  at  variance  with  my 
age  and  character,  yet  the  end  being  to  convert  a  worthy 
follower  into  an  imperial  leader,  I  shame  me  not  in  procur- 
ing that  interview  with  the  lady  of  which  the  Caesar,  as 
they  term  him,  is  so  desirous.  What  progress,  meanwhile, 
hast  thou  made  with  the  Varangians,  who  are,  in  respect  of 
execution,  the  very  arm  of  our  design  ?  " 

''  Scarce  so  good  as  I  could  wish,"  said  Achilles  Tatius  ; 
"  yet  I  have  made  sure  of  some  two  or  three  score  of  those 
whom  I  found  most  accessible  ;  nor  have  I  any  doubt  that, 
when  the  Caesar  is  set  aside,  their  cry  will  be  for  Achilles 
Tatius." 

''  And  what  of  the  gallant  who  assisted  at  our  prelections," 
said  Agelastes — "your  Edward,  as  Alexias  termed  him?" 
-  *'  I  have  made  no  impression  upon  him,"  said  the  Fol- 
lower ;  ' '  and  I  am  sorry  for  it,"  for  he  is  one  whom  his 
comrades  think  well  of,  and  would  gladly  follow.  Mean- 
time, I  have  placed  him  as  an  additional  sentinel  upon  the 
iron-witted  Count  of  Paris,  whom,  both  having  an  inveter- 
ate love  of  battle,  he  is  very  likely  to  put  to  death  ;  and  if 
it  is  afterwards  challenged  by  the  crusaders  as  a  cause  of 
war,  it  is  only  delivering  up  the  Varangian,  whose  personal 
hatred  will  needs  be  represented  as  having  occasioned  the 
catastrophe.  All  this  being  prepared  beforehand,  how  and 
when  shall  we  deal  with  the  Emperor  ?  " 

''For  that,"  said  Agelastes,  "  we  must  consult  the  Caesar, 
who,  although  his  expected  happiness  of  to-day  is  not  more 
certain  than  the  state  preferment  that  he  expects  to-mor- 
row, and  although  his  ideas  are  much  more  anxiously  fixed 
upon  his  success  with  this  said  countess  than  his  succession 
to  the  empire,  will,  nevertheless,  expect  to  be  treated  as  the 
head  of  the  enterprise  for  accelerating  the  latter.  But,  to 
speak  my  opinion,  valiant  Tatius,  to-morrow  will  be  the  last 
day  that  Alexius  shall  hold  the  reins  of  empire." 

"  Let  me  know  for  certain,"  said  the  Follower,  "  as  soon 
as  thou  canst,  that  I  may  warn  our  brethren,  who  are  to 
have  in  readiness  the  insurgent  citizens,  and  those  of  the 


COUNT  BOBEBT  OF  PABI8  209 

Immortals  who  are  combined  with  us,  in  the  neighborhood 
of  the  court,  and  in  readiness  to  act ;  and,  above  all,  that  I 
may  disperse  upon  distant  guards  such  Varangians  as  I 
cannot  trust/^ 

"  Eely  upon  me,'^  said  Agelastes,  ''  for  the  most  accurate 
information  and  instructions,  so  soon  as  I  have  seen  Nice- 
phorus  Briennius.  One  word  permit  me  to  ask — In  what 
manner  is  the  wife  of  the  Caesar  to  be  disposed  of  ?  " 

'^  Somewhere,^'  said  the  Follower,  "  where  I  can  never  be 
compelled  to  hear  more  of  her  history.  Were  it  not  for 
that  nightly  pest  of  her  lectures,  I  could  be  good-natured 
enough  to  take  care  of  her  destiny  myself,  and  teach  her  the 
difference  betwixt  a  real  emperor  and  this  Briennius,  who 
thinks  so  much  of  himself/'  So  saying,  they  separated,  the 
Follower  elated  in  look  and  manner  considerably  above  what 
he  had  been  when  they  met. 

Agelastes  looked  after  his  companion  with  a  scornful  laugh. 
"  There,"  he  said,  ^'  goes  a  fool,  whose  lack  of  sense  prevents 
his  eyes  from  being  dazzled  by  the  torch  which  cannot  fail 
to  consume  him.  A  half-bred,  half-acting,  half-thinking, 
half-daring  caitiff,  whose  poorest  thoughts — and  those  which 
deserve  that  name  must  be  poor  indeed — are  not  the  produce 
of  his  own  understanding.  He  expects  to  circumvent  the 
fiery,  haughty,  and  proud  Nicephorus  Briennius  !  If  he 
does  so,  it  will  not  be  by  his  own  policy,  and  still  less  by  his 
valor.  Nor  shall  Anna  Comnena,  the  soul  of  wit  and 
genius,  be  chained  to  such  an  unimaginative  log  as  yonder 
half -barbarian.  No ;  she  shall  have  a  husband  of  pure 
Grecian  extraction,  and  well  stored  with  that  learning  which 
was  studied  when  Rome  was  great  and  Greece  illustrious. 
JSTor  will  it  be  the  least  charm  of  the  imperial  throne,  that 
it  is  partaken  by  a  partner  whose  personal  studies  have 
taught  her  to  esteem  and  value  those  of  the  emperor. '^  He 
took  a  step  or  two  with  conscious  elevation,  and  then,  as 
conscience-checked,  he  added,  in  a  suppressed  voice,  ^'  But 
then,  if  Anna  were  destined  for  empress,  it  follows  of  course 
that  Alexius  must  die  :  no  consent  could  be  trusted  to.  And 
what  then  ?  the  death  of  an  ordinary  man  is  indifferent, 
when  it  plants  on  the  throne  a  philosopher  and  a  histo- 
rian ;  and  at  what  time  were  the  possessors  of  the  empire 
curious  to  inquire  when  or  by  whose  agency  their  predeces- 
sors died  ?  Diogenes — ho,  Diogenes  ! "  The  slave  did  not 
immediately  come,  so  that  Agelastes,  wrapt  in  the  antici- 
pation of  his  greatness,  had  time  to  add  a  few  more  words. 
^'  Tush  !     I  must  reckon  with  Heaven,  say  the  priests,  for 

14. 


21©  WA VERLEY  NOVELS 

many  things,  so  I  will  throw  this  also  into  the  account.  The 
death  of  the  Emperor  may  be  twenty  ways  achieved  with- 
out my  having  the  blame  of  it.  The  blood  which  we  have 
shed  may  spot  our  hand,  if  closely  regarded,  but  it  shall  scarce 
stain  our  forehead." 

Diogenes  here  entered. 

"  Has  the  Frank  lady  been  removed  ?"  said  the  philoso- 
pher. 

The  slave  signified  his  assent. 

^'  How  did  she  bear  her  removal  ?  " 

'^  As  authorized  by  your  lordship,  indifferently  well.  She 
had  resented  her  separation  from  her  husband,  and  her  be- 
ing detained  in  the  palace,  and  committed  some  violence 
upon  the  slaves  of  the  household,  several  of  whom  were  said 
to  be  slain,  although  we  perhaps  ought  only  to  read  sorely 
frightened.  She  recognized  me  at  once,  and  when  I  told 
her  that  I  came  to  offer  her  a  day's  retirement  in  your  own 
lodgings,  until  it  should  be  in  your  power  to  achieve  the 
liberation  of  her  husband,  she  at  once  consented,  and  I 
deposited  her  in  the  secret  Cytherean  garden-house. '' 

"  Admirably  done,  my  faithful  Diogenes,''  said  the  phil- 
osopher ;  * '  thou  art  like  the  genii  who  attended  on  the 
Eastern  talismans  :  I  have  but  to  intimate  my  will  to  thee, 
and  it  is  accomplished." 

Diogenes  bowed  deeply  and  withdrew. 

'"'  Yet  remember,  slave,"  said  Agelastes,  speaking  to  him- 
self ;  "  there  is  danger  in  knowing  too  much  ;  and  should 
my  character  ever  become  questioned,  too  many  of  my  se- 
crets are  in  the  power  of  Diogenes." 

At  this  moment  a  blow  thrice  repeated,  and  struck  upon 
one  of  the  images  without,  which  had  been  so  framed  as  to 
return  a  tingling  sound,  and  in  so  far  deserved  the  praise  of 
being  vocal,  interrupted  his  soliloquy. 

"There  knocks,"  said  he,  "  one  of  our  allies  ;  who  can  it 
be  that  comes  so  late  ?  "  He  touched  the  figure  of  Isis  with 
his  staff,  and  the  Caesar  Nicephorus  Briennius  entered  in 
the  full  Grecian  habit,  and  that  graceful  dress  anxiously  ar- 
ranged to  the  best  advantage.  ''  Let  me  hope,  my  lord," 
said  Agelastes,  receiving  the  Caesar  with  an  apparently  grave 
and  reserved  face,  "  your  Highness  comes  to  tell  me  that 
your  sentiments  are  changed  on  reflection,  and  that  what- 
ever you  had  to  confer  about  with  this  Frankish  lady  may 
be  at  least  deferred  until  the  principal  part  of  our  conspiracy 
has  been  successfully  executed." 

"  Philosopher,"  answered  the  Caesar,  '^  no.      My  resolu- 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  211 

tion,  once  taken,  is  not  the  sport  of  circumstances.  Believe 
me,  that  I  have  not  finished  so  many  labors  without  being 
ready  to  undertake  others.  The  favor  of  Venus  is  the  re- 
ward of  the  labors  of  Mars,  nor  would  I  think  it  worth  while 
to  worship  the  god  armipotent  with  the  toil  and  risk  attend- 
ing his  service,  unless  I  had  previously  attained  some  de- 
cided proofs  that  I  was  wreathed  with  the  myrtle,  intimat- 
ing the  favor  of  his  beautiful  mistress.  ^^ 

'^I  beg  pardon  for  my  boldness, '^  said  Agelastes ;  "but 
has  your  Imperial  Highness  reflected  that  you  were  wager- 
ing, with  the  wildest  rashness,  an  empire,  including  thine 
own  life,  mine,  and  all  who  are  joined  with  us  in  a  hardy 
scheme  ?  And  against  what  were  they  waged  ?  Against 
the  very  precarious  favor  of  a  woman,  who  is  altogether 
divided  betwixt  fiend  and  female,  and  in  either  capacity  is 
most  likely  to  be  fatal  to  our  present  scheme,  either  by  her 
good  will  or  by  the  offense  which  she  may  take.  If  she 
prove  such  as  you  wish,  she  will  desire  to  keep  her  lover  by 
her  side,  and  to  spare  him  the  danger  of  engaging  in  a  per- 
ilous conspiracy ;  and  if  she  remains,  as  the  world  believe 
her,  constant  to  her  husband,  and  to  the  sentiments  she 
vowed  to  him  at  the  altar,  you  may  guess  what  cause  of 
offense  you  are  likely  to  give,  by  urging  a  suit  which  she 
has  already  received  so  very  ill.^' 

' '  Pshaw,  old  man  !  Thou  turnest  a  dotard,  and  in  the 
great  knowledge  thou  possessest  of  other  things,  hast  for- 
gotten the  knowledge  best  worth  knowing — that  of  the 
beautiful  part  of  the  creation.  Think  of  the  impression 
likely  to  be  made  by  a  gallant,  neither  ignoble  in  situation 
nor  unacceptable  in  presence,  upon  a  lady  who  must  fear 
the  consequences  of  refusal.  Come,  Agelastes,  let  me  have 
no  more  of  thy  croaking,  auguring  bad  fortune  like  the 
raven  from  the  blasted  oak  on  the  left  hand  ;  but  declaim, 
as  well  thou  canst,  how  faint  heart  never  won  fair  lady,  and 
how  those  best  deserve  empire  who  can  wreathe  the  myrtles 
of  Venus  with  the  laurels  of  Mars.  Come,  man,  undo  me 
the  secret  entrance  which  combines  these  magical  ruins  with 
groves  that  are  fashioned  rather  like  those  of  Cytheros  or 
Naxos." 

"It  must  be  as  you  will,^'  said  the  philosopher,  with  a 
deep  and  somewhat  affected  sigh. 

"Here,  Diogenes!^'  called  aloud  the  Caesar;  "when 
thou  art  summoned,  mischief  is  not  far  distant.  Come, 
undo  the  secret  entrance.  Mischief,  my  trusty  negro,  is  not 
so  distant  but  she  will  answer  the  first  clatter  of  the  stones.'' 


212  WA  VEBLEY  NO  VEL8 

The  negro  looked  at  his  master,  who  returned  him  a 
glance  acquiescing  in  the  Caesar's  proposal.  Diogenes  then 
went  to  a  part  of  the  ruined  wall  which  was  covered  by  some 
climbing  shrubs,  all  of  which  he  carefully  removed.  This 
showed  a  little  postern  door,  closed  irregularly,  and  filled 
up,  from  the  threshold  to  the  top,  with  large  square  stones, 
all  of  which  the  slave  took  out  and  piled  aside,  as  if  for  the 
purpose  of  replacing  them.  "  I  leave  thee,''  said  Agelastes 
to  the  negro,  *^to  guard  this  door,  and  let  no  one  enter, 
except  he  has  the  sign,  upon  the  peril  of  thy  life.  It  were 
dangerous  it  should  be  left  open  at  this  period  of  the  day." 

The  obsequious  Diogenes  put  his  hand  to  his  saber  and  to 
his  head,  as  if  to  signify  the  usual  promise  of  fidelity  or 
death,  by  which  those  of  his  condition  generally  expressed 
their  answer  to  their  master's  commands.  Diogenes  then 
lighted  a  small  lantern,  and,  pulling  out  a  key,  opened  an 
inner  door  of  wood,  and  prepared  to  step  forward. 

''  Hold,  friend  Diogenes,"  said  the  Caesar  ;  ^'  thou  wantest 
not  thy  lantern  to  discern  an  honest  man,  whom,  if  thou 
didst  seek,  I  must  needs  say  thou  hast  come  to  the  wrong 
place  to  find  one.  Nail  thou  up  these  creeping  shrubs  be- 
fore the  entrance  of  the  place,  and  abide  thou  there,  as 
already  directed,  till  our  return,  to  parry  the  curiosity  of 
any  who  may  be  attracted  by  the  sight  of  the  private  pas- 
sage." 

The  black  slave  drew  back  as  he  gave  the  lamp  to  the 
Caesar,  and  Agelastes  followed  the  light  through  a  long,  but 
narrow,  arched  passage,  well  supplied  with  air  from  space  to 
space,  and  not  neglected  in  the  inside  to  the  degree  which 
its  exterior  would  have  implied. 

'^  I  will  not  enter  with  you  into  the  gardens,"  said  Age- 
lastes, ^'^or  to  the  bower  of  Cytherea,  where  I  am  too  old  to 
be  a  worshiper.  Thou  thyself,  I  think.  Imperial  Caesar, 
art  well  aware  of  the  road,  having  traveled  it  divers  times, 
and,  if  I  mistake  not,  for  the  fairest  reasons." 

'^  The  more  thanks,"  said  the  Caesar,  ^^are  due  to  mine 
excellent  friend  Agelastes,  who  forgets  his  own  age  to  ac- 
commodate the  youth  of  his  friends." 


CHAPTEK  XVIII 

We  must  now  return  to  the  dungeon  of  the  Blacquernal, 
where  circumstances  had  formed  at  least  a  temporary  union 
between  the  stout  Varangian  and  Count  Robert  of  Paris, 
who  had  a  stronger  resemblance  to  each  other  in  their  dis- 
positions than  probably  either  of  them  would  have  been  will- 
ing to  admit.  The  virtues  of  the  Varangian  were  all  of  that 
natural  and  unrefined  kind  which  nature  herself  dictates  to  a 
gallant  man,  to  whom  a  total  want  of  fear,  and  the  most 
prompt  alacrity  to  meet  danger,  had  been  attributes  of  a  life- 
long standing.  The  count,  on  the  other  hand,  had  all  that 
bravery,  generosity,  and  love  of  adventure  which  was  pos- 
sessed by  the  rude  soldier,  with  the  virtues,  partly  real,  partly 
fantastic,  which  those  of  his  rank  and  country  acquired  from 
the  spirit  of  chivalry.  The  one  might  be  compared  to  the  dia- 
mond as  it  came  from  the  mine,  before  it  had  yet  received  the 
advantages  of  cutting  and  setting ;  the  other  was  the  orna- 
mented gem,  which,  cut  into  facets  and  richly  set,  had  lost 
perhaps  a  little  of  its  original  substance,  yet  still,  at  the  same 
time,  to  the  eye  of  an  inspector,  had  something  more  showy 
and  splendid  than  when  it  was,  according  to  the  phrase  of 
lapidaries,  en  hrut.  In  the  one  case,  the  value  was  more  artifi- 
cial ;  in  the  other,  it  was  the  more  natural  and  real  of  the  two. 
Chance,  therefore,  had  made  a  temporary  alliance  between 
two  men  the  foundation  of  whose  characters  bore  such  strong 
resemblance  to  each  other  that  they  were  only  separated  by 
a  course  of  education,  which  had  left  rigid  prejudices  on 
both  sides,  and  which  prejudices  were  not  unlikely  to  run 
counter  to  each  other.  The  Varangian  commenced  his  con- 
versation with  the  Count  in  a  tone  of  familiarity,  approach- 
ing nearer  to  rudeness  than  the  speaker  was  aware  of,  and 
much  of  which,  though  most  innocently  intended  by  Here- 
ward  might  be  taken  amiss  by  his  new  brother-in-arms.  The 
most  offensive  part  of  his  deportment,  however,  was  a  blunt, 
bold  disregard  to  the  title  of  those  whom  he  addressed,  ad- 
hering thereby  to  the  manners  of  the  Saxons,  from  whom 
he  drew  his  descent,  and  which  was  likely  to  be  at  least  un- 
pleasing  to  the  Franks  as  well  as  Normans,  who  had  already 
received  and  become  very  tenacious  of  the  privileges  of  the 

213 


214  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

feudal  system,  the  mummery  of  heraldry,  and  the  warlike 
claims  assumed  by  knights,  as  belonging  only  to  their  own 
order. 

Hereward  was  apt,  it  must  be  owned,  to  think  too  little  of 
these  distinctions  ;  while  he  had  at  least  a  sufficient  tendency 
to  think  enough  of  the  power  and  wealth  of  the  Greek  em- 
pire which  he  served,  of  the  dignity  inherent  in  Alexius 
Oomnenus,  and  which  he  also  disposed  to  grant  to  the  Gre- 
cian officers  who,  under  the  Emperor,  commanded  his  own 
corps,  and  particularly  to  Achilles  Tatius.  This  man  Here- 
ward knew  to  be  a  coward,  and  half-suspected  to  be  a  villain. 
Still,  however,  the  Follower  was  always  the  direct  channel 
through  which  the  imperial  graces  were  conferred  on  the 
Varangians  in  general,  as  well  as  upon  Hereward  himself ; 
and  he  had  always  the  policy  to  represent  such  favors  as  be- 
ing more  or  less  indirectly  the  consequence  of  his  own  in- 
tercession. He  was  supposed  vigorously  to  espouse  the 
quarrel  of  the  Varangians,  in  all  the  disputes  between  them 
and  the  other  corps  ;  he  was  liberal  and  open-handed  ;  gave 
every  soldier  his  due  ;  and,  bating  the  trifling  circumstance 
of  valor,  which  was  not  particularly  his  forte,  it  would  have 
been  difficult  for  these  strangers  to  have  demanded  a  leader 
more  to  their  wishes.  Besides  this,  our  friend  Hereward 
was  admitted  by  him  into  his  society,  attended  him,  as  we 
have  seen,  u^on  secret  expeditions,  and  shared,  therefore, 
deeply  in  what  may  be  termed  by  an  expressive,  though  vul- 
gar, phrase  the  sneaking  kindness  entertained  for  this  new 
Achilles  by  the  greater  part  of  his  myrmidons. 

Their  attachment  might  be  explained,  perhaps,  as  a  liking 
to  their  commander  as  strong  as  could  well  exist  with  a 
marvelous  lack  of  honor  and  esteem.  The  scheme,  there, 
fore,  formed  by  Hereward  to  effect  the  deliverance  of  the 
Count  of  Paris  comprehended  as  much  faith  to  the  Emperor 
and  his  representative,  the  Acolyte  or  Follower,  as  was  con- 
sistent with  rendering  justice  to  the  injured  Frank. 

In  furtherance  of  this  plan,  he  conducted  Count  Eobert 
from  the  subterranean  vaults  of  the  Blacquernal,  of  the  in- 
tricacies of  which  he  was  master,  having  been  repeatedly  of 
late  stationed  sentinel  there,  for  the  purpose  of  acquiring  that 
knowledge  of  which  Tatius  promised  himself  the  advantage 
in  the  ensuing  conspiracy.  When  they  were  in  the  open  air, 
and  at  some  distance  from  the  gloomy  towers  of  the  palace, 
he  bluntly  asked  the  Count  of  Paris  whether  he  knew  Age- 
lastes  the  Philosopher.     The  other  answered  in  the  negative. 

"  Look  you  now,  sir  knight,  you  hurt  yourself  in, attempt- 


COUNT  EOBEBT  OF  PARIS  215 

ing  to  impose  upon  me,"  said  Here  ward.     "  You  must  know 
him  ;  for  I  saw  you  dined  with  him  yesterday/' 

'^  0  !  with  that  learned  old  man  ?  "  said  the  Count.  "  I 
know  nothing  of  him  worth  owning  or  disguising  to  thee  or 
any  one.  A  wily  person  he  is,  half  herald  and  half  min- 
strel.'' 

''  Half  procurer  and  whole  knave/'  subjoined  the  Va- 
rangian. ^'  With  the  mask  of  apparent  good-humor,  he  con- 
ceals his  pandering  to  the  vices  of  others  ;  with  the  specious 
jargon  of  philosophy,  he  has  argued  himself  out  of  religious 
belief  and  moral  principle  ;  and,  with  the  appearance  of  the 
most  devoted  loyalty,  he  will,  if  he  is  not  checked  in  time, 
either  argue  his  too  confiding  master  out  of  life  and  empire, 
or,  if  he  fails  in  this,  reason  his  simple  associates  into  death 
and  misery." 

'^  And  do  you  know  all  this,"  said  Count  Robert,  "  and 
permit  this  man  to  go  unimpeached  ?  " 

"  0,  content  you,  sir,"  replied  the  Varangian  ;  "  I  can- 
not yet  form  any  plot  which  Agelastes  may  not  counter- 
mine ;  but  the  time  will  come,  nay,  it  is  already  approach- 
ing, when  the  Emperor's  attention  shall  be  irresistibly  turned 
to  the  conduct  of  this  man,  and  then  let  the  philosopher  sit 
fast,  or  by  St.  Dunstan  the  barbarian  overthrows  him  !  I 
would  only  fain,  methinks,  save  from  his  clutches  a  foolish 
friend,  who  has  listened  to  his  delusions." 

'^  But  what  have  I  to  do,"  said  the  Count,  **  with  this 
man  or  with  his  plots  ?" 

''Much,"  said  Hereward,  ''although  you  know  it  not. 
The  main  supporter  of  this  plot  is  no  other  than  the  Caesar, 
who  ought  to  be  the  most  faithful  of  men ;  but  ever  since 
Alexius  has  named  a  Sebastocrator,  an  officer  that  is  higher 
in  rank,  and  nearer  to  the  throne,  than  the  Caesar  himself, 
so  long  has  Nicephorus  Briennius  been  displeased  and  dis- 
satisfied, though  for  what  length  of  time  he  has  joined  the 
schemes  of  the  astucious  Agelastes  it  is  more  difficult  to 
say.  This  I  know,  that  for  many  months  he  has  fed  liberally, 
as  his  riches  enable  him  to  do,  the  vices  and  prodigality  of 
the  Caesar.  He  has  encouraged  him  to  show  disrespect  to 
his  wife,  although  the  Emperor's  daughter  ;  has  put  ill-will 
between  him  and  the  royal  family.  And  if  Briennius  bears 
no  longer  the  fame  of  a  rational  man  and  the  renown  of  a 
good  leader,  he  is  deprived  of  both  by  following  the  ad- 
vice of  this  artful  sycophant." 

"And  what  is  all  this  to  me?"  said  the  Frank. 
*'  Agelastes  may  be  a  true  man  or  a  time-serving  slave  ;  his 


S16  WAVERLET  NOVELS 

master,  Alexius  Comnenus,  is  not  so  much  allied  to  me 
or  mine  that  I  should  meddle  in  the  intrigues  of  his 
court?'' 

*'  You  may  be  mistaken  in  that,"  said  the  blunt  Varan- 
gian ;  'Mf  these  intrigues  involve  the  happiness  and 
virtue '' 

"  Death  of  a  thousand  martyrs  !  "  said  the  Frank,  ''  doth 
paltry  intrigues  and  quarrels  of  slaves  involve  a  single 
thought  of  suspicion  of  the  noble  Countess  of  Paris  ?  The 
oaths  of  thy  whole  generation  were  ineffectual  to  pi  ove  but 
that  one  of  her  hairs  had  changed  its  color  to  silver/' 

*'  Well  imagined,  gallant  knight,"  said  the  Anglo-Saxon  ; 
^'  thou  art  a  husband  fitted  for  the  atmosphere  of  Constan- 
tinople, which  calls  for  little  vigilance  and  a  strong  belief. 
Thou  wilt  find  many  followers  and  fellows  in  this  court  of 
ours." 

"  Hark  thee,  friend,"  replied  the  Frank,  "let  us  have  no 
more  words,  nor  walk  farther  together  than  just  to  the  most 
solitary  nook  of  this  bewildered  city,  and  let  us  there  set  to 
that  work  which  we  left  even  now  unfinished." 

"  If  thou  wert  a  duke,  sir  count,"  replied  the  Varangian, 
''  thou  couldst  not  invite  to  a  combat  one  who  is  more  ready 
for  it.  Yet  consider  the  odds  on  which  we  fight.  If  I 
fall,  my  moan  is  soon  made  ;  but  will  my  death  set  thy  wife 
at  liberty  if  she  is  under  restraint,  or  restore  her  honor  if  it 
is  tarnished  ?  Will  it  do  anything  more  than  remove  from 
the  world  the  only  person  who  is  willing  to  give  thee  aid,  at 
his  own  risk  and  danger,  and  who  hopes  to  unite  thee  to  thy 
wife,  and  replace  thee  at  the  head  of  thy  forces  ?  " 

"I  was  wrong,"  said  the  Count  of  Paris — "I  was  en- 
tirely wrong ;  but  beware,  my  good  friend,  how  thou 
couplest  the  name  of  Brenhilda  of  Aspramonte  with  the 
word  of  dishonor,  and  tell  me,  instead  of  this  irritating  dis- 
course, whither  go  we  now  ?  " 

"  To  the  Cytherean  gardens  of  Agelastes,  from  which  we 
are  not  far  distant,"  said  the  Anglo-Saxon  ;  ''yet  he  hath  a 
nearer  way  to  it  than  that  by  which  we  now  travel,  else  I 
should  be  at  a  loss  to  account  for  the  short  space  in  which 
he  could  exchange  the  charms  of  his  garden  for  the  gloomy 
ruins  of  the  Temple  of  Isis  and  the  Imperial  Palace  of  the 
Blacquernal." 

"  And  wherefore,  and  how  long,"  said  Count  Eobert, 
"  dost  thou  conclude  that  my  countess  is  detained  in  these 
gardens  ?" 

'*  Ever  since  yesterday,"  replied  Hereward.     ''  When  both 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  217 

I  and  several  of  my  companions,  at  my  request,  kept  close 
watch  upon  the  Caesar  and  your  lady,  we  did  plainly  perceive 
passages  of  fiery  admiration  on  his  part,  and  anger,  as  it 
seemed,  on  hers,  which  Agelastes,  being  Nicephorus^'s  friend, 
was  likely,  as  usual,  to  bring  to  an  end  by  a  separation  of 
you  both  from  the  army  of  the  crusaders,  that  your  wife,  like 
many  a  matron  before,  might  have  the  pleasure  of  taking  up 
her  residence  in  the  gardens  of  that  worthy  sage  ;  while  you, 
my  lord,  might  take  up  your  own  permanently  in  the  castle 
of  Blacquernal/' 

*'  Villain  !  why  didst  thou  not  apprise  me  of  this  yester- 
day ?'' 

''A  likely  thing, ^^  said  Hereward,  ''that  I  should  feel 
myself  at  liberty  to  leave  the  ranks  and  make  such  a  com- 
munication to  a  man  whom,  far  from  a  friend,  I  then  con- 
sidered in  the  light  of  a  personal  enemy  !  Methinks  that, 
instead  of  such  language  as  this,  you  should  be  thankful  that 
so  many  chance  circumstances  have  at  length  brought  me  to 
befriend  and  assist  you/' 

Count  Eobert  felt  the  truth  of  what  was  said,  though  at 
the  same  time  his  fiery  temper  longed  to  avenge  itself,  ac- 
cording to  its  wont,  upon  the  party  which  was  nearest  at 
hand. 

But  now  they  arrived  at  what  the  citizens  of  Constantino- 
ple called  the  Philosopher's  Gardens.  Here  Hereward  hoped 
to  obtain  entrance,  for  he  had  gained  a  knowledge  of  some 
part,  at  least,  of  the  private  signals  of  Achilles  and  Agelastes, 
since  he  had  been  introduced  to  the  last  at  the  ruins  of  the 
Temple  of  Isis.  They  had  not  indeed  admitted  him  to  their 
entire  secret ;  yet,  confident  in  his  connection  with  the  Fol- 
lower, they  had  no  hesitation  in  communicating  to  him 
snatches  of  knowledge  such  as,  committed  to  a  man  of  shrewd 
natural  sense  like  the  Anglo-Saxon,  could  scarce  fail,  in 
time  and  by  degrees,  to  make  him  master  of  the  whole. 
Count  Robert  and  his  companion  stood  before  an  arched 
door,  the  only  opening  in  a  high  wall,  and  the  Anglo-Saxon 
was  about  to  knock,  when,  as  if  the  idea  had  suddenly  struck 
him — 

'•'  What  if  the  wretch  Diogenes  opens  the  gate  ?  "We  must 
kill  him  ere  he  can  fly  back  and  betray  us.  Well,  it  is  a 
matter  of  necessity,  and  the  villain  has  deserved  his  death 
by  a  hundred  horrid  crimes.'' 

"  Kill  him  then,  thyself,"  retorted  Count  Robert  ;  ''  he  is 
nearer  thy  degree,  and  assuredly  I  will  not  defile  the  name 
of  Charlemagne  with  the  blood  of  a  black  slave." 


218  WAVEBLEY  NOVEL 8 

''  Nay,  God-a-mercy  ! "  answered  the  Anglo-Saxon,  '^  but 
you  must  bestir  yourself  in  the  action  supposing  there  come 
rescue,  and  that  I  be  overborne  by  odds." 

''  Such  odds,"  said  the  knight,  '^  will  render  the  action 
more  like  a  melee,  or  general  battle ;  and  assure  yourself  I 
will  not  be  slack  when  I  may,  with  my  honor,  be  active." 

"  I  doubt  it  not,"  said  the  Varangian  ;  '^  but  the  distinc- 
tion seems  a  strange  one,  that,  before  permitting  a  man  to 
defend  himself  or  annoy  his  enemy,  requires  him  to  demand 
the  pedigree  of  his  ancestor." 

''  Fear  you  not,  sir,"  said  Count  Eobert.  "  The  strict  rule 
of  chivalry  indeed  bears  what  I  tell  thee,  but  when  the  ques- 
tion is.  Fight  or  not  ?  there  is  great  allowance  to  be  made 
for  a  decision  in  the  affirmative." 

"  Let  me  give,  then,  the  exerciser's  rap,"  replied  Here- 
ward,  "and  see  what  fiend  will  appear." 

So  saying,  he  knocked  in  a  particular  manner,  and  the 
door  opened  inwards  ;  a  dwarfish  negress  stood  in  the  gap, 
her  white  hair  contrasted  singularly  with  her  dark  com- 
plexion, and  with  the  broad,  laughing  look  peculiar  to  these 
slaves.  She  had  something  in  her  physiognomy  which, 
severely  construed,  might  argue  malice  and  a  delight  in 
human  misery. 

"Is  Agelastes "  said  the  Varangian  ;  but  he  had  not 

completed  the  sentence  when  she  answered  him  by  pointing 
down  a  shadowed  walk. 

The  Anglo-Saxon  and  Frank  turned  in  that  direction, 
when  the  hag  rather  muttered  than  said  distinctly,  "  You 
are  one  of  the  initiated,  Varangian  ;  take  heed  whom  you 
take  with  you  when  you  may  hardly,  peradventure,  be  wel- 
comed even  going  alone." 

Here  ward  made  a  sign  that  he  understood  her,  and  they 
were  instantly  out  of  her  sight.  The  path  winded  beauti- 
fully through  the  shades  of  an  Eastern  garden,  where  clumps 
of  flowers  and  labyrinths  of  flowering  shrubs,  and  the  tall 
boughs  of  the  forest  trees,  rendered  even  the  breath  of  noon 
cool  and  acceptable. 

"  Here  we  must  use  our  utmost  caution,"  said  Hereward, 
speaking  in  a  low  tone  of  voice  ;  "  for  here  it  is  most  likely 
the  deer  that  we  seek  has  found  its  refuge.  Better  allow  me 
to  pass  before,  since  you  are  too  deeply  agitated  to  possess  the 
coolness  necessary  for  a  scout.  Keep  concealed  beneath  yon 
oak,  and  let  no  vain  scruples  of  honor  deter  you  from  creep- 
ing beneath  the  underwood,  or  beneath  the  earth  itself,  if 
you  should  hear  a  footfall.     If  the  lovers  have  agreed. 


COUNT  ROBEBT  OF  PABI8  219 

Agelastes,  it  is  probable,  walks  his  round,  to  prevent  in- 
trusion/^ 

*' Death  and  furies,  it  cannot  be  I^^  exclaimed  the  fiery 
Frank.  "  Lady  of  the  Broken  Lances,  take  thy  votary's  life 
ere  thou  torment  him  with  this  agony/' 

He  saw,  however,  the  necessity  of  keeping  a  strong  force 
upon  himself,  and  permitted,  without  further  remonstrance, 
the  Varangian  to  pursue  his  way,  looking,  however,  earnestly 
after  him.  By  advancing  forward  a  little,  he  could  observe 
Here  ward  draw  near  to  a  pavilion  which  arose  at  no  great 
distance  from  the  place  where  they  had  parted.  Here  he 
observed  him  apply  first  his  eye  and  then  his  ear  to  one  of 
the  casements,  which  were  in  a  great  measure  grown  over 
and  excluded  from  the  light  by  various  flowering  shrubs. 
He  almost  thought  he  saw  a  grave  interest  take  place  in  the 
countenance  of  the  Varangian,  and  he  longed  to  have  his 
share  of  the  information  which  he  had  doubtless  obtained. 

He  crept,  therefore,  with  noiseless  steps,  through  the 
same  labyrinth  of  foliage  which  had  covered  the  approaches 
of  Hereward  ;  and  so  silent  were  his  movements,  that  he 
touched  the  Anglo-Saxon,  in  order  to  make  him  aware  of  his 
presence,  before  he  observed  his  approach. 

Hereward,  not  aware  at  first  by  whom  he  was  approached, 
turned  on  the  intruder  with  a  countenance  like  a  burning 
coal.  Seeing,  however,  that  it  was  the  Frank,  he  shrugged 
his  shoulders,  as  if  pitying  the  impatience  which  could  not 
be  kept  under  prudent  restraint,  and,  drawing  himself  back, 
allowed  the  Count  the  privilege  of  a  peeping-place  through 
plinths  of  the  casement,  which  could  not  be  discerned  by 
the  sharpest  eye  from  the  inner  side.  The  somber  character 
of  the  light  which  penetrated  into  this  abode  of  pleasure 
was  suited  to  that  species  of  thought  to  which  a  temple  of 
Cytherea  was  supposed  to  be  dedicated.  Portraits  and 
groups  of  statuary  were  also  to  be  seen,  in  the  taste  of  those 
which  they  had  beheld  at  the  kiosk  of  the  waterfall,  yet 
something  more  free  in  the  ideas  which  they  conveyed  than 
were  to  be  found  at  their  first  resting-place.  Shortly  after, 
the  door  of  the  pavilion  opened,  and  the  Countess  entered, 
followed  by  her  attendant  Agatha.  The  lady  threw  herself 
on  a  couch  as  she  came  in,  while  her  attendant,  who  was  a 
young  and  very  handsome  woman,  kept  herself  modestly  in 
the  background,  so  much  so  as  hardly  to  be  distinguished. 

^'  What  dost  thou  think,"  said  the  Countess,  ^'  of  sosuspi^ 
cious  a  friend  as  Agelastes,  so  gallant  an  enemy  as  the  Caesar, 
as  he  is  called  ?  " 


220  WA VEBLEY  NOVELS 

"  What  should  I  think/'  returned  the  damsel,  ''  except 
that  what  the  old  man  calls  friendship  is  hatred,  and  what 
the  Caesar  terms  a  patriotic  love  for  his  country,  which  will 
not  permit  him  to  set  its  enemies  at  liberty,  is  in  fact  too 
strong  an  affection  for  his  fair  captive  ?  " 

**  For  such  an  affection,^'  said  the  Countess,  *'  he  shall  have 
the  same  requital  as  if  it  were  indeed  the  hostility  of  which  he 
would  give  it  the  color.  My  true  and  noble  lord,  hadst  thou 
any  idea  of  the  calamities  to  which  they  have  subjected  me, 
how  soon  wouldst  thou  break  through  every  restraint  to 
hasten  to  my  relief  ! " 

'*  Art  thou  a  man,"  said  Count  Robert  to  his  companion, 
*'and  canst  thou  advise  me  to  remain  still  and  hear  this  ?" 

'^I  am  one  man,"  said  the  Anglo-Saxon,  "you,  sir,  are 
another  ;  but  all  our  arithmetic  will  not  make  us  more  than 
two  ;  and  in  this  place  it  is  probable  that  a  whistle  from  the 
Caesar,  or  a  scream  from  Agelastes,  would  bring  a  thousand 
to  match  us,  if  we  were  as  bold  as  Bevis  of  Hampton.  Stand 
still  and  keep  quiet.  I  counsel  this  less  as  respecting  my 
own  life,  which,  by  embarking  upon  a  wildgoose  chase  with 
so  strange  a  partner,  I  have  shown  I  put  at  little  value,  than 
for  thy  safety,  and  that  of  the  lady  thy  countess,  who  shows 
herself  as  virtuous  as  beautiful." 

*'I  was  imposed  on  at  first,"  said  the  Lady  Brenhilda  to 
her  attendant.  "  Affectation  of  severe  morals,  of  deep  learn- 
ing, and  of  rigid  rectitude,  assumed  by  this  wicked  old  man, 
made  me  believe  in  part  the  character  which  he  pretended  ; 
but  the  gloss  is  rubbed  off  since  he  let  me  see  into  his  alli- 
ance with  the  unworthy  Caesar,  and  the  ugly  picture  remains 
in  its  native  loathsomeness.  Nevertheless,  if  I  can,  by  ad- 
dress or  subtlety,  deceive  this  arch-deceiver — as  he  has  taken 
from  me,  in  a  great  measure,  every  other  kind  of  assistance 
— I  will  not  refuse  that  of  craft,  which  he  may  find  perhaps 
equal  to  his  own  ?  " 

"Hear  you  that  ?"  said  the  Varangian  to  the  Count  of 
Paris.  "  Do  not  let  your  impatience  mar  the  web  of  your 
lady's  prudence.  I  will  weigh  a  woman's  wit  against  a  man's 
valor  where  there  is  aught  to  do.  Let  us  not  come  in  with 
our  assistance  until  time  shall  show  us  that  it  is  necessary 
for  her  safety  and  our  success." 

"  Amen,"  said  the  Count  of  Paris  ;  "  but  hope  not,  sir 
Saxon,  that  thy  prudence  shall  persuade  me  to  leave  this 
garden  without  taking  full  vengeance  on  that  unworthy 
Caesar,  and  the  pretended  philosopher,  if  indeed  he  turns 
out  to  have  assumed  a  character "    The  Count  was  here 


COUNT  BOBEBT  OF  PABIS  221 

beginning  to  raise  his  voice,  when  the  Saxon,  without  cere- 
mony, placed  his  hand  on  his  mouth.  ''  Thou  takest  a 
liberty,"  said  Count  Eobert,  lowering,  however,  his  tones. 

*^  Ay,  truly,"  said  Hereward  ;  ^' when  the  house  is  on  fire, 
I  do  not  stop  to  ask  whether  the  water  which  1  pour  on  it 
be  perfumed  or  no." 

This  recalled  the  Frank  to  a  sense  of  his  situation  ;  and  if 
not  contented  with  the  Saxon's  mode  of  making  an  apology, 
he  was  at  least  silenced.  A  distant  noise  was  now  heard ; 
the  Countess  listened,  and  changed  color.  ^^  Agatha,"  she 
said,  "  we  are  like  champions  in  the  lists,  and  here  comes 
the  adversary.  Let  us  retreat  into  this  side  apartment,  and 
so  for  a  while  put  oif  an  encounter  thus  alarming."  So  say- 
ing, the  two  females  withdrew  into  a  sort  of  ante-room, 
which  opened  from  the  principal  apartment  behind  the  seat 
which  Brenhilda  had  occupied. 

They  had  scarcely  disappeared,  when,  as  the  stage  direc- 
tion has  it,  enter  from  the  other  side  the  Caesar  and  Age- 
lastes.  They  had  perhaps  heard  the  last  words  of  Brenhilda, 
for  the  Caesar  repeated  in  a  low  tone — 

"Militat  omnis  amans,  habet  et  sua  castra  Cupido. 

What,  has  our  fair  opponent  withdrawn  her  forces  ?  No 
matter,  it  shows  she  thinks  of  the  warfare,  though  the  enemy 
be  not  in  sight.  Well,  thou  shalt  not  have  to  upbraid  me 
this  time,  Agelastes,  with  precipitating  my  amours,  and  de- 
priving myself  of  the  pleasure  of  pursuit.  By  Heavens,  I 
will  be  as  regular  in  my  progress  as  if  in  reality  I  bore  on 
my  shoulders  the  whole  load  of  years  which  make  the  dif- 
ference between  us  ;  for  I  shrewdly  suspect  that  with  thee, 
old  man,  it  is  that  envious  churl  Time  that  hath  plucked  the 
wings  of  Cupid." 

"  Say  not  so,  mighty  Caesar,"  said  the  old  man  ;  ''  it  is  the 
hand  of  Prudence,  which,  depriving  Cupid's  wing  of  some 
wild  feathers,  leaves  him  still  enough  to  fly  with  an  equal 
and  steady  flight." 

'^  Thy  flight,  however,  was  less  measured,  Agelastes,  when 
thou  didst  collect  that  armory — that  magazine  of  Cupid's 
panoply,  out  of  which  thy  kindness  permitted  me  but  now 
to  arm  myself,  or  rather  to  repair  my  accouterments." 

So  saying,  he  glanced  his  eye  over  his  own  person,  blaz- 
ing with  gems,  and  adorned  with  a  chain  of  gold,  bracelets, 
rings,  and  other  ornaments,  which,  with  a  new  and  splendid 
habit,  assumed  since  his  arrival  at  these  Cytherean  gardens, 
tended  to  set  off  his  very  handsome  figure. 


222  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

'^1  am  glad/'  said  Agelastes,  ''if  you  have  found  among 
toys,  which  I  now  never  wear,  and  seldom  made  use  of  even 
when  life  was  young  with  me,  anything  which  may  set  off 
your  natural  advantages.  Remember  only  this  slight  con- 
dition, that  such  of  these  trifles  as  have  made  part  of  your 
wearing-apparel  on  this  distinguished  day  cannot  return  to  a 
meaner  owner,  but  must  of  necessity  remain  the  property  of 
that  greatness  of  which  they  had  once  formed  the  ornament/* 

''  I  cannot  consent  to  this,  my  worthy  friend,''  said  the 
Caesar  ;  ''  I  know  thou  vainest  these  jewels  only  in  so  far  as 
a  philosopher  may  value  them — that  is,  for  nothing  save  the 
remembrances  which  attach  to  them.  This  large  seal-ring, 
for  instance,  was,  I  have  heard  you  say,  the  property  of  Soc- 
rates ;  if  so,  you  cannot  view  it  save  with  devout  thankful- 
ness that  your  own  philosophy  has  never  been  tried  with  the 
exercise  of  a  Xantippe.  These  clasps  released,  in  olden 
times,  the  lovely  bosom  of  Phryne  ;  and  they  now  belong  to 
one  who  could  do  better  homage  to  the  beauties  they  con- 
cealed or  discovered  than  could  the  cynic  Diogenes.  These 
buckles,  too " 

*'  I  will  spare  thy  ingenuity,  good  youth,"  said  Agelastes, 
somewhat  nettled—'*  or  rather,  noble  Caesar.  Keep  thy  wit ; 
thou  wilt  have  ample  occasion  for  it." 

*'  Fear  not  me,"  said  the  Caesar.  "  Let  us  proceed,  since 
you  will,  to  exercise  the  gifts  which  we  possess,  such  as  they 
are,  either  natural  or  bequeathed  to  us  by  our  dear  and  re- 
spected friend.  Hah  !  "  he  said,  the  door  opening  suddenly 
and  the  Countess  almost  meeting  him,  "  our  wishes  are  here 
anticipated." 

He  bowed  accordingly  with  the  deepest  deference  to  the 
Lady  Brenhilda,  who,  having  made  some  alterations  to  en- 
hance the  splendor  of  her  attire,  now  moved  forward  from 
the  with  drawing-room  into  which  she  had  retreated. 

"  Hail,  noble  lady,"  said  the  Caesar,  "  whom  I  have  visited 
with  the  intention  of  apologizing  for  detaining  you,  in  some 
degree  against  your  will,  in  those  strange  regions  in  which 
you  unexpectedly  find  yourself." 

"  Not  in  some  degree,"  answered  the  lady,  "  but  entirely 
contrary  to  my  inclinations,  which  are,  to  be  with  my  hus- 
band the  Count  of  Paris,  and  the  followers  who  have  taken 
the  cross  under  his  banner." 

"  Such,  doubtleste,  were  your  thoughts  when  you  left  the 
land  of  the  West,"  said  Agelastes  ;  "  but,  fair  countess,  have 
they  experienced  no  change  ?  You  have  left  a  shore  stream- 
ing with    human    blood    when  the  slightest  provocation 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  223 

occurred,  and  thou  hast  come  to  one  whose  principal  maxim 
is  to  increase  the  sum  of  human  happiness  by  every  mode 
which  can  be  invented.  In  the  West  yonder,  he  or  she  is 
respected  most  who  can  best  exercise  their  tyrannical 
strength  in  making  others  miserable,  while  in  these  more 
placid  realms  we  reserve  our  garlands  for  the  ingenious 
youth  or  lovely  lady  who  can  best  make  happy  the  person 
whose  affection  is  fixed  upon  her." 

' ^  But,  reverend  philosopher/'  said  the  Countess,  ''who 
laborest  so  artificially  in  recommending  the  yoke  of 
pleasure,  know  that  you  contradict  every  notion  which  I 
have  been  taught  from  my  infancy.  In  the  laud  where  my 
nurture  lay,  so  far  are  we  from  acknowledging  your 
doctrines,  that  we  match  not  except,  like  the  lion  and  the 
lioness,  when  the  male  has  compelled  the  female  to  acknowl- 
edge his  superior  worth  and  valor.  Such  is  our  rule,  that 
a  damsel,  even  of  mean  degree,  would  think  herself  heinously 
undermatched  if  wedded  to  a  gallant  whose  fame  in  arms 
was  yet  unknown.*' 

''  But,  noble  lady,*'  said  the  Caesar,  "  a  dying  man  may 
then  find  room  for  some  faint  hope.  Were  there  but  a 
chance  that  distinction  in  arms  could  gain  those  affections 
which  have  been  stolen,  rather  than  fairly  conferred,  how 
many  are  there  who  would  willingly  enter  into  the  competi- 
tion where  the  prize  is  so  fair  !  What  is  the  enterprise  too 
bold  to  be  undertaken  on  such  a  condition  ?  And  where  is 
the  individual  whose  heart  would  not  feel  that,  in  baring 
his  sword  for  the  prize,  he  made  vow  never  to  return  it  to 
the  scabbard  without  the  proud  boast,  '  What  I  have  not 
yet  won,  I  have  deserved  ?*" 

''  You  see,  lady,"  said  Agelastes,  who,  apprehending  that 
the  last  speech  of  the  Caesar  had  made  some  impression, 
hastened  to  follow  it  up  with  a  suitable  observation — •'  you 
see  that  the  fire  of  chivalry  burns  as  gallantly  in  the  bosom 
of  the  Grecians  as  in  that  of  the  Western  nations. '* 

"  Yes,"  answered  Brenhilda,  ''  and  I  have  heard  of  the 
celebrated  siege  of  Troy,  on  which  occasion  a  dastardly 
coward  carried  off  the  wife  of  a  brave  man,  shunned  every 
proffer  of  encounter  with  the  husband  whom  he  had  wronged, 
and  finally  caused  the  death  of  his  numerous  brothers,  the 
destruction  of  his  native  city,  with  all  the  wealth  which  it 
contained,  and  died  himself  the  death  of  a  pitiful  poltroon, 
lamented  only  by  his  worthless  leman,  to  show  how  well  the 
rules  of  chivalry  were  understood  by  your  predecessors." 

"  Lady,  you  mistake,"  said  the  Caesar ;  ''  the  offenses  ol 


224  WA  VERLEY  NO VELS 

Paris  were  those  of  a  dissolute  Asiastic  ;  the  courage  which 
avenged  them  was  that  of  the  Greek  empire/' 

'^  You  are  learned,  sir/'  said  the  lady  ;  ^^but  think  not 
that  I  will  trust  your  words  until  you  produce  before  me  a 
Grecian  knight  gallant  enough  to  look  upon  the  armed  crest 
of  my  husband  without  quaking/' 

"  That,  methinks,  were  not  extremely  difficult/'  returned 
the  Caesar  :  '^  if  they  have  not  flattered  me,  I  have  i  lyself 
been  thought  equal  in  battle  to  more  dangerous  men  than 
him  who  has  been  strangely  mated  with  the  Lady  Brenhilda/' 

''  That  is  soon  tried,"  answered  the  Countess.  *'  You  will 
hardly,  I  think,  deny  that  my  husband,  separated  from  me 
by  some  unworthy  trick,  is  still  at  thy  command,  and  could 
be  produced  at  thy  pleasure.  I  will  ask  no  armor  for  him 
save  what  he  wears,  no  weapon  but  his  good  sword  Tran- 
chefer ;  then  place  him  in  this  chamber,  or  any  other  lists 
equally  narrow,  and  if  he  flinch,  or  cry  craven,  or  remain 
dead  under  shield,  let  Brenhilda  be  the  prize  of  the  con- 
queror. Merciful  Heaven  ! "  she  concluded,  as  she  sunk  back 
upon  her  seat,  *'  forgive  me  for  the  crime  of  even  imagining 
such  a  termination,  which  is  equal  almost  to  doubting  Thine 
unerring  judgment/' 

*' Let  me,  however,"  said  the  Caesar,  ''catch  up  these 
precious  words  before  they  fall  to  the  ground.  Let  me  hope 
that  he  to  whom  the  Heavens  shall  give  power  and  strength 
to  conquer  this  highly-esteemed  Count  of  Paris  shall  succeed 
him  in  the  affections  of  Brenhilda  ;  and  believe  me,  the  sun 
plunges  not  through  the  sky  to  his  resting  place  with  the 
same  celerity  that  I  shall  hasten  to  the  encounter." 

*'Now,  by  Heaven!"  said  Count  Eobert,  in  an  anxious 
whisper  to  Hereward,  ''  it  is  too  much  to  expect  me  to  stand 
by  and  hear  a  contemptible  Greek,  who  durst  not  stand  even 
the  rattling  farewell  which  Tranchefer  takes  of  his  scabbard, 
brave  me  in  my  absence,  and  effect  to  make  love  to  my  lady 
par  amours.  And  she,  too^ — methinks  Brenhilda  allows 
more  license  than  she  is  wont  to  do  to  yonder  chattering 
popinjay.  By  the  rood  !  I  will  spring  into  the  apartment, 
front  them  with  my  personal  appearance,  and  confute 
yonder  braggart  in  a  manner  he  is  like  to  remember." 

''  Under  favor,"  said  the  Varangian,  who  was  the  only 
auditor  of  this  violent  speech,  ''you  shall  be  ruled  by  calm 
reason  while  I  am  with  you.  When  we  are  separated,  let  the 
devil  of  knight-errantry,  which  has  such  possession  of  thee, 
take  thee  upon  his  shoulders  and  carry  thee  full  tilt 
wheresoever  he  lists." 


I 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  225 

''Thou  art  a  brute,"  said  the  Count,  looking  at  him  with 
a  contempt  corresponding  to  the  expression  he  made  use  of  ; 
'^not  only  without  humanity,  but  without  the  sense  of  nat- 
ural honor  or  natural  shame.  The  most  despicable  of 
animals  stands  not  by  tamely  and  sees  another  assail  his 
mate.  The  bull  offers  his  horns  to  a  rival,  the  mastiff  uses 
his  jaws,  and  even  the  timid  stag  becomes  furious  and 
gores." 

^^ Because  they  are  beasts,"  said  the  Varangian,  "and 
their  mistresses  also  creatures  without  shame  or  reason,  who 
are  not  aware  of  the  sanctity  of  a  choice.  But  thou,  too, 
Count,  canst  thou  not  see  the  obvious  purpose  of  this  poor 
lady,  forsaken  by  all  the  world,  to  keep  her  faith  towards 
thee,  by  eluding  the  snares  with  which  wicked  men  have 
beset  her  ?  By  the  souls  of  my  fathers  !  my  heart  is  so 
much  moved  by  her  ingenuity,  mingled  as  I  see  it  is  with 
the  most  perfect  candor  and  faith,  that  I  myself,  in  fault 
of  a  better  champion,  would  willingly  raise  the  ax  in  her 
behalf." 

"I  thank  thee,  my  good  friend,"  said  the  Count — "I 
thank  thee  as  heartily  as  if  it  were  possible  thou  shouldst  be 
left  to  do  that  good  office  for  Brenhilda,  the  beloved  of  many 
a  noble  lord,  the  mistress  of  many  a  powerful  vassal ;  and, 
what  is  more — much  more  than  thanks,  I  crave  thy  pardon 
for  the  wrong  I  did  thee  but  now." 

"  My  pardon  you  cannot  need,"  said  the  Varangian  ;  "for 
I  take  no  offense  that  is  not  seriously  meant.  Stay,  they 
speak  again." 

"It  is  strange  it  should  be  so,"  said  the  Caesar,  as  he 
paced  the  apartment ;  "  but  methinks,  nay,  I  am  almost 
certain,  Agelastes,  that  I  hear  voices  in  the  vicinity  of  this 
apartment  of  thy  privacy." 

"It  is  impossible,^' said  Agelastes ;  ^'but  I  will  go  and 
see." 

Perceiving  him  to  leave  the  pavilion,  the  Varangian  made 
the  Frank  sensible  that  they  must  crouch  down  among  a 
little  thicket  of  evergreens,  where  they  lay  completely  ob- 
scured. The  philosopher  made  his  rounds  with  a  heavy 
step  but  a  watchful  eye  ;  and  the  two  listeners  v^ere  obliged 
to  observe  the  strictest  silence,  without  motion  of  any  kind, 
until  he  had  completed  an  ineffectual  search,  and  returned 
into  tho  pavilion. 

"By  my  faith,  brave  man,"  said  the  Count,  "  ere  we  re- 
turn to  our  skulking-place,  I  must  tell  thee  in  thine  ear  that 
never  in  my  life  was  temptation  so  strong  upon  me  as  that 
IS 


226  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

which  prompted  me  to  beat  out  that  old  hypocrite's  brains, 
provided  I  could  have  reconciled  it  with  my  honor ;  and 
heartily  do  I  wish  that  thou,  whose  honor  no  way  withheld 
thee,  had  experienced  and  given  way  to  some  impulse  of  a 
similar  nature/' 

^'  Such  fancies  have  passed  through  my  head,"  said  the 
Varangian  ;  **^but  I  will  not  follow  them  till  they  are  con- 
sistent both  with  our  own  safety  and  more  particularly  with 
that  of  the  Countess." 

^^  I  thank  thee  again  for  thy  good-will  to  her,"  said  Count 
Robert ;  ^^  and,  by  Heaven  !  if  fight  we  must  at  length,  as  it 
seems  likely,  I  will  neither  grudge  thee  an  honorable  antag- 
onist nor  fair  quarter  if  the  combat  goes  against  thee." 

*'  Thou  hast  my  thanks,"  was  the  reply  of  Hereward ; 
"  only,  for  Heaven's  sake,  be  silent  in  this  conjuncture,  and 
do.  what  thou  wilt  afterwards." 

Before  the  Varangian  and  the  Count  had  again  resumed 
their  posture  of  listeners,  the  parties  within  the  pavilion, 
conceiving  themselves  unwatched,  had  resumed  their  con- 
versation, speaking  low,  yet  with  considerable  animation. 

^*  It  is  in  vain  you  would  persuade  me,"  said  the  Countess, 
''  that  you  know  not  where  my  husband  is,  or  that  you  have 
not  the  most  absolute  influence  over  his  captivity.  Who 
else  could  have  an  interest  in  banishing  or  putting  to  death 
the  husband  but  he  that  affects  to  admire  the  wife  ?" 

'^  You  do  me  wrong,  beautiful  lady,"  answered  the  Cassar, 
*'  and  forget  that  I  can  in  no  shape  be  termed  the  moving- 
spring  of  this  empire  ;  that  my  father-in-law,  Alexius,  is  the 
Emperor  ;  and  that  the  woman  who  terms  herself  my  wife  is 
jealous  as  a  fiend  can  be  of  my  slightest  motion.  What  pos- 
sibility was  there  that  I  should  work  the  captivity  of  your 
husband  and  your  own  ?  The  open  affront  which  the  Count 
of  Paris  put  upon  the  Emperor  was  one  which  he  was  likely 
to  avenge,  either  by  secret  guile  or  by  open  force.  Me  it  no 
way  touched,  save  as  the  humble  vassal  of  thy  charms  ;  and 
it  was  by  the  vi^isdom  and  the  art  of  the  sage,  Agelastes,  that 
I  was  able  to  extricate  thee  from  the  gulf  in  which  thou 
hadst  else  certainly  perished.  Nay,  weep  not,  lady,  for  as 
yet  we  know  not  the  fate  of  Count  Robert ;  but,  credit  me, 
it  is  wisdom  to  choose  a  better  protector,  and  consider  him 
as  no  more. " 

'*A  better  than  him,"  said  Brenhilda,  ''  I  can  never  have, 
were  I  to  choose  out  of  the  knighthood  of  all  the  world." 

''This  hand,"  said  the  Caesar,  drawing  himself  into  a 
martial  attitude,  ''should  decide  that  question,  were  the 


I 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  227 

man  of  whom  thou  thinkest  so  much  yet  moving  on  the  face 
of  this  earth,  and  at  liberty/' 

*'  Thou  art,"  said  Brenhilda,  looking  fixedly  at  him,  with 
the  fire  of  indignation  flashing  from  every  feature — ''  thou 
art — but  it  avails  not  telling  thee  what  is  thy  real  name ; 
believe  me,  the  world  shall  one  day  ring  with  it,  and  be 
justly  sensible  of  its  value.  Observe  what  I  am  about  to 
say.  Robert  of  Paris  is  gone,  or  captive,  I  know  not  where. 
He  cannot  fight  the  match  of  which  thou  seemest  so  desir- 
ous ;  but  here  stands  Brenhilda,  born  heiress  of  Aspramonte, 
by  marriage  the  wedded  wife  of  the  good  Count  of  Paris. 
She  was  never  matched  in  the  lists  by  mortal  man  except 
the  valiant  Count,  and  since  thou  art  so  grieved  that  thou 
canst  not  meet  her  husband  in  battle,  thou  canst  not  surely 
object  if  she  is  willing  to  meet  thee  in  his  stead  ?  " 

*' How,  madam!"  said  the  Caesar,  astonished;  "do  you 
propose  yourself  to  hold  the  lists  against  me  ?  " 

''Against  you!"  said  the  Countess — ''against  all  the 
Grecian  empire,  if  they  shall  affirm  that  Robert  of  Paris  is 
justly  used  and  lawfully  confined." 

"  And  are  the  conditions,"  said  the  Caesar,  "  the  same  as 
if  Count  Robert  himself  held  the  lists  ?  The  vanquished 
must  then  be  at  the  pleasure  of  the  conqueror  for  good  or 
evil." 

"It  would  seem  so,"  said  the  Countess,  "nor  do  I  refuse 
the  hazard  ;  only  that,  if  the  other  champion  shall  bite  the 
dust,  the  noble  Count  Robert  shall  be  set  at  liberty,  and  per- 
mitted to  depart  with  all  suitable  honors." 

"  This  I  refuse  not,"  said  the  Cgesar,  "  provided  it  is  in 
my  power." 

A  deep  growling  sound,  like  that  of  a  modem  gong,  here 
interrupted  the  conference. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

The  Varangian  and  Count  Robert,  at  every  risk  of  dis- 
covery, had  remained  so  near  as  fully  to  conjecture,  though 
they  could  not  expressly  overhear,  the  purport  of  the  con- 
versation. 

*'He  has  accepted  her  challenge  ?''  said  the  Count  of 
Paris. 

'*  And  with  apparent  willingness,''  said  Hereward. 

'^  0,  doubtless — doubtless,''  answered  the  crusader  ;  "  but 
he  knows  not  the  skill  in  war  which  a  woman  may  attain  ; 
for  my  part,  God  knows  I  have  enough  depending  upon  the 
issue  of  this  contest,  yet  such  is  my  confidence,  that  I  would 
to  God  I  had  more.  I  vow  to  Our  Lady  of  the  Broken  Lances 
that  I  desire  every  furrow  of  land  I  possess,  every  honor 
which  I  can  call  my  own,  from  the  countship  of  Paris  down 
to  the  leather  that  binds  my  spur,  were  dependent  and  at 
issue  upon  this  fair  field  between  your  Caesar,  as  men  term 
him,  and  Brenhilda  of  Aspramonte." 

"  It  is  a  noble  confidence,"  said  the  Varangian,  "  nor 
durst  I  say  it  is  a  rash  one  ;  only  I  cannot  but  remember 
that  the  Caesar  is  a  strong  man  as  well  as  a  handsome,  expert 
in  the  use  of  arms,  and,  above  all,  less  strictly  bound  than  you 
esteem  yourself  by  the  rules  of  honor.  There  are  many  ways 
in  which  advantage  may  be  given  and  taken,  which  will  not, 
in  the  Caesar's  estimation,  alter  the  character  of  the  field 
from  an  equal  one,  although  it  might  do  so  in  the  opinion  of 
the  chivalrous  Count  of  Paris,or  even  in  that  of  the  poor  Varan- 
gian. But  first  let  me  conduct  you  to  some  place  of  safety, 
for  your  escape  must  be  soon,  if  it  is  not  already,  detected. 
The  sounds  which  we  heard  intimate  that  some  of  his  confed- 
erate plotters  have  visited  the  garden  on  other  than  love 
affairs.  I  will  guide  thee  to  another  avenue  than  that  by 
which  we  entered.  But  you  would  hardly,  I  suppose,  be 
pleased  to  adopt  the  wisest  alternative  ?  " 

"  And  what  may  that  be  ?"    said  the  Count. 

"  To  give  thy  purse,  though  it  were  thine  all,  to  some 
poor  ferryman  to  waft  thee  over  the  Hellespont,  then  hasten 
to  carry  thy  complaint  to  Godfrey  of  Bouillon,  and  what 
friends   thou   mayst  have  among  thy  brethren  crusaders. 


COUNT  BOBERT  OF  PARIS  229 

and  determine,  as  thou  easily  canst,  on  a  sufficient  numbei 
of  them  to  come  back  and  menace  the  city  with  instant  war, 
unless  the  Emperor  should  deliver  up  thy  lady,  most  unfairly 
made  prisoner,  and  prevent,  by  his  authority,  this  absurd  and 
unnatural  combat/' 

^^And  would  you  have  me,  then,"  said  Count  Robert, 
"move  the  ciusaders  to  break  a  fairly  appointed  field  of 
battle  ?  Do  you  think  that  Godfrey  of  Bouillon  would  turn 
back  upon  his  pilgrimage  for  such  an  unworthy  purpose ; 
or  that  the  Countess  of  Paris  would  accept  as  a  service  means 
of  safety  which  would  stain  her  honor  forever,  by  break- 
ing an  appointment  solemnly  made  on  her  own  challenge  ? 
Never/' 

"  My  judgment  is  then  at  fault/'  said  the  Varangian, 
*'  for  I  see  I  can  hammer  out  no  expedient  which  is  not,  in 
some  extravagant  manner  or  another,  controlled  by  your 
foolish  notions.  Here  is  a  man  who  has  been  trapped  into 
the  power  of  his  enemy,  that  he  might  not  interfere  to  pre- 
vent a  base  stratagem  upon  his  lady,  involving  both  her  life 
and  honor ;  yet  he  thinks  it  a  matter  of  necessity  that  he 
keeps  faith  as  precisely  with  these  midnight  poisoners  as  he 
would  had  it  been  pledged  to  the  most  honorable  men  ! " 

"  Thou  say'st  a  painful  truth,"  said  Count  Robert ;  "  but 
*my  word  is  the  emblem  of  my  faith  ;  and  if  I  pass  it  to  a 
dishonorable  or  faithless  foe,  it  is  imprudently  done  on  my 
part  ;  but  if  I  break  it,  being  once  pledged,  it  is  a  dishon- 
orable action,  and  the  disgrace  can  never  be  washed  from  my 
shield." 

"  Do  you  mean,  then,"  said  the  Varangian,  '^  to  suffer  your 
wife's  honor  to  remain  pledged  as  it  at  present  is  on  the  event 
of  an  unequal  combat  ?  " 

''  God  and  the  saints  pardon  thee  such  a  thought !"  said 
the  Count  of  Paris.  '^  I  will  go  to  see  this  combat  with  a 
heart  as  firm,  if  not  as  light,  as  any  time  I  ever  saw  spears 
splintered.  If  by  the  influence  of  any  accident  or  treachery 
— for  fairly,  and  with  such  an  antagonist,  Brenhilda  of  As- 
pramonte  cannot  be  overthrown — I  step  into  the  lists,  pro- 
claim the  Caesar  as  he  is — a  villain,  show  the  falsehood  of 
his  conduct  from  beginning  to  end,  appeal  to  every  noble 
heart  that  hears  me,  and  then — God  show  the  right  ! " 

Hereward  paused,  and  shook  his  head.  "  All  this,"  he 
said,  "  might  be  feasible  enough,  provided  the  combat  were 
to  be  fought  in  the  presence  of  your  own  countrymen,  or 
even,  by  the  mass  !  if  the  Varangians  were  to  be  guards  of 
the  lists.     But  treachery  of  every  kind  is  so  familiar  to  the 


230  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

Greeks,  that  I  question  if  they  would  view  the  conduct  ol 
their  Caesar  as  anything  else  than  a  pardonable  and  natural 
stratagem  of  Dan  Cupid,  to  be  smiled  at  rather  than  sub- 
jected to  disgrace  or  punishment/' 

^'A  nation/'  said  Count  Robert,  "  who  could  smile  at  such 
a  jest,  may  Heaven  refuse  them  sympathy  at  their  utmost 
need,  when  their  sword  is  broken  in  their  hand,  and  their 
wives  and  daughters  shrieking  in  the  relentless  grasp  of  a 
barbarous  enemy  ! " 

Hereward  looked  upon  his  companion,  whose  flushed 
cheeks  and  sparkling  eyes  bore  witness  to  his  enthusiasm. 

"  I  see,''  he  said,  '^  you  are  resolved,  and  I  know  that  your 
resolution  can  in  justice  be  called  by  no  other  name  than 
an  act  of  heroic  folly.  What  then  ?  It  is  long  since  life  has 
been  bitter  to  the  Varangian  exile.  Morn  has  raised  him 
from  a  joyless  bed,  which  night  has  seen  him  lie  down  upon, 
wearied  with  wielding  a  mercenary  weapon  in  the  wars  of 
strangers.  He  has  longed  to  lay  down  his  life  in  an  honor- 
able cause,  and  this  is  one  in  which  the  extremity  and  very 
essence  of  honor  is  implicated.  It  tallies  also  with  my  scheme 
of  saving  the  Emperor,  which  will  be  greatly  facilitated  by 
the  downfall  of  his  ungrateful  son-in-law.'^  Then  addressing 
himself  to  the  Count,  he  continued,  ''  Well,  sir  count,  as  thou 
art  the  person  principally  concerned,  I  am  willing  to  yield 
to  the  reasoning  in  this  affair  ;  but  I  hope  you  will  permit 
me  to  mingle  with  your  resolution  some  advices  of  a  more 
everyday  and  less  fantastic  nature.  For  example,  thy  escape 
from  the  dungeons  of  the  Blacquernal  must  soon  be  generally 
known.  In  prudence,  indeed,  I  myself  must  be  the  first  to 
communicate  it,  since  otherwise  the  suspicion  will  fall  on 
me.  Where  do  you  think  of  concealing  yourself,  for  as- 
suredly the  search  will  be  close  and  general  ?  " 

'^  For  that,"  said  the  Count  of  Paris,  ''  Imust  be  indebted 
to  thy  suggestion,  with  thanks  for  every  lie  which  thou 
findest  thyself  obliged  to  make,  to  contrive,  and  produce  in 
my  behalf,  entreating  thee  only  to  render  them  as  few  as 
possible,  they  being  a  coin  which  I  myself  never  fabricate." 

''Sir  knight,"  answered  Hereward,  ''let  me  begin  first  by 
saying  that  no  knight  that  ever  belted  sword  is  more  a  slave 
to  truth,  when  truth  is  observed  towards  him,  than  the  poor 
soldier  who  talks  to  thee  ;  but  when  the  game  depends  not 
upon  fair  play,  but  upon  lulling  men's  cautiousness  asleep 
by  falsehood,  and  drugging  their  senses  by  opiate  draughts, 
they  who  would  scruple  at  no  means  of  deceiving  me  can 
hardly  expect  that  I,  who  am  paid  in  such  base  money,  should 


COUNT  BOBERT  OF  PABI8  231 

pass  nothing  on  my  part  but  what  is  lawful  and  genuine. 
For  the  present  thou  must  remain  concealed  within  my  poor 
apartment  in  the  barracks  of  the  Varangians,  which  is  the 
last  place  where  they  will  think  of  seeking  for  thee.  Take 
this,  my  upper  cloak,  and  follow  me ;  and  now  that  we  are 
about  to  leave  these  gardens,  thou  mayst  follow  me  unsus- 
pected as  a  sentinel  attending  his  officer  ;  for,  take  it  along 
with  you,  noble  count,  that  we  Varangians  are  a  sort  of 
persons  upon  whom  the  Greeks  care  not  to  look  very  long  or 
fixedly/' 

They  now  reached  the  gate  where  they  had  been  admitted 
by  the  negress,  and  Hereward,  who  was  entrusted  with  the 
power,  it  seems,  of  letting  himself  out  of  the  philosopher's 
premises,  though  not  of  entering  without  assistance  from  the 
portress,  took  out  a  key  which  turned  the  lock  on  the  garden 
side,  so  that  they  soon  found  themselves  at  liberty.  They 
then  proceeded  by  by-paths  through  the  city,  Hereward 
leading  the  way,  and  the  Count  following,  without  speech 
or  remonstrance,  until  they  stood  before  the  portal  of  the 
barracks  of  the  Varangians. 

^'  Make  haste,"  said  the  sentinel  who  was  on  duty,  '^  dinner 
is  already  begun."  The  communication  sounded  joyfully  in 
the  ears'  of  Hereward,  who  was  much  afraid  that  his  com- 
panion might  have  been  stopped  and  examined.  By  a  side 
passage  he  reached  his  own  quarters,  and  introduced  the 
Count  into  a  small  room,  the  sleeping-chamber  of  his  squire, 
where  he  apologized  for  leaving  him  for  some  time ;  and, 
going  out,  locked  the  door,  for  fear,  as  he  said,  of  intrusion. 

The  demon  of  suspicion  was  not  very  likely  to  molest  a 
mind  so  frankly  constituted  as  that  of  Count  Robert,  and 
yet  the  last  action  of  Hereward  did  not  fail  to  occasion  some 
painful  reflections. 

'*  This  man,"  he  said,  ''had  needs  be  true,  for  I  have 
reposed  in  him  a  mighty  trust,  which  few  hirelings  in  his 
situation  would  honorably  discharge.  What  is  to  prevent 
him  to  report  to  the  principal  officer  of  his  watch  that  the 
Frank  prisoner,  Robert  Count  of  Paris,  whose  wife  stands 
engaged  for  so  desparate  a  combat  with  the  Caesar,  has 
escaped,  indeed,  this  morning  from  the  prisons  of  the  Blac- 
quernal,  but  has  suffered  himself  to  be  trepanned  at  noon, 
and  is  again  a  captive  in  the  barracks  of  the  Varangian 
Gruard  ?  What  means  of  defense  are  mine,  were  I  discovered 
to  these  mercenaries  ?  What  man  could  do,  by  the  favor 
of  Our  Lady  of  the  Broken  Lances,  I  have  not  failed  to 
achieve.     I  have  slain  a  tiger  in  single   combat.     I   have 


232  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

killed  one  warder,  and  conquered  the  desperate  and  gigantic 
creature  by  whom  he  was  supported.  I  have  had  terms 
enough  at  command  to  bring  over  this  Varangian  to  my  side, 
in  appearance  at  least ;  yet  all  this  does  not  encourage  me 
to  hope  that  I  could  long  keep  at  bay  ten  or  a  dozen  such 
men  as  these  beef-fed  knaves  appear  to  be,  led  in  upon  me 
by  a  fellow  of  thews  and  sinews  such  as  those  of  my  late 
companion.  Yet,  for  shame,  Robert  !  such  thoughts  are 
unworthy  a  descendant  of  Charlemagne.  When  wert  thou 
wont  so  curiously  to  count  thine  enemies,  and  when  wert 
thou  wont  to  be  suspicious,  since  hd  whose  bosom  may  truly 
boast  itself  incapable  of  fraud  ought  in  honesty  to  be  the 
last  to  expect  it  in  another  ?  The  Varangian^s  look  is  open, 
his  coolness  in  danger  is  striking,  his  speech  is  more  frank 
and  ready  than  ever  was  that  of  a  traitor.  If  he  is  false, 
there  is  no  faith  in  the  hand  of  nature,  for  truth,  sincerity, 
and  courage  are  written  upon  his  forehead." 

While  Count  Robert  was  thus  reflecting  upon  his  condi- 
tion, and  combating  the  thick-coming  doubts  and  suspicious 
which  its  uncertainties  gave  rise  to,  he  began  to  be  sensible 
that  he  had  not  eaten  for  many  hours  ;  and  amidst  many 
doubts  and  fears  of  a  more  heroic  nature,  he  half  entertained 
a  lurking  suspicion  that  they  meant  to  let  hunger  undermine 
his  strength  before  they  adventured  into  the  apartment  to 
deal  with  him. 

We  shall  best  see  how  far  these  doubts  were  deserved  by 
Hereward,  or  how  far  they  were  unjust,  by  following  his 
course  after  he  left  his  barrack-room.  Snatching  a  morsel 
of  dinner,  which  he  eat  with  an  affectation  of  great  hunger, 
but,  in  fact,  that  his  attention  to  his  food  might  be  a 
pretense  for  dispensing  with  disagreeable  questions,  or  with 
conversation  of  any  kind,  he  pleaded  duty,  and,  immediately 
leaving  his  comrades,  directed  his  course  to  the  lodgings  of 
Achilles  Tatius,  which  were  a  part  of  the  same  building.  A 
Syrian  slave,  who  opened  the  door,  after  a  deep  reverence  to 
Hereward,  whom  he  knew  as  a  favorite  attendant  of  the 
Acolyte,  said  to  him  that  his  master  was  gone  forth,  but  had 
desired  him  to  say  that,  if  he  wished  to  see  him,  he  would 
find  him  at  the  Philosopher's  Gardens,  so  called  as  belonging 
to  the  sage  Agelastes. 

Hereward  turned  about  instantly,  and,  availing  himself  of 
his  knowledge  of  Constantinople  to  thread  its  streets  in  the 
shortest  time  possible,  at  length  stood  alone  before  the  door 
in  the  garden-wall  at  which  he  and  the  Count  of  Paris  had 
previously  been  admitted  in  the  oarlier  part  of  the  day.  The 


COUNT  BOBEBT  OF  PABI8  233 

game  negress  appeared  at  the  same  private  signal,  and  when 
he  asked  for  Achilles  Tatius,  she  replied,  with  some  sharp- 
ness, '^  Since  you  were  here  this  morning,  I  marvel  you  did 
not  meet  him,  or  that,  having  business  with  him,  you  did 
not  stay  till  he  arrived.  Sure  I  am,  that  not  long  after  you 
entered  the  garden  the  Acolyte  was  inquiring  for  you/' 

'^  It  skills  not,  old  woman,''  said  the  Varangian  ;  ^^  I 
communicate  the  reason  of  my  motions  to  my  commander, 
but  not  to  thee."  He  entered  the  garden  accordingly,  and, 
avoiding  the  twilight-path  that  led  to  the  Bower  of  Love — 
so  was  the  pavilion  named  in  which  he  had  overheard  the 
dialogue  between  the  Caesar  and  the  Countess  of  Paris — he 
arrived  before  a  simple  garden-house,  whose  humble  and 
modest  front  seemed  to  announce  that  it  was  the  abode  of 
philosophy  and  learning.  Here,  passing  before  the  windows, 
he  made  some  little  noise,  expecting  to  attract  the  attention 
either  of  Achilles  Tatius  or  his  accomplice  Agelastes,  as 
chance  should  determine.  It  was  the  first  who  heard  and 
who.  replied.  The  door  opened  ;  a  lofty  plume  stooped 
itself,  that  its  owner  might  cross  the  threshold,  and  the 
stately  form  of  Achilles  Tatius  entered  the  gardens.  ^'  What 
now,"  he  said,  ''^  our  trusty  sentinel  ?  what  hast  thou,  at  this 
time  of  day,  come  to  report  to  us  ?  Thou  art  our  good  friend 
and  highly-esteemed  soldier,  and  well  we  wot  thine  errand 
must  be  of  importance  since  thou  hast  brought  it  thyself, 
and  at  an  hour  so  unusual." 

'*  Pray  Heaven,"  said  Hereward,  "  that  the  news  I  have 
brought  deserve  a  welcome." 

''  Speak  them  instantly,"  said  the  Acolyte,  ''  good  or  bad  : 
thou  speakest  to  a  man  to  whom  fear  is  unknown."  But  his 
eye,  which  quailed  as  he  looked  on  the  soldier ;  his  color, 
which  went  and  came  ;  his  hands,  which  busied  themselves 
in  an  uncertain  manner  in  adjusting  the  belt  of  his  sword — 
all  argued  a  state  of  mind  very  different  from  that  which  his 
tone  of  defiance  would  fain  have  implied.  ^'  Courage,"  he 
said,  "  my  trusty  soldier  !  speak  the  news  to  me.  I  can  bear 
the  worst  thou  hast  to  tell." 

'^In  a  word,  then,"  said  the  Varangian,  ''your  valor 
directed  me  this  morning  to  play  the  office  of  master  of  the 
rounds  upon  those  dungeons  of  the  Blacquernal  Palace  where 
last  night  the  boisterous  Count  Robert  of  Paris  was  incar- 
cerated  '' 

"  I  remember  well,"  said  Achilles  Tatius.    ^ '  "What  then  ?  " 

''  As  I  reposed  me,"  said  Hereward,  "  in  an  apartment 
above  the  vaults,  I  heard  cries  from  beneath,   of  a   kind 


234  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

which  attracted  my  attention.  I  hastened  to  examine,  and 
my  surprise  was  extreme  when,  looking  down  into  the  dun- 
geon, though  I  could  see  nothing  distinctly,  yet,  by  the 
wailing  and  whimpering  sounds,  I  conceived  that  the  man 
of  the  forest,  the  animal  called  Sylvan,  whom  our  soldiers 
have  so  far  indoctrinated  in  our  Saxon  tongue  as  to  make 
him  useful  in  the  wards  of  the  prison,  was  bemoaning  him- 
self on  account  of  some  violent  injury.  Descending  with  a 
torch,  I  found  the  bed  on  which  the  prisoner  had  been  let 
down  burnt  to  cinders,  the  tiger  which  had  been  chained 
within  a  spring  of  it  with  its  skull  broken  to  pieces,  the 
creature  called  Sylvan  prostrate  and  writhing  under  great 
pain  and  terror,  and  no  prisoner  whatever  in  the  dun- 
geon. There  were  marks  that  all  the  fastenings  had  been 
withdrawn  by  a  Mytilenian  soldier,  companion  of  my  watch, 
when  he  visited  the  dungeon  at  the  usual  hour  ;  and  as,  in 
my  anxious  search,  I  at  length  found  his  dead  body,  slain 
apparently  by  a  stab  in  the  throat,  I  was  obliged  to  believe 
that,  while  I  was  examining  the  cell,  he,  this  Count  Robert, 
with  whose  daring  life  the  adventure  is  well  consistent,  had 
escaped  to  the  upper  air,  by  means,  doubtless,  of  the  ladder 
and  trap-door  by  which  I  had  descended." 

* '  And  wherefore  didst  thou  not  instantly  call  '  treason,' 
and  raise  the  hue  and  cry  ?  "  demanded  the  Acolyte. 

"  I  dared  not  venture  to  do  so,"  replied  the  Varangian, 
"  till  I  had  instructions  from  your  valor.  The  alarming  cry 
of  '  treason,*  and  the  various  rumors  likely  at  this  moment 
to  ensue,  might  have  involved  a  search  so  close  as  perchance 
would  have  discovered  matters  in  which  the  Acolyte  himself 
would  have  been  rendered  subject  to  suspicion." 

*'  Thou  art  right,"  said  Achilles  Tatius,  in  a  whisper  ; 
'^and  yet  it  will  be  necessary  that  we  do  not  pretend  any 
longer  to  conceal  the  flight  of  this  important  prisoner,  if  we 
would  not  pass  for  being  his  accomplices.  Where  thinkest 
thou  this  unhappy  fugitive  can  have  taken  refuge  ?" 

^'  That  I  was  in  hopes  of  learning  from  your  valor's  greater 
wisdom,"  said  Here  ward. 

'^  Thinkest  thou  not,"  said  Achilles,  ''  that  he  may  have 
crossed  the  Hellespont,  in  order  to  rejoin  his  own  country- 
men and  adherents  ?" 

"  It  is  much  to  be  dreaded,"  said  Hereward.  "Undoubt- 
edly, if  the  Count  listened  to  the  advice  of  any  one  who 
knew  the  face  of  the  country,  such  would  be  the  very  coun- 
sel he  would  receive." 

*'  The  danger,  then,  of  his  return  at  the  head  of  a  venge- 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  233 

ful  body  of  Franks,"  said  the  Acolyte,  '^  is  not  so  immediate 
as  I  apprehended  at  first,  for  the  Emperor  gave  positive 
orders  that  the  boats  and  galleys  which  yesterday  trans- 
ported the  crusaders  to  the  shores  of  Asia  should  recross  the 
strait,  and  bring  back  no  single  one  of  them  from  the  step 
upon  their  journey  on  which  he  had  so  far  furthered  them. 
Besides,  they  all — their  leaders,  that  is  to  say — made  their 
vows  before  crossing  that  they  would  not  turn  back  so  much 
as  a  foot's  pace,  now  that  they  had  set  actually  forth  on  the 
road  to  Palestine." 

''  So,  therefore,"  said  Here  ward,  *'  one  of  two  propositions 
is  unquestionable — either  Count  Robert  is  on  the  eastern 
side  of  the  strait,  having  no  means  of  returning  with  his 
brethren  to  avenge  the  usage  he  has  received,  and  may  there- 
fore be  securely  set  at  defiance  ;  or  else  he  lurks  somewhere 
in  Constantinople,  without  a  friend  or  ally  to  take  his  part, 
or  encourage  him  openly  to  state  his  supposed  wrongs.  In 
either  case,  there  can,  I  think,  be  no  tact  in  conveying  to 
the  palace  the  news  that  he  has  freed  himself,  since  it  would 
only  alarm  the  court,  and  afford  the  Emperor  ground  for 
many  suspicions.  But  it  is  not  for  an  ignorant  barbarian 
like  me  to  prescribe  a  course  of  conduct  to  your  valor  and 
wisdom,  and  methinks  the  sage  Agelastes  were  a  fitter  coun- 
selor than  such  as  I  am." 

^'^0 — no — no,"  said  the  Acolyte,  in  a  hurried  whisper  ; 
"  the  philosopher  and  I  are  right  good  friends — sworn 
good  friends,  very  especially  bound  together  ;  but  should  it 
come  to  this  that  one  of  us  must  needs  throw  before  the 
footstool  of  the  Emperor  the  head  of  the  other,  I  think  thou 
wouldst  not  advise  that  I,  whose  hairs  have  not  a  trace  of 
silver,  should  be  the  last  in  making  the  offering ;  wherefore, 
we  will  say  nothing  of  this  mishap,  but  give  thee  full  power 
and  the  highest  charge  to  seek  for  Count  Eobert  of  Paris,  be 
he  dead  or  alive, , to  secure  him  within  the  dungeons  set 
apart  for  the  discipline  of  our  own  corps,  and  when  thou 
hast  done  so,  to  bring  me  notice.  I  may  make  him  my 
friend  in  many  ways,  by  extricating  his  wife  from  danger  by 
the  axes  of  my  Varangians.  What  is  there  in  this  metrop- 
olis that  they  have  to  oppose  them  ?" 

^'  When  raised  in  a  just  cause,"  answered  Here  ward, 
'^nothing." 

^*Hah!  say'st  thou  ?"  said  the  Acolyte.  How  meanest 
thou  by  that  ?  But  I  know.  Thou  art  scrupulous  about 
having  the  just  and  lawful  command  of  thy  officer  in  every 
action  in  which  thou  art  engaged,  and,  thinking  in  that 


236  WAVERLET  NOVELS 

dutiful  and  soldierlike  manner,  it  is  my  duty  as  thine  Aco* 
lyte  to  see  thy  scruples  satisfied.  A  warrant  shalt  thou 
have,  with  full  powers,  to  seek  for  and  imprison  this  foreign 
count  of  whom  we  have  been  speaking.  And,  hark  thee, 
my  excellent  friend,^'  he  continued,  with  some  hesitation, 
*'  I  think  thou  hadst  better  begone,  and  begin,  or  rather 
continue,  thy  search.  It  is  unnecessary  to  inform  our  friend 
Agelastes  of  what  has  happened,  until  his  advice  be  more 
needful  than  as  yet  it  is  on  the  occasion.  Home — home  to 
the  barracks  ;  I  will  account  to  him  for  thy  appearance  here, 
if  he  be  curious  on  the  subject,  which,  as  a  suspicious  old 
man,  he  is  likely  to  be.  Go  to  the  barracks,  and  act  as  if 
thou  hadst  a  warrant  in  every  respect  full  and  ample.  I  wil] 
provide  thee  with  one  when  I  come  back  to  my  quarters.''' 

The  Varangian  turned  hastily  homewards. 

^'  Now,  is  it  not,"  he  said,  '^  a  strange  thing,  and  enough 
to  make  a  man  a  rogue  for  life,  to  observe  how  the  devil  en 
courages  young  beginners  in  falsehood  ?  I  have  told  a  greate? 
lie — at  least  I  have  suppressed  more  truth — than  on  any 
occasion  before  in  my  whole  life,  and  what  is  the  con- 
sequence ?  Why,  my  commander  throws  almost  at  my  head 
a  warrant  sufficient  to  guarantee  and  protect  me  in  all  I  have 
done,  or  propose  to  do.  If  the  foul  fiend  were  thus  regular 
in  protecting  his  votaries,  methinks  they  would  have  little 
reason  to  complain  of  him,  or  better  men  to  be  astonished 
at  their  number.  But  a  time  comes,  they  say,  when  he  sel- 
dom fails  to  desert  them.  Therefore,  get  thee  behind  me, 
Satan.  If  I  have  seemed  to  be  thy  servant  for  a  short  time, 
it  is  but  with  an  honest  and  Christian  purpose. '^ 

As  he  entertained  these  thoughts,  he  looked  back  upon 
the  path,  and  was  startled  at  an  apparition  of  a  creature  ot 
a  much  greater  size,  and  a  stranger  shape,  than  human,  cov- 
ered, all  but  the  face,  with  a  reddish-dun  fur  ;  his  expres- 
sion an  ugly,  and  yet  a  sad,  melancholy  ;  a  cloth  was  wrapt 
round  one  hand,  and  an  air  of  pain  and  languor  bespoke  suffer- 
ing from  a  wound.  So  much  was  Hereward  preoccupied 
with  his  own  reflections,  that  at  first  he  thought  his  imagi- 
nation had  actually  raised  the  devil ;  but,  after  a  sudden 
start  of  surprise,  he  recognized  his  acquaintance  Sylvan. 
*'  Hah  !  old  friend, '^  he  said,  "  I  am  happy  thou  hast  made 
thy  escape  to  a  place  where  thou  wilt  find  plenty  of  fruit  to 
support  thee.  Take  my  advice — keep  out  of  the  way  of 
discovery.     Keep  thy  friend's  counsel.'' 

The  man  of  the  wood  uttered  a  chattering  noise  in  return 
to  this  address. 


COUNT  BOBERT  OF  PABI8  237 

"  I  understand  thee/'  said  Hereward,  '*  thou  wilt  tell  no 
tales,  thou  sayest  ;  and  faith  I  will  trust  thee  rather  than 
the  better  part  of  my  own  two-legged  race,  who  are  eternally 
circumventing  or  murdering  each  other/' 

A  minute  after  the  creature  was  out  of  sight  Hereward 
heard  the  shriek  of  a  female,  and  a  voice  which  cried  for 
help.  The  accents  must  have  been  uncommonly  interesting 
to  the  Varangian,  since,  forgetting  his  own  dangerous  situa- 
tion, he  immediately  turned  and  flew  to  the  suppliant's 
assistance. 


CHAPTER  XX 

She  comes  I  she  comes  !  in  all  the  charms  of  youth, 
Unequall'd  love,  and  misuspected  truth  ! 

Here  WARD  was  not  long  in  tracing  the  cry  through  tkii 
wooded  walks,  when  a  female  rushed  into  his  arms,  alarmed, 
as  it  appeared,  by  Sylvan,  who  was  pursuing  her  closely. 
The  figure  of  Hereward,  with  his  ax  uplifted,  put  an 
instant  stop  to  his  career,  and  with  a  terrified  note  of  his 
native  cries  he  withdrew  into  the  thickest  of  the  adjoining 
foliage. 

Relieved  from  his  presence,  Hereward  had  time  to  look  at 
the  female  whom  he  had  succored.  She  was  arrayed  in  a 
dress  which  consisted  of  several  colors,  that  which  pre- 
dominated being  a  pale  yellow  ;  her  tunic  was  of  this  color, 
and,  like  a  modern  gown,  was  closely  fitted  to  the  body, 
which,  in  the  present  case,  was  that  of  a  tall  but  very  well- 
formed  person.  The  mantle,  or  upper  garment,  in  which 
the  whole  figure  was  wrapped,  was  of  fine  cloth  ;  and  the 
kind  of  hood  which  was  attached  to  it  having  flown  back 
with  the  rapidity  of  her  motion,  gave  to  view  the  hair, 
beautifully  adorned  and  twisted  into  a  natural  headdress. 
Beneath  this  natural  headgear  appeared  a  face  pale  as  death, 
from  a  sense  of  the  supposed  danger,  but  which  preserved, 
even  amidst  its  terrors,  an  exquisite  degree  of  beauty. 

Hereward  was  thunderstruck  at  this  apparition.  The 
dress  was  neither  Grecian,  Italian,  nor  of  the  costume  of  the 
Franks  ;  it  was  Saxon,  connected  by  a  thousand  tender  re- 
membrances with  Here  ward's  childhood  and  youth.  The  cir* 
cumstance  was  most  extraordinary.  Saxon  women,  indeed, 
there  were  in  Constantinople,  who  had  united  their  fortunes 
with  those  of  the  Varangians  ;  and  those  often  chose  to  wear 
their  national  dress  in  the  city,  because  the  character  and 
conduct  of  their  husbands  secured  them  a  degree  of  respect 
which  they  might  not  have  met  with  either  as  Grecian  or  as 
stranger  females  of  a  similar  rank.  But  almost  all  these 
were  personally  known  to  Hereward.  It  was  no  time,  how- 
ever, for  reverie  :  he  was  himself  in  danger,  the  situation  of 
the  young  female  might  be  no  safe  one.     In  eyery  case,  it 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  239 

was  judicious  to  quit  the  more  public  part  of  the  gardens  ; 
he  therefore  lost  not  a  moment  in  conveying  the  fainting 
Saxon  to  a  retreat  he  fortunately  was  acquainted  with.  A 
covered  path,  obscured  by  vegetation,  led  through  a  species 
of  labyrinth  to  an  artificial  cave,  at  the  bottom  of  which, 
half-paved  with  shells,  moss,  and  spar,  lay  the  gigantic  and 
half-recumbent  statue  of  a  river  deity,  with  its  usual  attri- 
butes— that  is,  its  front  crowned  with  water-lilies  and  sedges, 
and  its  ample  hand  half-resting  upon  an  empty  urn.  The 
attitude  of  the  whole  figure  corresponded  with  the  motto — 

"1  SLEEP — AWAKE  ME  NOT.'' 

'^  Accursed  relic  of  paganism,'^  said  Hereward,  who  was, 
in  proportion  to  his  light,  a  zealous  Christian — "brutish 
stock  or  stone  that  thou  art  !  I  will  wake  thee  with  a 
vengeance. '*  So  saying,  he  struck  the  head  of  the  slumber- 
ing deity  with  his  battle-ax,  and  deranged  the  play  of  the 
fountain  so  much  that  the  water  began  to  pour  into  the 
basin. 

''  Thou  art  a  good  block,  nevertheless,"  said  the  Varan- 
gian, "to  send  succor  so  needful  to  the  aid  of  my  poor 
countrywoman.  Thou  shalt  give  her  also,  with  thy  leave, 
a  portion  of  thy  couch.''  So  saying,  he  arranged  his  fair 
burden,  who  was  as  yet  insensible,  upon  the  pedestal  where 
the  figure  of  the  river-god  reclined.  In  doing  this,  his 
attention  was  recalled  to  her  face,  and  again  and  again  he 
was  thrilled  with  an  emotion  of  hope,  but  so  excessively  like 
fear  that  it  could  only  be  compared  to  the  flickering  of  a 
torch,  uncertain  whether  it  is  to  light  up  or  be  instantly 
extinguished.  With  a  sort  of  mechanical  attention,  he 
continued  to  make  such  efforts  as  he  could  to  recall  the 
intellect  of  the  beautiful  creature  before  him.  His  feelings 
were  those  of  the  astronomical  sage,  to  whom  the  rise  of  the 
moon  slowly  restores  the  contemplation  of  that  heaven  which 
is  at  once,  as  a  Christian,  his  hope  of  felicity,  and,  as  a 
philosopher,  the  source  of  his  knowledge.  The  blood  re- 
turned to  her  cheek,  and  reanimation,  and  even  recollection, 
took  place  in  her  earlier  than  in  the  astonished  Varangian. 

"  Blessed  Mary  ! "  she  said,  "  have  I  indeed  tasted  the  last 
bitter  cup,  and  is  it  here  where  thou  reunitest  thy  votaries 
after  death  ?  Speak,  Hereward,  if  thou  art  aught  but  an 
empty  creature  of  the  imagination— speak,  and  tell  me  if  I 
have  but  dreamed  of  that  monstrous  ogre  !" 

"Collect  thyself,  my  beloved  Bertha,"  said  the  Anglo- 
Saxon,  recalled  by  the  sound  of  her  voice,  "and  prepare 
to  endure  what  thou  livest  to  witness,  and  thy  Hereward 


240  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

Bnrvives  to  tell.  That  hideous  thing  exists — nay,  do  not 
start,  and  look  for  a  hiding-place — thy  own  gentle  hand  with 
a  riding-rod  is  sufficient  to  tame  its  courage.  And  am  I  not 
here.  Bertha  ?     Wouldst  thou  wish  another  safeguard  ?'' 

"  jq"o — no,"  exclaimed  she,  seizing  on  the  arm  of  her  re- 
covered lover.     ^'  Do  I  not  know  you  now  ?" 

"And  is  it  but  now  you  know  me.  Bertha  ?"  said  Here- 
ward. 

"I  suspected  before,"  she  said,  casting  down  her  eyes  ; 
"  but  I  know  with  certainty  that  mark  of  the  boar's  tusk." 

Hereward  suffered  her  imagination  to  clear  itself  from  the 
shock  it  had  received  so  suddenly  before  he  ventured  to 
enter  upon  present  events,  in  which  there  was  so  much  both 
to  doubt  and  to  fear.  He  permitted  her,  therefore,  to  recall 
to  her  memory  all  the  circumstances  of  the  rousing  the 
hideous  animal,  assisted  by  the  tribes  of  both  their  fathers. 
She  mentioned  in  broken  words  the  flight  of  arrows  dis- 
charged against  the  boar  by  young  and  old,  male  and  female, 
and  how  her  own  well-aimed  but  feeble  shaft  wounded  him 
sharply  ;  she  forgot  not  how,  incensed  at  the  pain,  the 
creature  rushed  upon  her  as  the  cause,  laid  her  palfrey  dead 
upon  the  spot,  and  would  soon  have  slain  her,  had  not 
Hereward,  when  every  attempt  failed  to  bring  his  horse  up 
to  the  monster,  thrown  himself  from  his  seat  and  interposed 
personally  between  the  boar  and  Bertha.  The  battle  was 
not  decided  without  a  desperate  struggle ;  the  boar  was  slain, 
but  Hereward  received  the  deep  gash  upon  his  brow  which 
she  whom  he  had  saved  now  recalled  to  her  memory. 
"Alas  !"  she  said,  "what  have  we  been  to  each  other 
since  that  period  ?  and  what  are  we  now,  in  this  foreign 
land?" 

"  Answer  for  thyself,  my  Bertha,"  said  the  Varangian, 
"  if  thou  canst  ;  and  if  thou  canst  with  truth  say  that  thou 
art  the  same  Bertha  who  vowed  affection  to  Hereward,  be- 
lieve me,  it  were  sinful  to  suppose  that  the  saints  have 
brought  us  together  with  a  view  of  our  being  afterwards 
separated." 

"  Hereward,"  said  Bertha,  **  you  have  not  preserved  the 
bird  in  your  bosom  safer  than  I  have  :  at  home  or  abroad,  in 
servitude  or  in  freedom,  amidst  sorrow  or  joy,  plenty  or 
want,  my  thought  was  always  on  the  troth  I  had  plighted  to 
Hereward  at  the  stone  of  Odin." 

"  Say  no  more  of  that,"said  Hereward;  "  it  was  an  impious 
rite,  and  good  could  not  come  of  it." 

*'  Was  it  then  so  impious  ?  "  she  said,  the  unbidden  tears 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  241 

rushing  into  her  large  blue  eye.  ''  Alas  I  it  was  a  pleasure 
to  reflect  that  Hereward  was  mine  by  that  solemn  engage- 
ment/^ 

"  Listen  to  me,  my  Bertha/'  said  Hereward,  taking  her 
hand.  ''  We  were  then  almost  children  ;  and  though  our 
vow  was  in  itself  innocent,  yet  it  was  so  far  wrong,  as  being 
sworn  in  the  presence  of  a  dumb  idol,  representing  one  who 
was,  while  alive,  a  bloody  and  cruel  magician.  But  we  will, 
the  instant  an  opportunity  offers  itself,  renew  our  vow  before 
a  shrine  of  real  sanctity,  and  promise  suitable  penance  for 
our  ignorant  acknowledgment  of  Odin,  to  propitiate  the 
real  Deity,  who  can  bear  us  through  those  storms  of  adversity 
which  are  like  to  surround  us.'* 

Leaving  them  for  the  time  to  their  love-discourse,  of  a 
nature  pure,  simple,  and  interesting,  we  shall  give,  in  few 
words,  all  that  the  reader  needs  to  know  of  their  separate 
history  between  the  boar's  hunt  and  the  time  of  their  meet- 
ing in  the  gardens  of  Agelastes. 

In  that  doubtful  state  experienced  by  outlaws,  Waltheoff, 
the  father  of  Hereward,  andEngelred,  the  parent  of  Bertha, 
used  to  assemble  their  unsubdued  tribes,  sometimes  in  the 
fertile  regions  of  Devonshire,  sometimes  in  the  dark  wooded 
solitudes  of  Hampshire,  but  as  much  as  possible  within  the 
call  of  the  bugle  of  the  famous  Ederic  the  Forester,  so  long 
leader  of  the  insurgent  Saxons.  The  chiefs  we  have  men- 
tioned were  among  the  last  bold  men  who  asserted  the  in- 
dependence of  the  Saxon  race  of  England ;  and  like  their 
captain,  Ederic,  they  were  generally  known  by  the  name  of 
Foresters,  as  men  who  lived  by  hunting,  when  their  power 
of  making  excursions  was  checked  and  repelled.  Hence 
they  made  a  step  backwards  in  civilization,  and  became  more 
like  to  their  remote  ancestors  of  German  descent  than  they 
were  to  their  more  immediate  and  civilized  predecessors,  who, 
before  the  battle  of  Hastings,  had  advanced  considerably  in 
the  arts  of  civilized  life. 

Old  superstitions  had  begun  to  revive  among  them,  and 
hence  the  practise  of  youths  and  maidens  plighting  their 
troth  at  the  stone  circles  dedicated,  as  it  was  supposed,  to 
Odin,  in  whom,  however,  they  had  long  ceased  to  nourish 
any  of  the  sincere  belief  which  was  entertained  by  their 
heathen  ancestors. 

In  another  respect  these  outlaws  were  fast  reassuming  a 
striking  peculiarity  of  the  ancient  Germans.  Their  circum- 
stances naturally  brought  the  youth  of  both  sexes  much 
together,  and  by  early  marriage,  or  less  permanent  connec- 
i6 


242  IVAVERLET  NOVELS 

tions,  the  population  would  have  increased  far  beyond  the 
means  which  the  outlaws  had  to  maintain,  or  even  to  protect, 
themselves.  The  laws  of  the  Foresters,  therefore,  strictly 
enjoined  that  marriages  should  he  prohibited  until  the  bride- 
groom was  twenty-one  years  complete.  Future  alliances 
were  indeed  often  formed  by  the  young  people,  nor  was  this 
discountenanced  by  their  parents,  provided  that  the  lovers 
waited  until  the  period  when  the  majority  of  the  bride- 
groom should  permit  them  to  marry.  Such  youths  as  in- 
fringed this  rule  incurred  the  dishonorable  epithet  of 
'*  niddering,"  or  worthless — an  epithet  of  a  nature  so  insult- 
ing that  men  were  known  to  have  slain  themselves  rather 
than  endure  life  under  such  opprobrium.  But  the  offenders 
were  very  few  amidst  a  race  trained  in  moderation  and  self- 
denial  ;  and  hence  it  was  that  woman,  worshiped  for  so 
many  years  like  something  sacred,  was  received,  when  she 
became  the  head  of  a  family,  into  the  arms  and  heart  of  a 
husband  who  had  so  long  expected  her,  was  treated  as  some- 
thing more  elevated  than  the  mere  idol  of  the  moment,  and, 
feeling  the  rate  at  which  she  was  valued,  endeavored  by  her 
actions  to  make  her  life  correspond  with  it. 

It  was  by  the  whole  population  of  these  tribes  as  well  as 
their  parents,  that,  after  the  adventure  of  the  boar-hunt, 
Hereward  and  Bertha  were  considered  as  lovers  whose  al- 
liance was  pointed  out  by  Heaven,  and  they  were  encouraged 
to  approximate  as  much  as  their  mutual  inclinations  prompted 
them.  The  youths  of  the  tribe  avoided  asking  Bertha's 
hand  at  the  dance,  and  the  maidens  used  no  maidenly  en- 
treaty or  artifice  to  detain  Hereward  beside  them  if  Bertha 
was  present  at  the  feast.  They  clasped  each  other's  hands 
through  the  perforated  stone  which  they  called  the  altar  of 
Odin,  though  later  ages  have  ascribed  it  to  the  Druids,  and 
they  implored  that,  if  they  broke  their  faith  to  each  other, 
their  fault  might  be  avenged  by  the  twelve  swords  which 
were  now  drawn  around  them  during  the  ceremony  by  as 
many  youths,  and  that  their  misfortunes  might  be  so  many 
as  twelve  maidens,  who  stood  around  with  their  hair  loosened, 
should  be  unable  to  recount,  either  in  prose  or  verse. 

The  torch  of  the  Saxon  Cupid  shone  for  some  years  as 
brilliant  as  when  it  was  first  lighted.  The  time,  however, 
came  when  they  were  to  be  tried  by  adversity,  though  un- 
deserved by  the  perfidy  of  either.  Years  had  gone  past,  and 
Hereward  had  to  count  with  anxiety  how  many  months  and 
weeks  were  to  separate  him  from  the  bride  who  was  beginning 
already  by  degrees  to  shrink  less  shyly  from  the  expressions 


COUNT  BOBERT  OF  PARIS  243 

and  caresses  of  one  who  was  soon  to  term  her  all  his  own. 
William  Ruf uS;,  however,  had  formed  a  plan  of  totally  extir- 
pating the  Foresters,  whose  implacable  hatred  and  restless 
love  of  freedom  had  so  often  disturbed  the  quiet  of  his  king- 
dom;, and  despised  his  forest  laws.  He  assembled  his  Nor- 
raan  forces,  and  united  to  them  a  body  of  Saxons  who  had 
submitted  to  his  rule.  He  thus  brought  an  overpowering 
force  upon  the  bands  of  Waltheoff  and  Engelred,  who  found 
no  resource  but  to  throw  the  females  of  their  tribe,  and  such 
as  could  not  bear  arms,  into  a  convent  dedicated  to  St.  Au- 
gustine, of  which  Kenelm  their  relation  was  prior,  and  then 
turning  to  the  battle,  vindicated  their  ancient  valor  by  fight- 
ing it  to  the  last.  Both  the  unfortunate  chiefs  remained 
dead  on  the  field,  and  Hereward  and  his  brother  had  well- 
nigh  shared  their  fate  ;  but  some  Saxon  inhabitants  of  the 
neighborhood,  who  adventured  on  the  field  of  battle,  which 
the  victors  had  left  bare  of  everything  save  the  booty  of  the 
kites  and  the  ravens,  found  the  bodies  of  the  youths  still 
retaining  life.  As  they  were  generally  well  known  and 
much  beloved  by  these  people,  Hereward  and  his  brother 
were  taken  care  of  till  their  wounds  began  to  close  and  their 
strength  returned.  Hereward  then  heard  the  doleful  news 
of  the  death  of  his  father  and  Engelred.  His  next  inquiry 
was  concerning  his  betrothed  bride  and  her  mother.  The 
poor  inhabitants  could  give  him  little  information.  Some 
of  the  females  who  had  taken  refuge  in  the  convent  the 
Norman  knights  and  nobles  had  seized  upon  as  their  slaves, 
and  the  rest,  with  the  monks  who  had  harbored  them,  were 
turned  adrift,  and  their  place  of  retreat  was  completely 
sacked  and  burnt  to  the  ground. 

Half-dead  himself  at  hearing  these  tidings,  Hereward 
sallied  out,  and  at  every  risk  of  death,  for  the  Saxon  For- 
esters were  treated  as  outlaws,  commenced  inquiries  after 
those  so  dear  to  him.  He  asked  concerning  the  particular 
fate  of  Bertha  and  her  mother  among  the  miserable  crea- 
tures who  yet  hovered  about  the  neighborhood  of  the  con- 
vent, like  a  few  half-scorched  bees  about  their  smothered 
hive.  But,  in  the  magnitude  of  their  own  terrors,  none  had 
retained  eyes  for  their  neighbors,  and  all  that  they  could 
say  was,  that  the  wife  and  daughter  of  Engelred  were  cer- 
tainly lost ;  and  their  imaginations  suggested  so  many  heart- 
rending details  to  this  conclusion,  that  Hereward  gave  up 
all  thoughts  of  further  researches,  likely  to  terminate  so 
uselessly  and  so  horribly. 

The  young  Saxon  had  been  all  his  life  bred  up  in  a  patri* 


Ui  WA VEBLEY  NOVELS 

otic  hatred  to  the  Normans,  who  did  not,  it  was  likely,  be- 
come dearer  to  his  thoughts  in  consequence  of  this  victory. 
He  dreamed  at  first  of  crossing  the  strait,  to  make  war 
against  the  hated  enemy  in  their  own  country  ;  but  an  idea 
so  extravagant  did  not  long  retain  possession  of  his  mind. 
His  fate  was  decided  by  his  encountering  an  aged  palmer, 
who  knew,  or  pretended  to  have  known,  his  father,  and  to 
be  a  native  of  England.  This  man  was  a  disguised  Varan- 
gian, selected  for  the  purpose,  possessed  of  art  and  dexterity, 
and  well  provided  with  money.  He  had  little  difficulty  in 
persuading  Hereward,  in  the  hopeless  desolation  of  his  con- 
dition, to  join  the  Varangian  Guard,  at  this  moment  at  war 
with  the  Normans,  under  which  name  it  suited  Hereward^s 
prepossessions  to  represent  the  Emperor^s  wars  with  Robert 
Guiscard,  his  son  Bohemond,  and  other  adventures,  in  Italy, 
Greece,  or  Sicily.  A  journey  to  the  East  also  inferred  a 
pilgrimage,  and  gave  the  unfortunate  Hereward  the  chance 
of  purchasing  pardon  for  his  sins  by  visiting  the  Holy  Land. 
In  gaining  Hereward,  the  recruiter  also  secured  the  services 
of  his  elder  brother,  who  had  vowed  not  to  separate  from  him. 

The  high  character  of  both  brothers  for  courage  induced 
this  wily  agent  to  consider  them  as  ?.  great  prize,  and  it 
was  from  the  memoranda  respecting  the  history  and  char- 
acter of  those  whom  he  recruited,  in  which  the  elder  had 
been  unreservedly  communicative,  that  Agelastes  picked  up 
the  information  respecting  Hereward's  family  and  circum- 
stances, which,  at  their  first  secret  interview,  he  made  use 
of  to  impress  upon  the  Varangian  the  idea  of  his  super- 
natural knowledge.  Several  of  his  companions-in-arms 
were  thus  gained  over  ;  for  it  will  easily  be  guessed  that 
these  memorials  were  entrusted  to  the  keeping  of  Achilles 
Tatius,  and  he,  to  further  their  joint  purposes,  imparted 
them  to  Agelastes,  who  thus  obtained  a  general  credit  for 
supernatural  knowledge  among  these  ignorant  men.  But 
Hereward's  blunt  faith  and  honesty  enabled  him  to  shun 
the  snare. 

Such  being  the  fortunes  of  Hereward,  those  of  Bertha 
formed  the  subject  of  a  broken  and  passionate  communica- 
tion between  the  lovers,  broken  like  an  April  day,  and 
mingled  with  many  a  tender  caress,  such  as  modesty  per- 
mits to  lovers  when  they  meet  again  unexpectedly  after  a 
separation  which  threatened  to  be  eternal.  But  the  story 
may  be  comprehended  in  few  words.  Amid  the  general  sack 
of  the  monastery,  an  old  Norman  knight  seized  upon  Bertha 
as  his  prize.     Struck  with  her  beauty,  he  designed  her  as 


COUNT  BOBEBT  OF  PABI8  245 

an  attendant  upon  his  daughter,  just  then  come  out  of  the 
years  of  childhood,  and  the  very  apple  of  her  father's  eye, 
being  the  only  child  of  his  beloved  countess,  and  sent  late 
in  life  to  bless  their  marriage  bed.  It  was  in  the  order  of 
things  that  the  Lady  of  Aspramonte,  who  was  considerably 
younger  than  the  knight,  should  govern  her  husband,  and 
that  Brenhilda,  their  daughter,  should  govern  both  her 
parents. 

The  knight  of  Aspramonte,  however,  it  may  be  observed, 
entertained  some  desire  to  direct  his  young  offspring  to  more 
feminine  amusements  than  those  which  began  already  to  put 
her  life  frequently  in  danger.  Contradiction  was  not  to  be 
thought  of,  as  the  good  old  knight  knew  by  experience. 
The  influence  and  example  of  a  companion  a  little  older* 
than  herself  might  be  of  some  avail,  and  it  was  with  this 
view  that,  in  the  confusion  of  the  sack,  Aspramonte  seized 
upon  the  youthful  Bertha.  Terrified  to  the  utmost  degree, 
she  clung  to  her  mother,  and  the  knight  of  Aspramonte,  who 
had  a  softer  heart  than  was  then  usually  found  under  a  steel 
cuirass,  moved  by  the  affliction  of  the  mother  and  daughter, 
and  recollecting  that  the  former  might  also  be  a  useful  at- 
tendant upon  his  lady,  extended  his  protection  to  both,  and, 
conveying  them  out  of  the  press,  paid  the  soldiers  who  ven- 
tured to  dispute  the  spoil  with  him  partly  in  some  small 
pieces  of  money,  and  partly  in  dry  blows  with  the  reverse  of 
nis  lance. 

The  well-natured  knight  soon  after  returned  to  his  own 
castle,  and  being  a  man  of  an  orderly  life  and  virtuous 
habits,  the  charming  beauties  of  the  Saxon  virgin,  and  the 
more  ripened  charms  of  her  mother,  did  not  prevent  their 
traveling  in  all  honor  as  well  as  safety  to  his  family  fortress, 
the  Castle  of  Aspramonte.  Here  such  masters  as  could  be 
procured  were  got  together  to  teach  the  young  Bertha  every 
sort  of  female  accomplishment,  in  the  hope  that  her  mis- 
tress, Brenhilda,  might  be  inspired  with  a  desire  to  partake 
in  her  education  ;  but  although  this  so  far  succeeded  that 
the  Saxon  captive  became  highly  skilled  in  such  music, 
needlework,  and  other  female  accomplishments  as  were 
known  to  the  time,  yet  her  young  mistress,  Brenhilda,  re- 
tained the  taste  for  those  martial  amusements  which  had  so 
Bensibly  grieved  her  father,  but  to  which  her  mother,  who 
herself  had  nourished  such  fancies  in  her  youth,  readily  gave 
sanction. 

The  captives,  however,  were  kindly  treated.     Brenhilda 

♦  [Compare  pp.  9  and  131.J 


848  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

became  infinitely  attached  to  the  young  Anglo-Saxon,  whom 
she  loved  less  for  her  ingenuity  in  arts  than  for  her  activity 
in  field  sports,  to  which  her  early  state  of  independence  had 
trained  her. 

The  Lady  of  Aspramonte  was  also  kind  to  both  the  cap- 
tives ;  but  in  one  particular  she  exercised  a  piece  of  petty 
tyranny  over  them.  She  had  imbibed  an  idea,  strengthened 
by  an  old  doting  father-confessor,  that  the  Saxons  were 
heathens  at  that  time,  or  at  least  heretics,  and  made  a  posi- 
tive point  with  her  husband  that  the  bondswoman  and  girl 
who  were  to  attend  on  her  person  and  that  of  her  daughter 
should  be  qualified  for  the  office  by  being  anew  admitted  into 
the  Christian  Church  by  baptism. 

Though  feeling  the  falsehood  and  injustice  of  the  accusa- 
tion, the  mother  had  sense  enough  to  submit  to  necessity, 
and  received  the  name  of  Martha  in  all  form  at  the  altar,  to 
which  she  answered  during  the  rest  of  her  life. 

But  Bertha  showed  a  character  upon  this  occasion  incon- 
sistent with  the  general  docility  and  gentleness  of  her  tem- 
per. She  boldly  refused  to  be  admitted  anew  into  the  pale 
of  the  church,  of  which  her  conscience  told  her  she  was 
already  a  member,  or  to  exchange  for  another  the  name 
originally  given  her  at  the  font.  It  was  in  vain  that  the  old 
knight  commanded,  that  the  lady  threatened,  and  that  her 
mother  advised  and  entreated.  More  closely  pressed  in 
private  by  her  mother,  she  let  her  motive  be  known,  which 
had  not  before  been  suspected.  ''  I  know,"  she  said,  with  a 
flood  of  tears,  "  that  my  father  would  have  died  ere  I  was 
subjected  to  this  insult ;  and  then — who  shall  assure  me  that 
vows  whicJh  were  made  to  the  Saxon  Bertha  will  be  binding 
if  a  French  Agatha  be  substituted  in  her  stead  ?  They  may 
banish  me,"  she  said,  ^'  or  kill  me  if  they  will,  but  if  the  son 
of  Waltheoff  should  again  meet  with  the  daughter  of  Engel- 
red,  he  shall  meet  that  Bertha  whom  he  knew  in  the  forests 
of  Hampton." 

All  argument  was  in  vain  ;  the  Saxon  maiden  remained 
obstinate,  and  to  try  to  break  her  resolution,  the  Lady  of 
Aspramonte  at  length  spoke  of  dismissing  her  from  the 
service  of  her  young  mistress,  and  banishing  her  from  the 
castle.  To  this  also  she  had  made  up  her  mind,  and  she 
answered  firmly,  though  respectfully,  that  she  would  sorrow 
bitterly  at  parting  with  her  young  lady ;  but  as  to  the  rest, 
she  would  rather  beg  under  her  own  name  than  be  recreant 
to  the  faith  of  her  fathers,  and  condemn  it  as  heresy,  by 
assuming  one  of  Frank  origin.     The  Lady  Brenhilda,  in  the 


COUNT  EGBERT  OF  PARIS  241 

meantime,  entered  the  chamber  where  her  mother  was  just 
about  to  pass  the  threatened  doom  of  banishment.  "  Do  not 
stop  for  my  entrance,  madam,"  said  the  dauntless  young 
lady  ;  ^'  I  am  as  much  concerned  in  the  doom  which  you  are 
about  to  pass  as  is  Bertha  ;  if  she  crosses  the  drawbridge  of 
Aspramonte  as  an  exile,  so  will  I,  when  she  has  dried  her 
tears,  of  which  even  my  petulance  could  never  wring  one 
from  her  eyes.  She  shall  be  my  squire  and  body  attendant, 
and  Launcelot,  the  bard,  shall  follow  with  my  spear  and 
shield/' 

''  And  you  will  return,  mistress, '^  said  her  mother,  '^  from 
60  foolish  an  expedition  before  the  sun  sets  ? '' 

"  So  Heaven  further  me  in  my  purpose,  lady,"  answered 
the  young  heiress,  ''  the  sun  shall  neither  rise  nor  set  that 
sees  us  return  till  this  name  of  Bertha,  and  of  her  mistress, 
Brenhilda,  are  wafted  as  far  as  the  trumpet  of  fame  can 
sound  them.  Cheer  up,  my  sweetest  Bertha ! "  she  said, 
taking  her  attendant  by  the  hand,  *^  if  Heaven  hath  torn 
thee  from  thy  country  and  ihy  plighted  troth,  it  hath  given 
thee  a  sister  and  a  friend,  with  whom  thy  fame  shall  be  for- 
ever blended." 

The  Lady  of  Aspramonte  was  confounded.  She  knew 
that  her  daughter  was  perfectly  capable  of  the  wild  course 
which  she  had  announced,  and  that  she  herself,  even  with 
her  husband^s  assistance,  would  be  unable  to  prevent  her 
following  it.  She  passively  listened,  therefore,  while  the 
Saxon  matron,  formerly  Urica,  but  now  Martha,  addressed 
her  daughter.  '^  My  child,^'  she  said,  "  as  you  value  honor, 
virtue,  safety,  and  gratitude,  soften  your  heart  towards  your 
master  and  mistress,  and  follow  the  advice  of  a  parent,  who 
has  more  years  and  more  judgment  than  you.  And  you,  my 
dearest  young  lady,  let  not  your  lady-mother  think  that  an 
attachment  to  the  exercises  you  excel  in  has  destroyed  in 
your  bosom  filial  affection  and  a  regard  to  the  delicacy  of 
your  sex.  As  they  seem  both  obstinate,  madam,"  contin- 
ued the  matron,  after  watching,  the  influence  of  this  advice 
upon  the  young  women,  "  perhaps,  if  it  may  be  permitted  me, 
I  could  state  an  alternative  which  might,  in  the  meanwhile, 
satisfy  your  ladyship's  wishes,  accommodate  itself  to  the 
wilfulness  of  my  obstinate  daughter,  and  answer  the  kind 
purpose  of  her  generous  mistress." 

The  Lady  of  Aspramonte  signed  to  the  Saxon  matron  to 
proceed.  She  went  on  accordingly  :  "  The  Saxons,  dearest 
lady,  of  the  present  day,  are  neither  pagans  nor  heretics  : 
they  are,  in  the  time  of  keeping  Easter,  as  well  as  in  all 


248  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

other  disputable  doctrine,  humbly  obedient  to  the  Pope  of 
Rome  ;  and  this  our  good  bishop  well  knows,  riince  he  up- 
braided some  of  the  domestics  for  calling  me  an  old  heathen. 
Yet  our  names  are  uncouth  in  the  ears  of  the  Franks,  and 
bear,  perhaps,  a  heathenish  sound.  If  it  be  not  exacted 
that  my  daughter  submit  to  a  new  rite  of  baptism,  she  will 
lay  aside  her  Saxon  name  of  Bertha  upon  all  occasions  while 
in  your  honorable  household.  This  will  cut  short  a  debate 
which,  with  forgiveness,  I  think  is  scarce  of  importance 
enough  to  break  the  peace  of  this  castle.  I  will  engage  that, 
in  gratitude  for  this  indulgence  of  a  trifling  scruple,  my 
daughter,  if  possible,  shall  double  the  zeal  and  assiduity  of 
her  service  to  her  young  lady." 

The  Lady  of  Aspramonte  was  glad  to  embrace  the  means 
which  this  offer  presented  of  extricating  herself  from  the 
dispute  with  as  little  compromise  of  dignity  as  could  well 
be.  '^If  the  good  Lord  Bishop  approved  of  such  a  com- 
promise," she  said,  ^'  she  would  for  herself  withdraw  her 
opposition."  The  prelate  approved  accordingly,  the  more 
readily  that  he  was  informed  that  the  young  heiress  desired 
earnestly  such  an  agreement.  The  peace  of  the  castle  was 
restored,  and  Bertha  recognized  her  new  name  of  Agatha  as 
a  name  of  service,  but  not  a  name  of  baptism. 

One  effect  the  dispute  certainly  produced,  and  that  was, 
increasing  in  an  enthusiastic  degree  the  love  of  Bertha  for 
her  young  mistress.  With  that  amiable  failing  of  attached 
domestics  and  humble  friends,  she  endeavored  to  serve  her 
as  she  knew  she  loved  to  be  served  ;  and  therefore  indulged 
her  mistress  in  those  chivalrous  fancies  which  distinguished 
her  even  in  her  own  age,  and  in  ours  would  have  rendered 
her  a  female  Quixote.  Bertha,  indeed,  never  caught  the 
frenzy  of  her  mistress  ;  but,  strong,  willing,  and  able-bodied, 
she  readily  qualified  herself  to  act  upon  occasion  as  a  squire 
of  the  body  to  a  lady  adventuress  ;  and,  accustomed  from 
her  childhood  to  see  blows  dealt,  blood  flowing,  and  men 
dying,  she  could  look  with  an  undazzled  eye  upon  the  dan- 
gers which  her  mistress  encountered,  and  seldom  teased  her 
with  remonstrances,  unless  when  those  were  unusually  great. 
This  compliance  on  most  occasions  gave  Bertha  a  right  of 
advice  upon  some,  which,  always  given  with  the  best  inten- 
tions and  at  fitting  times,  strengthened  her  influence  with 
her  mistress,  which  a  course  of  conduct  savoring  of  diamet- 
rical opposition  would  certainly  have  destroyed. 

A  few  more  words  serve  to  announce  the  death  of  the 
knight  of  Aspramonte,  the  romantic  marriage  of  the  young 


COUNT  BOBEBT  OF  PABI8  249 

lady  with  the  Count  of  Paris,  their  engagement  in  the  cru- 
sade,  and  the  detail  of  events  with  which  the  reader  is  ac- 
quainted. 

Hereward  did  not  exactly  comprehend  some  of  the  later 
incidents  of  the  story,  owing  to  a  slight  strife  which  arose 
between  Bertha  and  him  during  tho  course  of  her  narrative. 
When  she  avowed  the  girlish  simplicity  with  which  she  ob- 
stinately refused  to  change  her  name,  because,  in  her  appre- 
hension, the  troth-plight  betwixt  her  and  her  lover  might  be 
thereby  prejudiced,  it  was  impossible  for  Hereward  not  to 
acknowledge  her  tenderness  by  snatching  her  to  his  bosom 
and  impressing  his  grateful  thanks  upon  her  lips.  She  extri- 
cated herself  immediately  from  his  grasp,  however,  with 
cheeks  more  crimsoned  in  modesty  than  in  anger,  and  gravely 
addressed  her  lover  thus  :  "  Enough — enough,  Hereward, 
this  may  be  pardoned  to  so  unexpected  a  meeting,  but  we 
must  in  future  remember  that  we  are  probably  the  last  of 
our  race ;  and  let  it  not  be  said  that  the  manners  of  their 
ancestors  were  forgotten  by  Hereward  and  by  Bertha.  Think 
that,  though  we  are  alone,  the  shades  of  our  fathers  are  not 
far  oS,  and  watch  to  see  what  use  we  make  of  the  meeting 
which,  perhaps,  their  intercession  has  procured  us.^' 

''You  wrong  me.  Bertha,^'  said  Hereward,  "if  yon  think 
me  capable  of  forgetting  my  own  duty  and  yours  at  a  moment 
when  our  thanks  are  due  to  Heaven,  to  be  testified  verj 
differently  than  by  infringing  on  its  behests  or  the  commands 
of  our  parents.  The  question  is  now.  How  we  shall  rejoin 
each  other  when  we  separate,  since  separate,  I  fear,  we 
must  ?  '' 

"  0  !    do  not  say  so/^  exclaimed  the  unfortunate  Bertha. 

"  It  must  be  so,^^  said  Hereward,  *'  for  a  time ;  but  I  swear 
to  thee,  by  the  hilt  of  my  sword  and  the  handle  of  my  battle- 
ax,  that  blade  was  never  so  true  to  shaft  as  I  will  be  to 
thee." 

''  But  wherefore,  then,  leave  me,  Hereward  ?"  said  the 
maiden  ;  ''  and,  oh  !  wherefore  not  assist  me  in  the  release 
of  my  mistress  ?  " 

''  Of  thy  mistress  !  "  said  Hereward.  '^  Shame  !  that  thou 
canst  give  that  name  to  mortal  woman  !  " 

*'  But  she  is  my  mistress,"  answered  Bertha,  ''and  by  a 
thousand  kind  ties,  which  cannot  be  separated  so  long  as 
gratitude  is  the  reward  of  kindness." 

"  And  what  is  her  danger,"  said  Hereward — "what  is  it 
she  wants,  this  accomplished  lady  whom  thou  callest  mis- 
tress ?  " 


250  WA  VERLET  NOVELS 

*'  Her  honor,  her  life,  are  alike  in  danger,*'  said  Bertha. 
''  She  has  agreed  to  meet  the  Caesar  in  the  field,  and  he  will 
not  hesitate,  like  a  base-born  miscreant,  to  take  every  advan- 
tage in  the  encounter,  which,  I  grieve  to  say,  may  in  all 
likelihood  be  fatal  to  my  mistress." 

i(  Why  dost  thou  think  so  ?  "  answered  Hereward.  "  This 
lady  has  won  many  single  combats,  unless  she  is  belied, 
against  adversaries  more  formidable  than  the  Caesar/' 

"  True,''  said  the  Saxon  maiden,  ^'  but  you  speak  of 
things  that  passed  in  a  far  different  land,  where  faith  and 
honor  are  not  empty  sounds,  as,  alas  !  they  seem  but  too 
surely  to  be  here.  Trust  me,  it  is  no  girlish  terror  which 
sends  me  out  in  this  disguise  of  my  country  dress,  which, 
they  say,  finds  respect  at  Constantinople  :  I  go  to  let  the 
chiefs  of  the  crusade  know  the  peril  in  which  the  noble  lady 
stands,  and  trust  to  their  humanity,  to  their  religion,  to 
their  love  of  honor,  and  fear  of  disgrace,  for  assistance  in  this 
hour  of  need  ;  and  now  that  I  have  had  the  blessing  of  meet- 
ing with  thee,  all  besides  will  go  well — all  will  go  well — and 
I  will  back  to  my  mistress  and  report  whom  I  have  seen." 

"Tarry  yet  another  moment,  my  recovered  treasure,"  said 
Hereward,  "' and  let  me  balance  this  matter  carefully.  This 
Frankish  lady  holds  the  Saxons  like  the  very  dust  that  thou 
brashest  from  the  hem  of  her  garment.  She  treats,  she  re- 
gards, the  Saxons  as  pagans  and  heretics.  She  has  dared  to 
impose  slavish  tasks  upon  thee,  born  in  freedom.  Her  father's 
sword  has  been  imbrued  to  the  hilt  with  Anglo-Saxon  blood  ; 
perhaps  that  of  Waltheoff  and  Engelred  has  added  depth  to 
the  stain.  She  has  been,  besides,  a  presumptuous  fool, 
usurping  for  herself  the  trophies  and  warlike  character  which 
belong  to  the  other  sex.  Lastly,  it  will  be  hard  to  find  a 
champion  to  fight  in  her  stead,  since  all  the  crusaders  have 
passed  over  to  Asia,  which  is  the  land,  they  say,  in  which 
they  have  come  to  war ;  and  by  orders  of  the  Emperor  no 
means  of  return  to  the  hither  shore  will  be  permitted  to  any 
of  them." 

"  Alas — alas  ! "  said  Bertha,  "  how  does  this  world  change 
us  !  The  son  of  Waltheoff  I  once  knew  brave,  ready  to  assist 
distress,  bold  and  generous.  Such  was  what  I  pictured  him 
to  myself  during  his  absence.  I  have  met  him  again,  and  he 
is  calculating,  cold,  and  selfish." 

"  Hush,  damsel,"  said  the  Varangian,  "and  know  him  of 
whom  thou  speakest  ere  thou  judgest  him.  The  Countess 
of  Paris  is  such  as  I  have  said  ;  yet  let  her  appear  boldly  in 
the  lists,  and  when  the  trumpet  shall  sound  thrice  anothei 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  251 

shall  reply,  which  shall  announce  the  arrival  of  her  own  noble 
lord  to  do  battle  in  her  stead  ;  or,  should  he  fail  to  appear,  I 
will  requite  her  kindness  to  thee.  Bertha,  and  be  ready  in 
his  place/^ 

*'Wilt  thou? — wilt  thou  indeed?''  said  the  damsel. 
"  That  was  spoken  like  the  son  of  Waltheoff — like  the  genu- 
ine stock.  I  will  home  and  comfort  my  mistress  ;  for  surely 
if  the  judgment  of  God  ever  directed  the  issue  of  a  judicial 
combat,  its  influence  will  descend  upon  this.  But  you  hint 
that  the  Count  is  here — that  he  is  at  liberty  ;  she  will  inquire 
about  that." 

'^  She  must  be  satisfied,"  replied  Hereward,  ''  to  know  that 
her  husband  is  under  the  guidance  of  a  friend  who  will  en- 
deavor to  protect  him  from  his  own  extravagancies  and  fol- 
lies ;  or,  at  all  events,  of  one  who,  if  he  cannot  properly  be 
called  a  friend,  has  certainly  not  acted,  and  will  not  act, 
towards  him  the  part  of  an  enemy.     And  now,  farewell,  long 

lost — long  loved ! "    Before  he  could  say  more,  the  Saxon 

maiden,  after  two  or  three  vain  attempts  to  express  her  grati- 
tude, threw  herself  into  her  lover's  arms,  and,  despite  the 
coyness  which  she  had  recently  shown,  impressed  upon  his 
lips  the  thanks  which  she  could  not  speak. 

They  parted,  Bertha  returning  to  her  mistress  at  the  lodge, 
which  she  had  left  both  with  trouble  and  danger,  and  Here- 
ward by  the  portal  kept  by  the  negro-portress,  who,  compli- 
menting the  handsome  Varangian  on  his  success  among  the 
fair,  intimated  that  she  had  been  in  some  sort  a  witness  of  his 
meeting  with  the  Saxon  damsel.  A  piece  of  gold,  part  of  a 
late  largesse,  amply  served  to  bribe  her  tongue  ;  and  the 
soldier,  clear  of  the  gardens  of  the  philosopher,  sped  back  as 
he  might  to  the  barrack,  judging  that  it  was  full  time  to 
carry  some  supply  to  Count  Eobert,  who  had  been  left  with- 
out food  the  whole  day. 

It  is  a  common  popular  saying  that,  as  the  sensation  of 
hunger  is  not  connected  with  any  pleasing  or  gentle  emotion, 
so  it  is  particularly  remarkable  for  irritating  those  of  anger 
and  spleen.  It  is  not,  therefore,  very  surprising  that  Count 
Robert,  who  had  been  so  unusually  long  without  sustenance, 
should  receive  Hereward  with  a  degree  of  impatience  beyond 
what  the  occasion  merited,  and  injurious  certainly  to  the 
honestVarangian,  who  had  repeatedly  exposed  his  life  that 
day  for  the  interest  of  the  Countess  and  the  Count  himself. 

^^  Soh,  sir  !  "  he  said,  in  that  accent  of  affected  restraint  by 
which  a  superior  modifies  his  displeasure  against  his  inferior 
into  a  cold  and  scornful  expression,  '^  you  have  played  a  liberal 


252  WA  VERLEY  NO  VEL8 

host  to  us  !  Not  that  it  is  of  consequence  ;  but  methinks  a 
count  of  the  most  Christian  kingdom  dines  not  every  day 
with  a  mercenary  soldier,  and  might  expect,  if  not  the  osten- 
tatious, at  least  the  needful,  part  of  hospitality." 

"And  methinks,"  replied  the  Varangian,  "'0  most  Chris- 
tian Count,  that  such  of  your  high  rank  as,  by  choice  or  fate, 
become  the  guests  of  such  as  I  may  think  themselves  pleased, 
and  blame  not  their  host's  niggardliness,  but  the  difficulty  of 
his  circumstances,  if  dinner  should  not  present  itself  of  tener 
than  once  in  four-and-twenty  hours."  So  saying,  he  clapped 
his  hands  together,  and  his  domestic  Edrio  entered.  His 
guest  looked  astonished  at  the  entrance  of  this  third  party 
into  their  retirement.  "  I  will  answer  for  this  man,"  said 
Hereward,  and  addressed  him  in  the  following  words : 
"  What  food  hast  thou,  Edric,  to  place  before  the  honorable 
Count  ?  " 

'*  Nothing  but  the  cold  pasty,"  replied  the  attendant, 
"  marvelously  damaged  by  your  honor's  encounter  at  break- 
fast." 

The  military  domestic,  as  intimated,  brought  forward  a 
large  pasty,  but  which  had  already  that  morning  sustained  a 
furious  attack,  insomuch  that  Count  Eobert  of  Paris,  who, 
like  all  noble  Normans,  was  somewhat  nice  and  delicate  in 
his  eating,  was  in  some  doubt  whether  his  scrupulousness 
should  not  prevail  over  his  hunger  ;  but,  on  looking  more 
closely,  sight,  smell,  and  a  fast  of  twenty  hours  joined  to 
convince  him  that  the  pasty  was  an  excellent  one,  and  that 
the  charger  on  which  it  was  presented  possessed  corners  yet 
untouched.  At  length,  having  suppressed  his  scruples  and 
made  bold  inroad  upon  the  remains  of  the  dish,  he  paused  to 
partake  of  a  flask  of  strong  red  wine  which  stood  invitingly 
beside  him,  and  a  lusty  draught  increased  the  good-humor 
which  had  begun  to  take  place  towards  Hereward,  in  ex- 
change for  the  displeasure  with  which  he  had  received  him. 

''Now,  by  Heaven  !''  he  said,  "I  myself  ought  to  be 
ashamed  to  lack  the  courtesy  which  I  recommend  to  others. 
Here  have  I,  with  the  manners  of  a  Flemish  boor,  been 
devouring  the  provisions  of  my  gallant  host,  without  even 
asking  him  to  sit  down  at  his  own  table  and  to  partake  of 
his  own  good  theer  ! " 

*'  I  will  not  strain  courtesies  with  you  for  that,"  said  Here- 
ward ;  and,  thrusting  his  hand  into  the  pasty,  he  proceeded 
with  great  speed  and  dexterity  to  devour  the  miscellaneous 
contents,  a  handful  of  which  was  inclosed  in  his  grasp.  The 
Count  now  withdrew  from  the  table,  partly  in  disgust  at  the 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  253 

rustic  proceedings  of  Hereward,  who,  however,  by  now  call- 
ing Edric  to  join  him  in  his  attack  upon  the  pasty,  showed 
that  he  had,  in  fact,  according  to  his  manners,  subjected  him- 
self previously  to  some  observance  of  respect  towards  his  guest, 
while  the  assistance  of  his  attendant  enabled  him  to  make  a 
clear  caccahulum  of  what  was  left.  Count  Kobert  at  length 
summoned  up  courage  sufficient  to  put  a  question  which  had 
been  trembling  upon  his  lips  ever  since  Hereward  had  re- 
turned. 

"  Have  thine  inquiries,  my  gallant  friend,  learned  more 
concerning  my  unfortunate  wife,  my  faithful  Brenhilda  ?  " 

"  Tidings  I  have,^'  said  the  Anglo-Saxon,  ''  but  whether 
pleasing  or  not,  yourself  must  be  the  judge.  This  much  I 
have  learned  :  she  hath,  as  you  know,  come  under  an  en- 
gagement to  meet  the  Caesar  in  arms  in  the  lists,  but  under 
conditions  which  you  may  perhaps  think  strange  ;  these, 
however,  she  hath  entertained  without  scruple." 

^'  Let  me  know  these  terms,"  said  the  Count  of  Paris  ; 
"  they  will,  I  think,  appear  less  strange  in  my  eyes  than  in 
thine.  ^'  But  while  he  alfected  to  speak  with  the  utmost 
coolness,  the  husband's  sparkling  eye  and  crimsoned  cheek 
betrayed  the  alteration  which  had  taken  place  in  his  feelings. 

'^  The  lady  and  the  Caesar,"  said  Hereward,  "  as  you  partly 
heard  yourself,  are  to  meet  in  fight  ;  if  the  Countess  wins, 
of  course  she  remains  the  wife  of  the  noble  Count  of  Paris  ; 
if  she  loses,  she  becomes  the  paramour  of  the  Caesar  Niceph- 
orus  Briennius." 

'*^  Saints  and  angels  forbid  V  said  Count  Eobert  ;  ''  were 
they  to  permit  such  treason  to  triumph,  we  might  be 
pardoned  for  doubting  their  divinity.^* 

"  Yet  methinks,"  said  the  Anglo-Saxon,  "  it  were  no  dis- 
graceful precaution  that  both  you  and  I,  with  other  friends, 
if  we  can  obtain  such,  should  be  seen  under  shield  in  the 
lists  on  the  morning  of  the  conflict.  To  triumph  or  to  be 
defeated  is  in  the  hand  of  fate  ;  but  what  we  cannot  fail  to 
witness  is,  whether  or  not  the  lady  receives  that  fair-play 
which  is  the  due  of  an  honorable  combatant,  andwhich,  as 
you  have  yourself  seen,  can  be  sometimes  basely  transgressed 
in  this  Grecian  empire/* 

'^  On  that  condition,'*  said  the  Count,  *'  and  protesting 
that  not  even  the  extreme  danger  of  my  lady  shall  make  me 
break  through  the  rule  of  a  fair  fight,  I  will  surely  attend 
the  lists,  if  thou,  brave  Saxon,  canst  find  me  any  means  of 
doing  so.  Yet  stay,"  he  continued,  after  reflecting  for  a 
moment,  ^'  thou  shalt  promise  not  to  let  her  know  that  her 


254  WAVERLE7.  NOVELS 

count  is  on  the  field,  far  less  to  point  him  out  to  her  eye 
among  the  press  of  warriors.  0,  thou  dost  not  know  that 
the  sight  of  the  heloved  will  sometimes  steal  from  us  our 
courage,  even  when  it  has  most  to  achieve  \" 

''We  will  endeavor, ''  said  the  Varangian,  ''to  arrange 
matters  according  to  thy  pleasure,  so  that  thou  findest  out 
no  more  fantastical  difficulties ;  for,  hy  my  word,  an  affair 
so  complicated  in  itself  requires  not  to  be  confused  by  the 
fine-spun  whims  of  thy  national  gallantry.  Meantime,  much 
must  be  done  this  night ;  and  while  I  go  about  it,  thou,  sir 
knight,  hadst  best  remain  here,  with  such  disguise  of  gar- 
ments and  such  food  as  Edric  may  be  able  to  procure  for 
thee.  Fear  nothing  from  intrusion  on  the  part  of  thy 
neighbors.  We  Varangians  respect  each  other's  secrets,  of 
whatever  nature  they  may  chance  to  be/' 


CHAPTER  XXI 

But  for  our  trusty  brother-in-law,  and  the  abbot. 
With  all  the  rest  of  that  consorted  crew, — 
Destruction  straight  shall  dog  them  at  the  heels. 
Good  uncle,  help  to  order  several  powers 
To  Oxford,  or  where'er  these  traitors  are. 
They  shall  not  live  within  this  world,  I  swear. 

Richard  IL 

As  Hereward  spoke  the  last  words  narrated  in  the  forego- 
ing chapter,  he  left  the  Count  in  his  apartment,  and  pro- 
ceeded to  the  Blacquernal  Palace.  We  traced  his  first 
entrance  into  the  court,  but  since  then  he  had  frequently 
been  summoned,  not  only  by  order  of  the  Princess  Anna  Com- 
nena,  who  delighted  in  asking  him  questions  concerning  the 
customs  of  his  native  country,  and  marking  down  the  replies 
in  her  own  inflated  language,  but  also  by  the  direct  com- 
mand  of  the  Emperor  himself,  who  had  the  humor  of  many 
princes,  that  of  desiring  to  obtain  direct  information  from 
persons  in  a  very  inferior  station  in  their  court.  The  ring 
which  the  Princess  had  given  to  the  Varangian  served  as  a 
pass-token  more  than  once,  and  was  now  so  generally  known 
by  the  slaves  of  the  palace,  that  Hereward  had  only  to  slip 
it  into  the  hand  of  a  principal  person  among  them,  and  was 
introduced  into  a  small  chamber,  not  distant  from  the  saloon 
already  mentioned,  dedicated  to  the  Muses.  In  this  small 
apartment,  the  Emperor,  his  spouse  Irene,  and  their  accom- 
plished daughter  Anna  Comnena  were  seated  together,  clad 
in  very  ordinary  apparel,  as  indeed  the  furniture  of  the 
room  itself  was  of  the  kind  used  by  respectable  citizens, 
saving  that  mattresses,  composed  of  eider-down,  hung  before 
each  door  to  prevent  the  risk  of  eavesdropping. 

"  Our  trusty  Varangian,"  said  the  Empress. 

"My  guide  and  tutor  respecting  the  manners  of  those 
steelclad  men,"  said  the  Princess  Anna  Comnena,  "  of  whom 
it  is  so  necessary  that  I  should  form  an  accurate  idea." 

"  Your  Imperial  Majesty,"  said  the  Empress,  "will  not,  I 
trust,  think  your  consort  and  your  muse- inspired  daughter 
are  too  many  to  share  with  you  the  intelligence  brought  by 
this  brave  and  loyal  man  ?  " 

255 


256  WAVEELEY  NOVELS 

'*  Dearest  wife  and  daughter,"  returned  the  Emperor,  "  1 
have  hitherto  spared  you  the  burden  of  a  painful  secret, 
which  I  have  locked  in  my  own  bosom,  at  whatever  expense 
of  solitary  sorrow  and  unimparted  anxiety.  Noble  daughter, 
you  in  particular  will  feel  this  calamity,  learning,  as  you 
must  learn,  to  think  odiously  of  one  of  whom  it  has  hitherto 
been  your  duty  to  hold  a  very  different  opinion." 

''  Holy  Mary  ! "  exclaimed  the  Princess. 

''Eally  yourself,"  said  the  Emperor  ;  "remember you  are 
a  child  of  the  purple  chamber,  born  not  to  weep  for  your 
father's  wrongs,  but  to  avenge  them  ;  not  to  regard  even 
him  who  has  lain  by  your  side  as  half  so  important  as  the 
sacred  imperial  grandeur,  of  which  you  are  yourself  a  par- 
taker." 

"  What  can  such  words  preface  ?  "  said  Anna  Comnena, 
in  great  agitation. 

"  They  say,"  answered  the  Emperor,  "  that  the  Caesar  is 
an  ungrateful  man  to  all  my  bounties,  and  even  to  that 
which  annexed  him  to  my  own  house,  and  made  him  by 
adoption  my  own  son.  He  hath  consorted  himself  with  a 
knot  of  traitors,  whose  very  names  are  enough  to  raise  the 
foul  fiend,  as  if  to  snatch  his  assured  prey." 

"Could  Nicephorus  do  this?"  said  the  astonished  and 
forlorn  Princess — "  Nicephorus,  who  has  so  often  called  my 
eyes  the  lights  by  which  he  steered  his  path  ?  Could  he  do 
this  to  my  father,  to  whose  exploits  he  has  listened  hour  after 
hour,  protesting  that  he  knew  not  whether  it  was  the  beauty 
of  the  language  or  the  heroism  of  the  action  which  most 
enchanted  him  ?  Thinking  with  the  same  thought,  see- 
ing with  the  same  eye,  loving  with  the  same  heart — 0,  my 
father  1  it  is  impossible  that  he  could  be  so  false.  Think  of 
the  neighboring  temple  of  the  Muses." 

"  And  if  1  did,"  murmured  Alexius  in  his  heart,  ''  I  should 
think  of  the  only  apology  which  could  be  proposed  for  the 
traitor.  A  little  is  well  enough,  but  the  full  soul  loatheth 
the  honeycomb."  Then  speaking  aloud,  "  My  daughter," 
he  said,  "be  comforted.  We  ourselves  were  unwilling  to 
believe  the  shameful  truth ;  but  our  guards  have  been  de- 
bauched ;  their  commander,  that  ungrateful  Achilles  Tatius, 
with  the  equal  traitor,  Agelastes,  has  been  seduced  to  favor 
our  imprisonment  or  murder ;  and,  alas  for  Greece  !  in  the 
very  moment  when  she  required  the  fostering  care  of  a 
parent,  she  was  to  be  deprived  of  him  by  a  sudden  and 
merciless  blow." 

Here  the   Emperor  wept,    whether  for  the  loss  to   be 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  257 

sustained  by  his  subjects  or  of  his  own  life  it  is  hard  to  say. 

"  Methinks/^  said  Irene,  ^^your  Imperial  Highness  is 
slow  in  taking  measures  against  the  danger/' 

"  Under  your  gracious  permission,  mother,"  answered  the 
Princess,  '*  I  would  rather  say  he  was  hasty  in  giving  belief 
to  it.  Methinks  the  evidence  of  a  Varangian,  granting  him 
to  be  ever  so  stout  a  man-at-arms,  is  but  a  frail  guaranty 
against  the  honor  of  your  son-in-law,  the  approved  bravery 
and  fidelity  of  the  captain  of  your  guards,  the  deep  sense, 
virtue,  and  profound  wisdom  of  the  greatest  of  your  phil- 
osophers  " 

'^And  the  conceit  of  an  over-educated  daughter, ''  said  the 
Emperor,  *^who  will  not  allow  her  parent  to  judge  in  what 
most  concerns  him.  I  will  tell  thee,  Anna,  I  know  every 
one  of  them,  and  the  trust  which  may  be  reposed  in  them  : 
the  honor  of  your  Nicephorus,  the  bravery  andfidelity  of  the 
Acolyte,  and  the  virtue  and  wisdom  of  Agelastes — have  I  not 
had  them  all  in  my  purse  ?  And  had  my  purse  continued 
well  filled,  and  my  arm  strong  as  it  was  of  late,  there  they 
would  have  still  remained.  But  the  butterflies  went  off  as 
the  weather  became  cold,  and  I  must  meet  the  tempest 
without  their  assistance.  You  talk  of  want  of  proof  ?  I  have 
proof  sufficient  when  I  see  danger  :  this  honest  soldier 
brought  me  indications  which  corresponded  with  my  own 
private  remarks,  made  on  purpose.  Varangian  he  shall  be 
of  Varangians  ;  Acolyte  he  shall  be  named,  in  place  of 
the  present  traitor ;  and  who  knows  what  may  come  there- 
after?" 

"  May  it  please  your  Highness,"  said  the  Varangian,  who 
had  been  hitherto  silent,  ''  many  men  in  this  empire  rise  to 
dignity  by  the  fall  of  their  original  patrons,  but  it  is  a  road 
to  greatness  to  which  I  cannot  reconcile  my  conscience  ; 
moreover,  having  recovered  a  friend  from  whom  I  was  long 
ago  separated,  I  shall  require,  in  short  space,  your  imperial 
license  for  going  hence,  where  I  shall  leave  thousands  of 
enemies  behind  me,  and,  spending  my  life,  like  many  of  my 
countrymen,  under  the  banner  of  King  William  of  Scot- 
land  " 

''  Part  with  tJiee,  most  inimitable  man  !"  cried  the 
Emperor,  with  emphasis  ;  "  where  shall  I  get  a  soldier — a 
champion — a  friend,  so  faithful  ?  " 

''  Noble  sir,"  replied  the  Anglo-Saxon,  '^  I  am  every  way 

sensible   to  your   goodness    and   munificence  ;  but   let   me 

entreat  you  to  call  me  by  my  own  name,  and  to  promise  me 

nothing  but  your  forgiveness  for  my  having  been  the  agent 

17 


258  WA  VEBLEY  NO  VEL8 

of  such  confusion  among  your  imperial  servants.  Not  only 
is  the  threatened  fate  of  Achilles  Tatius,  my  benefactor  ;  of 
the  Caesar,  whom  I  think  my  well-wisher ;  and  even  of 
Agelastes  himself,  painful,  so  far  as  it  is  of  my  bringing 
round  ;  but  also  I  have  known  it  somehow  happen  that  those 
on  whom  your  Imperial  Majesty  has  lavished  the  most 
valuable  expressions  of  your  favor  one  day  were  the  next 
day  food  to  fatten  the  chough  and  crow.  And  this,  I 
acknowledge,  is  a  purpose  for  which  I  would  not  willingly 
have  it  said  I  have  brought  my  English  limbs  to  these 
Grecian  shores." 

*'  Call  thee  by  thine  own  name,  my  Edward,''  said  the 
Emperor  (while  he  muttered  aside,  *'By  Heaven,  I  have 
again  forgot  the  name  of  the  barbarian  !") — "  by  thine  own 
name  certainly  for  the  present,  but  only  until  we  shall  devise 
one  more  fitted  for  the  trust  we  repose  in  thee.  Meantime, 
look  at  this  scroll,  which  contains,  I  think,  all  the  partic- 
ulars which  we  have  been  able  to  learn  of  this  plot,  and 
give  it  to  these  unbelieving  women,  who  will  not  credit 
that  an  emperor  is  in  danger  till  the  blades  of  the  con- 
spirators' poniards  are  clashing  within  his  ribs.'' 

Hereward  did  as  he  was  commanded,  and  having  looked 
at  the  scroll,  and  signified,  by  bending  his  head,  his 
acquiescence  in  its  contents,  he  presented  it  to  Irene,  who 
had  not  read  long  ere,  with  a  countenance  so  embittered 
that  she  had  difficulty  in  pointing  out  the  cause  of  her 
displeasure  to  her  daughter,  she  bade  her,  with  animation, 
'^  Kead  that — read  that,  and  judge  of  the  gratitude  and 
affection  of  thy  Caesar." 

The  princess  Anna  Comnena  awoke  from  a  state  of  pro- 
found and  overpowering  melancholy,  and  looked  at  the 
passage  pointed  out  to  her,  at  first  with  an  air  of  languid 
curiosity,  which  presently  deepened  into  the  most  intense 
interest.  ^  She  clutched  the  scroll  as  a  falcon  does  his  prey, 
her  eye  lightened  with  indignation  ;  and  it  was  with  the 
cry  of  the  bird  when  in  fury  that  she  exclaimed,  ''  Bloody- 
minded,  double-hearted  traitor  !  what  wouldst  thou  have  ? 
Yes,  father,"  she  said,  rising  in  fury,  "  it  is  no  longer  the 
voice  of  a  deceived  princess  that  shall  intercede  to  avert 
from  the  traitor  Nicephorus  the  doom  he  has  deserved. 
Did  he  think  that  one  born  in  the  purple  chamber  could 
be  divorced — murdered  perhaps — with  the  petty  formula 
of  the  Komans,  '  Restore  the  keys,  be  no  longer  mj 
domestic  drudge '  ?  *  Was  a  daughter  of  the  blood  o; 
*  The  laconic  form  of  the  Roman  divorce. 


COUNT  EOBEBT  OF  PABIS  259 

Comnenns  liable  to  such  insults  as  the  meanest  of  Quiritea 
might  bestow  on  a  family  housekeeper  ? " 

So  saying,  she  dashed  the  tears  from  her  eyes,  and  her 
countenance,  naturally  that  of  beauty  and  gentleness,  be- 
came animated  with  the  expression  of  a  fury.  Hereward 
looked  at  her  with  a  mixture  of  fear,  dislike,  and  compassion. 
She  again  burst  forth,  for  nature,  having  given  her  consid- 
erable abilities,  had  lent  her  at  the  same  time  an  energy  of 
passion  far  superior  in  power  to  the  cold  ambition  of  Irene, 
or  the  wily,  ambidexter,  shuffling  policy  of  the  Emperor. 

"He  shall  abye  it,"  said  the  Princess — " he  shall  dearly 
abye  it !  False,  smiling,  cozening  traitor  !  and  for  that  un- 
feminine  barbarian  !  Something  of  this  I  guessed  even  at 
that  old  fool^s  banqueting-house  ;  and  yet  if  this  unworthy 
Caesar  submits  his  body  to  the  chance,  of  arms,  he  is  less 
prudent  than  I  have  some  reason  to  believe.  Think  you  he 
will  have  the  madness  to  brand  us  with  such  open  neglect,  my 
father  ?  and  will  you  not  invent  some  mode  of  ensuring  our 
revenge  ?  " 

"  Soh  !"  thought  the  Emperor,  "this  difficulty  is  over: 
she  will  run  downhill  to  her  revenge,  and  will  need  the 
snaffle  and  curb  more  than  the  lash.  If  every  jealous  dame 
in  Constantinople  were  to  pursue  her  fury  as  unrelentingly, 
our  laws  should  be  written,  like  Dracoes,  not  in  ink,  but  in 
blood.  Attend  to  me  now,"  he  said  aloud,  "  my  wife,  my 
daughter,  and  thou,  dear  Edward,  and  you  shall  learn,  and 
you  three  only,  my  mode  of  navigating  the  vessel  of  the 
state  through  these  shoals." 

"  Let  us  see  distinctly,"  continued  Alexius,  "the  means 
by  which  they  propose  to  act,  and  these  shall  instruct  us 
how  to  meet  them.  A  certain  number  of  the  Varangians 
are  unhappily  seduced,  under  pretense  of  wrongs,  artfully 
stirred  up  by  their  villainous  general.  A  part  of  them  are 
studiously  to  be  arranged  nigh  our  person.  The  traitor 
Ursel,  some  of  them  suppose,  is  dead  ;  but  if  it  were  so,  his 
name  is  sufficient  to  draw  together  his  old  factionaries.  I 
have  a  means  of  satisfying  them  on  that  point,  on  which 
I  shall  remain  silent  for  the  present.  A  considerable  body 
of  the  Immortal  Guards  have  also  given  way  to  seduction  ; 
they  are  to  be  placed  to  support  the  handful  of  treacherous 
Varangians,  who  are  in  the  plot  to  attack  our  person.  Now, 
a  slight  change  in  the  stations  of  the  soldiery,  which  thou, 
my  faithful  Edward — or — a — a — whatever  thou  art  named — 
for  which  thou,  I  say,  shalt  have  full  authority,  will  derange 
the  plans  of  the  traitors,  and  place  the  true  men  in  such 


260  WAVEBLET  NOVELS 

position  around  them  as  to  cut  tliem  to  pieces  with  little 
trouble." 

"  And  the  combat,  my  lord  ?  "  said  the  Saxon. 

"  Thou  hadat  been  no  true  Varangian  hadst  thou  not 
inquired  after  that/'  said  the  Emperor,  nodding  good- 
humoredly  towards  him.  "As  to  the  combat,  the  Caesar 
has  devised  it,  and  it  shall  be  my  care  that  he  shall  not  re- 
treat from  the  dangerous  part  of  it.  He  cannot  in  honor 
avoid  fighting  with  this  woman,  strange  as  the  combat  is ; 
and  however  it  ends,  the  conspiracy  will  break  forth,  and  as 
assuredly  as  it  comes  against  persons  prepared  and  in  arms 
shall  it  be  stifled  in  the  blood  of  the  conspirators."'' 

"  My  revenge  does  not  require  this,''  said  the  Princess  ; 
''and  your  imperial  honor  is  also  interested  that  this 
countess  shall  be  protected." 

''  It  is  little  business  of  mine,"  said  the  Emperor.  "  She 
comes  here  with  her  husband  altogether  uninivited.  He  be- 
haves with  insolence  in  my  presence,  and  deserves  whatever 
may  be  the  issue  to  himself  or  his  lady  of  their  mad  adven- 
ture. In  sooth,  I  desired  little  more  than  to  give  him  a 
fright  with  those  animals  whom  their  ignorance  judged  en- 
chanted, and  to  give  his  wife  a  slight  alarm  about  the 
impetuosity  of  a  Grecian  lover,  and  there  my  vengeance 
should  have  ended.  But  it  may  be  that  his  wife  may  be 
taken  under  my  protection,  now  that  little  revenge  is  over." 

"  And  a  paltry  revenge  it  was,"  said  the  Empress,  '^^that 
you,  a  man  past  middle  life,  and  with  a  wife  who  might 
command  some  attention,  should  constitute  yourself  the 
object  of  alarm  to  such  a  handsome  man  as  Count  Eobert, 
and  the  amazon  his  wife." 

*'  By  your  favor,  dame  Irene,  no,"  said  the  Emperor.  "  I 
left  that  part  of  the  proposed  comedy  to  my  son-in-law  the 
Caesar." 

But  when  the  poor  Emperor  had  in  some  measure  stopped 
one  floodgate,  he  effectually  opened  another,  and  one  which 
was  more  formidable.  "  The  more  shame  to  your  imperial 
wisdom,  my  father  ! "  exclaimed  the  Princess  Anna  Comnena^ 
"it  is  a  shame  that,  with  wisdom  and  a  beard  like  yours, 
you  should  be  meddling  in  such  indecent  follies  as  admit 
disturbance  into  private  families,  and  that  family  your  own 
daughter's.  Who  can  say  that  the  Caesar  Nicephorus  Brien- 
nius  ever  looked  astray  towards  another  woman  than  his  wife 
till  the  Emperor  taught  him  to  do  so,  and  involved  him  in 
a  web  of  intrigue  and  treachery,  in  which  he  has  endangered 
the  life  of  his  father-in-law  r*  *' 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  261 

*'  Daughter — daughter — daughter  ! "  said  the  Empress ; 
'*  daughter  of  a  she-wolf,  I  think,  to  goad  her  parent  at 
such  an  unhappy  time,  when  all  the  leisure  he  has  is  too 
little  to  defend  his  life  ! " 

"Peace,  I  pray  you,  women  both,  with  your  senseless 
clamors,"  answered  Alexius,  "  and  let  me  at  least  swim  for 
my  life  undisturbed  with  your  folly.  God  knows  if  I  am  a 
man  to  encourage,  I  will  not  say  the  reality  of  wrong,  but 
even  its  mere  appearance." 

These  words  he  uttered,  crossing  himself,  with  a  devout 
groan.  His  wife  Irene,  in  the  mean  time,  stepped  before  him, 
and  said,  with  a  bitterness  in  her  looks  and  accent  which 
only  long-concealed  nuptial  hatred  breaking  forth  at  once 
could  convey — "  Alexius,  terminate  this  affair  how  it  will, 
you  have  lived  a  hypocrite,  and  thou  wilt  not  fail  to  die  one." 
So  saying,  with  an  air  of  noble  indignation,  and  carrying  her 
daughter  along  with  her,  she  swept  out  of  the  apartment. 

The  Emperor  looked  after  her  with  some  confusion.  He 
soon,  however,  recovered  his  self-possession,  and  turning  to 
Hereward,  with  a  look  of  injured  majesty,  said,  "  Ah  !  my 
dear  Edward  " — for  the  word  had  become  rooted  in  his  mind 
instead  of  the  less  euphonic  name  of  Hereward — "  thou  seest 
how  it  is  even  with  the  greatest,  and  that  the  Emperor,  in 
moments  of  difficulty,  is  a  subject  of  misconstruction,  as 
well  as  the  meanest  burgess  of  Constantinople  ;  nevertheless, 
my  trust  is  so  great  in  thee,  Edward,  that  I  would  have  thee 
believe  that  my  daughter,  Anna  Comnena,  is  not  of  the 
temper  of  her  mother,  but  rather  of  my  own  ;  honoring, 
thou  mayst  see,  with  religious  fidelity,  the  unworthy  ties 
which  I  hope  soon  to  break,  and  assort  her  with  other  fetters 
of  Cupid  which  shall  be  borne  more  lightly.  Edward,  my 
main  trust  is  in  thee.  Accident  presents  us  with  an  oppor- 
u^unity,  happy  of  the  happiest  so  it  be  rightly  improved,  of 
having  all  the  traitors  before  us  assembled  on  one  fair  field. 
Think,  then,  on  that  day,  as  the  Franks  say  at  their  tourna- 
ments,  that  fair  eyes  behold  thee.  Thou  canst  not  devise  a 
gift  within  my  power  but  I  will  gladly  load  thee  with  it." 

"  It  needs  not,"  said  the  Varangian,  somewhat  coldly  : 
"  my  highest  ambition  is  to  merit  the  epitaph  upon  my  tomb, 
^Hereward  was  faithful.'  I  am  about,  however,  to  demand 
a  proof  of  your  imperial  confidence,  which,  perhaps,  you 
may  think  a  startling  one." 

"  Indeed  !"  said  the  Emperor.  "What,  in  one  word,  is 
thy  demand  ?  " 

"  Permission,"  replied  Hereward,  "  to  go  to  the  Duke  of 


262  WA VERLEY  NOVELS 

Bouillon's  encampment,  and  entreat  his  presence  in  tlie  lists, 
to  witness  this  extraordinary  combat." 

"  That  he  may  return  with  his  crusading  madmen,"  said 
the  Emperor,  '^  and  sack  Constantinople,  under  pretense  of 
doing  justice  to  his  confederates  ?  This,  Varangian,  is  at 
least  speaking  thy  mind  openly." 

"  No,  by  Heaven  ! "  said  Hereward,  suddenly  ;  ''the Duke 
of  Bouillon  shall  come  with  no  more  knights  than  may  be 
a  reasonable  guard,  should  treachery  be  offered  to  the  Coun- 
1C538  of  Paris." 

"  Well,  eyeu  in  this,"  said  the  Emperor,  "  will  I  be  con- 
formable ;  and  if  thon,  Bdward,  betray  est  my  trust,  think 
that  thou  forfeitest  all  that  my  friendship  has  promised,  and 
dost  incur,  besides,  the  damnation  that  is  due  to  the  traitor 
who  betrays  with  a  kiss." 

*'  For  thy  reward,  noble  sir,"  answered  the  Varangian, 
*'  I  hereby  renounce  all  claim  to  it.  When  the  diadem  is 
once  more  firmly  fixed  upon  thy  brow,  and  the  scepter  in 
thy  hand,  if  I  am  then  alive,  if  my  poor  services  should 
deserve  so  much,  I  will  petition  thee  for  the  means  of  leav- 
ing this  court,  and  returning  to  the  distant  island  in  which 
I  was  born.  Meanwhile,  think  me  not  unfaithful,  because 
I  have  for  a  time  the  means  of  being  so  with  effect.  Your 
Imperial  Highness  shall  learn  that  Hereward  is  as  true  as  is 
your  right  hand  to  your  left."  So  saying,  he  took  his  leave 
with  a  profound  obeisance. 

The  Emperor  gazed  after  him  with  a  countenance  in  which 
doubt  was  mingled  with  admiration. 

"  I  have  trusted  him,"  he  said,  "  with  all  he  asked,  and 
with  the  power  of  ruining  me  entirely,  if  such  be  his  purpose. 
He  has  but  to  breathe  a  whisper,  and  the  whole  mad  crew  of 
crusaders,  kept  in  humor  at  the  expense  of  so  much  current 
falsehood  and  so  much  more  gold,  will  return  with  fire  and 
sword  to  burn  down  Constantinople,  and  sow  with  salt  the 
place  where  it  stood.  I  have  done  what  I  had  resolved  never 
to  do  :  I  have  ventured  kingdom  and  life  on  the  faith  of  a 
man  born  of  woman.  How  often  have  I  said,  nay,  sworn, 
that  I  would  not  hazard  myself  on  such  peril,  and  yet,  step 
by  step,  I  have  done  so  !  I  cannot  tell — there  is  in  that 
man^s  looks  and  words  a  good  faith  which  overwhelms  me  ; 
and,  what  is  almost  incredible,  my  belief  in  him  has  increased 
in  proportion  to  his  showing  me  how  slight  my  power  was 
over  him.  I  threw,  like  the  wily  angler,  every  bait  I  could 
devise,  and  some  of  them  such  as  a  king  would  scarcely  have 
disdained.     To  none  of  these  would  he  rise ;  but  yet  ho 


COUNT  BOBEBT  OF  PABIS  263 

gorges,  I  may  say,  the  bare  hook,  and  enters  upon  my  service 
without  a  shadow  of  self-interest.  Can  this  be  double- 
distilled  treachery  ?  or  can  it  be  what  men  call  disinterested- 
ness ?  If  I  thought  him  false,  the  moment  is  not  yet  past : 
he  has  not  yet  crossed  the  bridge — he  has  not  passed  the 
guards  of  the  palace,  who  have  no  hesitation  and  know  no 
disobedience.  But  no  ;  I  were  then  alone  in  the  land,  and 
without  a  friend  or  confidant.  I  hear  the  sound  of  the  outer 
gate  unclose  :  the  sense  of  danger  certainly  renders  my  ears 
more  acute  than  usual.  It  shuts  again  ;  the  die  is  cast. 
He  is  at  liberty  ;  and  Alexius  Comnenus  must  stand  or  fall, 
according  to  the  uncertain  faith  of  a  mercenary  Varangian.^' 
He  clapped  ^  his  hands  ;  a  slave  appeared,  of  whom  he 
demanded  wine.  He  drank,  and  his  heart  was  cheered 
within  him.  "  I  am  decided,"  he  said,  ''  and  will  abide 
with  resolution  the  cast  of  the  throw,  for  good  or  for  evil." 
So  saying,  he  retired  to  his  apartment,  and  was  not 
again  seen  during  that  night. 


CHAPTER  XXII 

And  aye,  as  if  for  death,  some  lonely  trumpet  peaPd. 

Campbell. 

The  Varangian,  his  head  agitated  with  the  weighty  matters 
which  were  imposed  on  him,  stopped  from  time  to  time  as 
he  journeyed  through  the  moonlight  streets,  to  arrest  pass- 
ing ideas  as  they  shot  through  his  mind,  and  consider  them 
with  accuracy  in  all  their  bearings.  His  thoughts  were  such 
as  animated  or  alarmed  him  alternately,  each  followed  by 
a  confused  throng  of  accompaniments  which  it  suggested, 
and  banished  again  in  its  turn  by  reflections  of  another 
description.  It  was  one  of  those  conjunctures  when  the 
minds  of  ordinary  men  feel  themselves  unable  to  support  a 
burden  which  is  suddenly  flung  upon  them,  and  when,  on  the 
contrary  those  of  uncommon  fortitude,  and  that  best  of 
Heaven^s  gifts,  good  sense,  founded  on  presence  of  mind, 
feel  their  talents  awakened  and  regulated  for  the  occasion, 
like  a  good  steed  under  the  management  of  a  rider  of  courage 
and  experience. 

As  AC  stood  in  one  of  those  fits  of  reverie  which  repeatedly 
during  that  night  arrested  his  stern  military  march,  Here- 
ward  thought  that  his  ear  caught  the  note  of  a  distant 
trumpet.  This  surprised  him  :  a  trumpet  blown  at  that 
late  hour,  and  in  the  streets  of  Constantinople,  argued 
something  extraordinary ;  for,  as  all  the  military  move- 
ments were  the  subject  of  special  ordinance,  the  etiquette 
of  the  night  could  hardly  have  been  transgressed  without 
some  great  cause.  The  question  was,  what  that  cause 
could  be  ? 

Had  the  insurrection  broken  out  unexpectedly,  and  in  a 
different  manner  from  what  the  conspirators  proposed  to 
themselves  ?  If  so,  his  meeting  with  his  plighted  bride, 
after  so  many  years'  absence,  was  but  a  delusive  preface  to 
their  separating  forever.  Or  had  the  crusaders,  a  race  of 
men  upon  whose  motions  it  was  difficult  to  calculate,  sud- 
denly taken  arms  and  returned  from  the  opposite  shore  to 
surprise  the  city  ?  This  might  very  possibly  be  the  case  ;  so 
numerous  had  been  the  different  causes  of  complaint  afforded 

264 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  265 

to  the  crusaders,  that,  when  they  were  now  for  the  first 
time  assembled  into  one  body,  and  had  heard  the  stories 
which  they  could  reciprocally  tell  concerning  the  perfidy 
of  the  Greeks,  nothing  was  so  likely,  so  natural,  even 
perhaps  so  justifiable,  as  that  they  should  study  revenge. 

But  the  sound  rather  resembled  a  point  of  war  regularly 
blown  than  the  tumultuous  blare  of  bugle-horns  and  trum- 
pets, the  accompaniments  at  once  and  the  annunciation  of  a 
taken  town,  in  which  the  horrid  circumstances  of  storm  had 
not  yet  given  place  to  such  stern  peace  as  the  victors^  weari- 
ness of  slaughter  and  rapine  allows  at  length  to  the  wretched 
inhabitants.  Whatever  it  was,  it  was  necessary  that  Here- 
ward  should  learn  its  purport,  and  therefore  he  made  his 
way  into  a  broad  street  near  the  barracks,  from  which  the 
sound  seemed  to  come,  to  which  point,  indeed,  his  way  was 
directed  for  other  reasons. 

The  inhabitants  of  that  quarter  of  the  town  did  not  ap- 
pear violently  startled  by  this  military  signal.  The  moon- 
light slept  on  the  street,  crossed  by  the  gigantic  shadowy 
towers  of  Sancta  Sophia.  No  human  being  appeared  in  the 
streets,  and  such  as  for  an  instant  looked  from  their  doors 
or  from  their  lattices  seemed  to  have  their  curiosity  quickly 
satisfied,  for  they  withdrew  their  heads,  and  secured  the 
opening  through  which  they  had  peeped. 

Hereward  could  not  help  remembering  the  traditions 
which  were  recounted  by  the  fathers  of  his  tribe,  in  the  deep 
woods  of  Hampshire,  and  which  spoke  of  invisible  hunts- 
men, who  were  heard  to  follow  with  viewless  horses  and 
hounds  the  unseen  chase  through  the  depths  of  the  forests 
of  Germany.  Such  it  seemed  were  the  sounds  with  which 
these  haunted  woods  were  wont  to  ring  while  the  wild  chase 
was  up,  and  with  such  apparent  terror  did  the  hearers  listen  to 
their  clamor. 

*'  Fie  ! "  he  said,  as  he  suppressed  within  him  a  tendency 
to  the  same  superstitious  fear ;  ''  do  such  childish  fancies 
belong  to  a  man  trusted  with  so  much,  and  from  whom  so 
much  is  expected  ?  "  He  paced  down  the  street,  therefore, 
with  his  battle-ax  over  his  shoulder,  and  the  first  person 
whom  he  saw  venturing  to  look  out  of  his  door  he  questioned 
concerning  the  cause  of  this  military  music  at  such  an 
unaccustomed  hour. 

^*  I  cannot  tell,  so  please  you,  my  lord,"  said  the  citizen, 
unwilling,  it  appeared,  to  remain  in  the  open  air  or  to  enter 
into  conversation,  and  greatly  disposed  to  decline  further 
questioning.     This  was  the  political  citizen  of  Constanti- 


266  WAVERLET  NOVELS 

nople  whom  we  met  with  at  the  beginning  of  this  history, 
and  who,  hastily  stepping  into  his  habitation,  eschewed  all 
further  conversation. 

The  wrestler  Stephanos  showed  himself  at  the  next  door  ; 
which  was  garlanded  with  oak  and  ivy  leaves,  in  honor  of 
some  recent  victory.  He  stood  unshrinking,  partly  encour- 
aged by  the  consciousness  of  personal  strength,  and  partly 
by  a  rugged  surliness  of  temper,  which  is  often  mistaken 
among  persons  of  this  kind  for  real  courage.  His  admirer 
and  flatterer,  Lysimachus,  kept  himself  ensconced  behind 
his  ample  shoulders. 

As  Hereward  passed,  he  put  the  same  question  as  he  did 
to  the  former  citizen — "Know  you  the  meaning  of  these 
trumpets  sounding  so  late  ?  '* 

"  You  should  know  best  yourself,'*  answered  Stephanos, 
doggedly  ;  "  for,  to  judge  by  your  ax  and  helmet,  they  are 
your  trumpets,  and  not  ours,  which  disturb  honest  men  in 
their  first  sleep.'* 

"  Varlet ! "  answered  the  Varangian,  with  an  emphasis 
which  made  the  prizer  start ;  *^  but — when  that  trumpet 
sounds,  it  is  no  time  for  a  soldier  to  punish  insolence  as 
it  deserves.*' 

The  Greek  started  back  and  bolted  into  his  house,  nearly 
overthrowing  in  the  speed  of  his  retreat  the  artist  Lysi- 
machus, who  was  listening  to  what  passed. 

Hereward  passed  on  to  the  barracks,  where  the  military 
music  had  seemed  to  halt ;  but  on  the  Varangian  crossing 
the  threshold  of  the  ample  courtyard,  it  broke  forth  again 
with  a  tremendous  burst,  whose  clangor  almost  stunned 
him,  though  well  accustomed  to  the  sounds.  "What  is  the 
meaning  of  this,  Engelbrecht  ? "  he  said  to  the  Varangian 
sentinel,  who  paced  ax  in  hand  before  the  entrance. 

"  The  proclamation  of  a  challenge  and  combat,"  answered 
Engelbrecht.  "  Strange  things  toward,  comrade  :  the 
frantic  crusaders  have  bit  the  Grecians,  and  infected  them 
with  their  humor  of  tilting,  as  they  say  dogs  do  each  othei 
with  madness." 

Hereward  made  no  reply  to  the  sentinel's  speech,  but 
pressed  forward  into  a  knot  of  his  fellow-soldiers  who  were 
assembled  in  the  court,  half-armed,  or,  more  properly,  in 
total  disarray,  as  just  arisen  from  their  beds;  and  huddled 
around  the  trumpets  of  their  corps,  which  were  drawn  out 
in  full  pomp.  He  of  the  gigantic  instrument,  whose  duty 
it  was  to  intimate  the  express  commands  of  the  emperor, 
was  not  wanting  in  his  place,  and  the  musicians  were  sup- 


*  The  herald,  after  the  flourish  of  trumpets  was  finished,  commenced  in  these  words.  ** 


COUNT  BOBERT  OF  PABI8  267 

ported  by  a  band  of  the  Varangians  in  arms,  headed  by 
Achilles  Tatius  himself.  Hereward  could  also  notice  on 
approaching  nearer,  as  his  comrades  made  way  for  him,  that 
six  of  the  imperial  heralds  were  on  duty  on  this  occasion  ; 
four  of  these  (two  acting  at  the  same  time)  had  already  made 
proclamation,  which  was  to  be  repeated  for  the  third  time  by 
the  two  last,  as  was  the  usual  fashion  in  Constantinople, 
with  imperial  mandates  of  great  consequence.  Achilles 
Tatius,  the  moment  he  saw  his  confidant,  made  him  a 
sign,  which  Hereward  understood  as  conveying  a  desire 
to    speak    with     him     after    the    proclamation  was   over. 

The  herald,  after  the  flourish  of  trumpets  was  finished, 
commenced  in  these  words  : 

''  By  the  authority  of  the  resplendent  and  divine  Prince 
Alexius  Comnenus,  Emperor  of  the  most  holy  Roman  Em- 
pire, his  Imperial  Majesty  desires  it  to  be  made  known  to 
all  and  sundry  the  subjects  of  his  empire,  whatever  their 
race  or  blood  may  be,  or  at  whatever  shrine  of  divinity 
they  happen  to  bend —  Know  ye,  therefore,  that  upon  the 
second  day  after  this  is  dated,  our  beloved  son-in-law,  the 
much-esteemed  C^sar,  hath  taken  upon  him  to  do  battle 
with  our  sworn  enemy,  Robert  Count  of  Paris,  on  account 
of  his  insolent  conduct,  by  presuming  publicly  to  occupy 
our  royal  seat,  and  no  less  by  breaking,  in  our  imperial 
presence,  those  curious  specimens  of  art,  ornamenting  our 
throne,  called  by  tradition  the  Lions  of  Solomon.  And  that 
there  may  not  remain  a  man  in  Europe  who  shall  dare  to  say 
that  the  Grecians  are  behind  other  parts  of  the  world  in  any 
of  the  manly  exercises  which  Christian  nations  use,  the  said 
noble  enemies,  renouncing  all  assistance  from  falsehood, 
from  spells,  or  from  magic,  shall  debate  this  quarrel  in  three 
courses  with  grinded  spears,  and  three  passages  of  arms 
with  sharpened  swords  ;  the  field  to  be  at  the  judgment  of 
the  honorable  Emperor,  and  to  be  decided  at  his  most  gra- 
cious and  unerring  pleasure.     And  so  God  show  the  right ! " 

Another  formidable  flourish  of  the  trumpets  concluded 
the  ceremony.  Achilles  then  dismissed  the  attendant  troops, 
as  well  as  the  heralds  and  musicians,  to  their  respective 
quarters ;  and  having  got  Hereward  close  to  his  side,  in- 
quired of  him  whether  he  had  learned  anything  of  the  pris- 
oner, Robert  Count  of  Paris. 

'^ Nothing,"  said  the  Varangian,  ''save  the  tidings  your 
proclamation  contains.'^ 

''  You  think,  then,"  said  Achilles,  "  that  the  Count  has 
been  a  party  to  it  ?" 


268  WAVEELEY  NOVELS 

"He  ought  to  have  been  so/'  answered  the  Varangian. 
*'  I  know  no  one  but  himself  entitled  to  take  burden  for  his 
appearance  in  the  lists." 

"  Why,  look  you/'  said  the  Acolyte,  "my  most  excellent, 
though  blunt-witted,  Hereward,  this  Caesar  of  ours  hath  had 
the  extravagance  to  venture  his  tender  wit  in  comparison  to 
that  of  Achilles  Tatius.  He  stands  upon  his  honor,  too, 
this  ineffable  fool,  and  is  displeased  with  the  idea  of  being 
supposed  either  to  challenge  a  woman  or  to  receive  a  chal- 
lenge at  her  hand.  He  has  substituted,  therefore,  the  name 
of  the  lord  instead  of  the  lady.  If  the  Count  fail  to  appear, 
the  Caesar  walks  forward  challenger  and  successful  combat- 
ant at  a  cheap  rate,  since  no  one  has  encountered  him,  and 
claims  that  the  lady  should  be  delivered  up  to  him  as  captive 
of  his  dreaded  bow  and  spear.  This  will  be  the  signal  for  a 
general  tumult,  in  which,  if  the  Emperor  be  not  slain  on 
the  spot,  he  will  be  conveyed  to  the  dungeon  of  his  own 
Blacquernal,  there  to  endure  the  doom  which  his  cruelty  has 
inflicted  upon  so  many  others." 

"  But "  said  the  Varangian. 

"  But — but — but,"  said  his  officer — "but  thou  art  a  fool. 
Canst  thou  not  see  that  this  gallant  Caesar  is  willing  to  avoid 
the  risk  of  encountering  with  this  lady,  while  he  earnestly 
desires  to  be  supposed  willing  to  meet  her  husband  ?  It  is 
our  business  to  fix  the  combat  in  such  a  shape  as  to  bring 
all  who  are  prepared  for  insurrection  together  in  arms  to 
play  their  parts.  Do  thou  only  see  that  our  trusty  friends 
are  placed  near  to  the  Emperor's  person,  and  in  such  a  man- 
ner as  to  keep  from  him  the  officious  and  meddling  portion 
of  guards  who  may  be  disposed  to  assist  him  ;  and  whether 
the  Caesar  fights  a  combat  with  lord  or  lady,  or  whether 
there  be  any  combat  at  all  or  not,  the  revolution  shall  be 
accomplished,  and  the  Tatii  shall  replace  the  Comneni  upon 
the  imperial  throne  of  Constantinople.  Go,  my  trusty 
Hereward.  Thou  wilt  not  forget  that  the  signal  word  of 
the  insurrection  is  Ursel,  who  lives  in  the  affections  of 
the  people,  although  his  body,  it  is  said,  has  long  lain  a 
corpse  in  the  dungeons  of  the  Blacquernal." 

"  What  was  this  Ursel,"  said  Hereward,  "  of  whom  I 
hear  men  talk  so  variously  ?" 

"  A  competitor  for  the  crown  with  Alexius  Comnenus — 
good,  brave,  and  honest ;  but  overpowered  by  the  cunning, 
rather  than  the  skill  or  bravery,  of  his  foe.  He  died,  as  I 
believe,  in  the  Blacquernal ;  though  when  or  how  there  are 
few  that  can  say.     But,  up  and  be  doing,  my  Hereward/ 


COUNT  MOBBRT  OF  PARIS  2«» 

Speak  encouragement  to  the  Varangians.  Interest  whomso- 
ever thou  canst  to  join  us.  Of  the  Immortals,  as  they  are 
called,  and  of  the  discontented  citizens,  enough  are  pre- 
pared to  fill  up  the  cry,  and  follow  in  the  wake  of  those  on 
whom  we  must  rely  as  the  beginners  of  the  enterprise.  No 
longer  shall  Alexius's  cunning  in  avoiding  popular  assemblies 
avail  to  protect  him  :  he  cannot,  with  regard  to  his  honor, 
avoid  being  present  at  a  combat  to  be  fought  beneath  his 
own  eye  ;  and  Mercury  be  praised  for  the  eloquence  which 
inspired  him,  after  some  hesitation,  to  determine  for  the 
proclamation  ! " 

''You  have  seen  him,  then,  this  evening  ?"  said  the  Va- 
rangian. 

''Seen  him!  Unquestionably, ''  answered  the  Acolyte. 
"  Had  I  ordered  these  trumpets  to  be  sounded  without  his 
knowledge,  the  blast  had  blown  the  head  from  my  shoul- 
ders.^' 

"I  had  well-nigh  met  you  at  the  palace,^'  said  Hereward, 
while  his  heart  throbbed  almost  as  high  as  if  he  had  actually 
had  such  a  dangerous  encounter. 

"I  heard  something  of  it/^  said  Achilles — "that  you 
came  to  take  the  parting  orders  of  him  who  now  acts  the 
sovereign.  Surely,  had  I  seen  you  there,  with  that  stead- 
fast, open,  seemingly  honest  countenance,  cheating  the  wily 
Greek  by  very  dint  of  bluntness,  I  had  not  forborne  laugh- 
ing at  the  contrast  between  that  and  the  thoughts  of  thy 
heart.'' 

"  God  alone,''  said  Hereward,  "  knows  the  thoughts  of 
our  hearts ;  but  I  take  Him  to  witness  that  I  am  faithful  to 
my  promise,  and  will  discharge  the  task  entrusted  to  me." 

"  Bravo  !  mine  honest  Anglo-Saxon,"  said  Achilles.  "  I 
pray  thee  to  call  my  slaves  to  unarm  me  ;  and  when  thou 
thyself  doff  est  those  weapons  of  an  ordinary  lifeguard's-man, 
tell  them  they  never  shall  above  twice  more  inclose  the 
limbs  of  one- for  whom  fate  has  much  more  fitting  garments 
in  store." 

Hereward  dared  not  entrust  his  voice  with  an  answer  to  so 
critical  a  speech  ;  he  bowed  profoundly,  and  retired  to  his 
own  quarters  in  the  building. 

Upon  entering  the  apartment,  he  was  immediately  saluted 
by  the  voice  of  Count  Robert,  in  joyful  accents,  not  sup- 
pressed by  the  fear  of  making  himself  heard,  though  pru- 
dence should  have  made  that  uppermost  in  his  mind. 

"  Hast  thoii  heard  it,  my  dear  Hereward,"  he  said — "  hast 
thou  heard  the  proclamation,  by  which  this  Greek  antelope 


270  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

liath  defied  me  to  tilting  with  grinded  spears,  and  fighting 
three  passages  of  arms  with  sharpened  swords  ?  Yet  there 
is  something  strange,  too,  that  he  should  not  think  it  safer  to 
hold  my  lady  to  the  encounter  ?  He  may  think,  perhaps, 
that  the  crusaders  would  not  permit  such  a  battle  to  be 
fought.  But,  by  Our  Lady  of  the  Broken  Lances  !  he  little 
knows  that  the  men  of  the  West  hold  their  ladies'  character 
for  courage  as  jealously  as  they  do  their  own.  This  whole 
night  have  I  been  considering  in  what  armor  I  shall  clothe 
me,  what  shift  I  shall  make  for  a  steed,  and  whether  I  shall 
not  honor  him  sufficiently  by  using  Tranchefer,  as  my  only 
weapon,  against  his  whole  armor,  offensive  and  defensive.^' 
'*  1  shall  take  care,  however, '^  said  Hereward,  "  that  thou 
art  better  provided  in  case  of  need.  Thou  knowest  not  the 
Greeks/' 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

The  Varangian  did  not  leave  the  Count .  of  Paris  until  the 
latter  had  placed  in  his  hands  his  signet-ring,  seme,  as  the 
heralds  express  it,  with  lances  splintered,  and  bearing  the 
proud  motto,  "  Mine  yet  unscathed/"  Provided  with  this 
symbol  of  confidence,  it  was  now  his  business  to  take  order 
for  communicating  the  approaching  solemnity  to  the  leader 
of  the  crusading  army,  and  demanding  for  him,  in  the  name 
of  Robert  of  Paris  and  the  Lady  Brenhilda,  such  a  detach- 
ment of  Western  cavaliers  as  might  ensure  strict  observance 
of  honor  and  honesty  in  the  arrangement  of  the  lists  and 
during  the  progress  of  the  combat.  The  duties  imposed  on 
Hereward  were  such  as  to  render  it  impossible  for  him  to 
proceed  personally  to*  the  camp  of  Godfrey  ;  and  though 
there  were  many  of  the  Varangians  in  whose  fidelity  he  could 
have  trusted,  he  knew  of  none  among  those  under  his  imme- 
diate command  whose  intelligence,  on  so  novel  an  occasion, 
might  be  entirely  depended  on.  In  this  perplexity  he  strolled, 
perhaps  without  well  knowing  why,  to  the  gardens  of  Age- 
lastes,  where  fortune  once  more  produced  him  an  interview 
with  Bertha. 

No  sooner  had  Hereward  made  her  aware  of  his  difficulty 
than  the  faithful  bower-maiden's  resolution  was  taken. 

"  I  see,"'  said  she,  "  that  the  peril  of  this  part  of  the 
adventure  must  rest  with  me  ;  and  wherefore  should  it  not  ? 
My  mistress,  in  the  bosom  of  prosperity,  offered  herself  to 
go  forth  into  the  wide  world  for  my  sake  ;  I  will  for  hers  go 
to  the  camp  of  this  Frankish  lord.  He  is  an  honorable  man 
and  a  pious  Christian,  and  his  followers  are  faithful  pilgrims. 
A  woman  can  have  nothing  to  fear  who  goes  to  such  men 
upon  such  an  errand."' 

The  Varangian,  however,  was  too  well  acquainted  with  the 
manners  of  camps  to  permit  the  fair  Bertha  to  go  alone. 
He  provided,  therefore,  for  her  safeguard  a  trusty  old 
soldier,  bound  to  his  person  by  long  kindness  and  confidence  ; 
and  having  thoroughly  possessed  her  of  the  particulars  of 
the  message  she  was  to  deliver,  and  desired  her  to  be  in 
readiness  without  the  inclosure  at  peep  of  dawn,  returned 
once  more  to  his  barracks. 

271 


272  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

With  the  earliest  light,  Hereward  was  again  at  the  spot 
where  he  had  parted  over  night  with  Bertha,  accompanied  by 
the  honest  soldier  to  whose  care  he  meant  to  confide  her. 
In  a  short  time,  he  had  seen  them  safely  on  board  of  a 
ferry-boat  lying  in  the  harbor,  the  master  of  which  readily 
admitted  them,  after  some  examination  of  their  license,  to 
pass  to  Scutari,  which  was  forged  in  the  name  of  the  Acolyte, 
as  authorized  by  that  foul  conspirator,  and  which  agreed 
with  the  appearance  of  old  Osmund  and  his  young  charge. 

The  morning  was  lovely,  and  ere  long  the  town  of  Scutari 
opened  on  the  view  of  the  travelers,  glittering,  as  now,  with 
a  variety  of  architecture,  which,  though  it  might  be  termed 
fantastical,  could  not  be  denied  the  praise  of  beauty. 
These  buildings  rose  boldly  out  of  a  thick  grove  of  cypresses 
and  other  huge  trees,  the  larger,  probably,  as  they  were 
respected  for  filling  the  cemeteries  and  being  the  guardians 
of  the  dead. 

At  the  period  we  mention,  another  circumstance,  no  less 
striking  than  beautiful,  rendered  douT^ly  interesting  a  scene 
which  must  have  been  at  all  times  greatly  so.  A  large  por- 
tion of  that  miscellaneous  army  which  came  to  regain  the 
holy  places  of  Palestine,  and  the  blessed  Sepulcher  itself, 
from  the  infidels  had  established  themselves  in  a  camp  within 
a  mile  or  thereabouts  of  Scutari.  Although,  therefore,  the 
crusaders  were  destitute  in  a  great  measure  of  the  use  of 
tents,  the  army  (excepting  the  pavilions  of  some  leaders 
of  high  rank)  had  constructed  for  themselves  temporary 
huts,  not  unpleasing  to  the  eye,  being  decorated  with 
leaves  and  flowers,  while  the  tall  pennons  and  banners 
that  floated  over  them  with  various  devices  showed  that 
the  flower  of  Europe  were  assembled  at  that  place.  A 
loud  and  varied  murmur,  resembling  that  of  a  thronged 
hive,  floated  from  the  camp  of  the  crusaders  to  the  neigh- 
boring town  of  Scutari,  and  every  now  and  then  the  deep 
tone  was  broken  by  some  shriller  sound,  the  note  of  some 
musical  instrument,  or  the  treble  scream  of  some  child  or 
female,  in  fear  or  in  gaiety. 

The  party  at  length  landed  in  safety ;  and  as  they 
approached  one  of  the  gates  of  the  camp,  there  sallied 
forth  a  brisk  array  of  gallant  cavaliers,  pages,  and  squires, 
exercising  their  masters^  horses  or  their  own.  From  the 
noise  they  made,  conversing  at  the  very  top  of  their  voices, 
galloping,  curvetting,  and  prancing  their  palfreys,  it  seemed 
as  if  their  early  discipline  had  called  them  to  exercise  ere 
the  fumes  of  last  night's  revel  were  thoroughly  dissipatctd 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  273 

by  repose.  So  soon  as  they  saw  Bertha  and  her  party,  they 
approached  them  with  cries  which  marked  their  country 
was  Italy — ^^  AW  erta!  aW  erta!  Roha  de  guadagno, 
earner adi  !  "  "^ 

They  gathered  round  the  Anglo-Saxon  maiden  and  her 
companions,  repeating  their  cries  in  a  manner  which  made 
Bertha  tremble.  Their  general  demand  was,  ''What  was 
her  business  in  their  camp  ?  " 

''  I  would  to  the  general-in-chief,  cavaliers,'^  answered 
Bertha,  ''  having  a  secret  message  to  his  ear.'' 

''For  whose  ear?"  said  a  leader  of  the  party,  a  hand- 
some youth  of  about  eighteen  years  of  age,  who  seemed 
either  to  have  a  sounder  brain  than  his  fellows,  or  to  have 
overflowed  it  with  less  wine.  "Which  of  our  leaders  do 
you  come  hither  to  see  ?  "  he  demanded. 

"Godfrey  of  Bouillon." 

"Indeed!"  said  the  page  who  had  spoken  first;  "can 
nothing  of  less  consequence  serve  thy  turn  ?  Take  a  look 
amongst  us ;  young  are  we  all,  and  reasonably  wealthy. 
My  lord  of  Bouillon  is  old,  and  if  he  has  any  sequins,  he  is 
not  like  to  lavish  them  in  this  way." 

"  Still  I  have  a  token  to  Godfrey  of  Bouillon,"  answered 
Bertha,  "  an  assured  one  ;  and  he  will  little  thank  any  who 
obstructs  my  free  passage  to  liim  ;  "  and  therewithal  show- 
ing a  little  case,  in  which  the  signet  of  the  Count  of  Paris' 
was  inclosed,  "I  will  trust  it  in  your  hands,"  she  said,  "if 
you  promise  not  to  open  it,  but  to  give  me  free  access  to  the 
noble  leader  of  the  crusaders." 

"I  will,"  said  the  youth,  "and  if  such  be  the  Duke's 
pleasure,  thou  shalt  be  admitted  to  him." 

"Ernest  the  Apulian,  thy  dainty  Italian  wit  is  caught 
in  a  trap,"  said  one  of  his  companions. 

"  Thou  art  an  ultramontane  fool,  Polydore,"  returned 
Ernest ;  "  there  may  be  more  in  this  than  either  thy  wit  or 
mine  is  able  to  fathom.  This  maiden  and  one  of  her  attend- 
ants wear  a  dress  belonging  to  the  Varangian  Imperial 
Guard.  They  have  perhaps  been  entrusted  with  a  message 
from  the  Emperor,  and  it  is  not  irreconcilable  with  Alexius's 
politics  to  send  it  through  such  messengers  as  these.  Let 
us,  therefore,  convey  them  in  all  honor  to  the  general's 
tent." 

"  With  all  my  heart,"  said  Polydore.  "  A  blue-eye(3 
wench  is  a  pretty  thing,  but  I  like  not  the  sauce  of  the 
camp-marshal,  nor  his  taste  in  attiring  men  who  give  way 

*  That  is,  "  Take  heed  !  take  heed  !     There  is  booty,  comrades  I  " 
i8 


274  WAV ERLEY  NOVELS 

to  temptation.*  Yet,  ere  I  prove  a  fool  like  my  companion, 
I  would  ask  who  or  what  this  pretty  maiden  is,  who  comes 
to  put  noble  princes  and  holy  pilgrims  in  mind  that  they 
have  in  their  time  had  the  follies  of  men  ?^' 

Bertha  advanced  and  whispered  in  the  ear  of  Ernest. 
Meantime  joke  followed  jest,  among  Polydore  and  the  rest 
of  the  gay  youths,  in  riotous  and  ribald  succession,  which, 
however  characteristic  of  the  rude  speakers,  may  as  well  be 
omitted  here.  Their  effect  was  to  shake  in  some  degree  the 
fortitude  of  the  Saxon  maiden,  who  had  some  difficulty  in 
mustering  courage  to  address  them.  ^^As  you  have  mothers, 
gentlemen,"  she  said,  * '  as  you  have  fair  sisters,  whom  you 
would  protect  from  dishonor  with  your  best  blood,  as  you 
love  and  honor  those  holy  places  which  you  have  sworn  to 
free  from  the  infidel  enemy,  have  compassion  on  me,  that 
3^ou  may  merit  success  in  your  undertaking  !  *' 

"Fear  nothing,  maiden,"  said  Ernest,  "1  will  be  your 
protector ;  and  you,  my  comrades,  be  ruled  by  me.  I  have, 
during  your  brawling,  taken  a  view,  though  somewhat 
against  my  promise,  of  the  pledge  which  she  bears,  and  if 
she  who  presents  it  is  affronted  or  maltreated,  be  assured 
Godfrey  of  Bouillon  will  severely  avenge  the  wrong  done 
her." 

"  Nay,  comrade,  if  thou  canst  warrant  us  so  much,"  said 
Polydore,  "I  will  myself  be  most  anxious  to  conduct  the 
young  woman  in  honor  and  safety  to  Sir  Godfrey's  tent.'^ 

*'The  princes,"  said  Ernest,  "must  be  nigh  meeting 
there  in  council.  What  have  I  said  I  will  warrant  and  up- 
hold with  hand  and  life.  More  I  might  guess,  but  I  con- 
clude this  sensible  young  maiden  can  speak  for  herself." 

"Now,  Heaven  bless  thee,  gallant  squire,"  said  Bertha, 
"and  make  thee  alike  brave  and  fortunate!  Embarrass 
yourself  no  farther  about  me  than  to  deliver  me  safe  to 
your  leader  Godfrey." 

"  We  spend  time,"  said  Ernest,  springing  from  his  horse. 
"  You  are  no  soft  Eastern,  fair  maid,  and  I  presume  you 
will  find  yourself  under  no  difficulty  in  managing  a  quiet 
horse  ?" 

"Not  the  least,"  said  Bertha,  as,  wrapping  herself  in  her 
cassock,  she  sprung  from  the  ground,  and  alighted  upon 
the  spirited  palfrey  as  a  linnet  stoops  upon  a  rosebush. 
"And  now,  sir,  as  my  business  really  brooks  no  delay,  I 
will  be  indebted  to  you  to  show  me  instantly  to  the  tent  of 
Duke  Godfrey  of  Bouillon." 

*  See  Crusaders'  Punishment.    Note  9. 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  275 

By  availing  herself  of  this  courtesy  of  the  young  Apulian, 
Bertha  imprudently  separated  herself  from  the  old  Varan- 
gian ;  but  the  intentions  of  the  youth  were  honorable,  and 
he  conducted  her  through  the  tents  and  huts  to  the  pavilion 
of  the  celebrated  geaeral-in-chief  of  the  crusade. 

^'  Here,"  he  said,  "you  must  tarry  for  a  space,  under  the 
guardianship  of  my  companions  (for  two  or  three  of  the  pages 
had  accompanied  them,  out  of  curiosity  to  see  the  issue),  and 
I  will  take  the  commands  of  the  Duke  of  Bouillon  upon  the 
subject/^ 

To  this  nothing  could  be  objected,  and  Bertha  had  nothing 
better  to  do  than  to  admire  the  outside  of  the  tent,  which, 
in  one  of  Alexius's  fits  of  generosity  and  munificence,  had 
been  presented  by  the  Greek  emperor  to  the  chief  of  the 
Franks.  It  was  raised  upon  tall  spear-shaped  poles,  which 
had  the  semblance  of  gold  ;  its  curtains  were  of  a  thick 
stufi',  manufactured  of  silk,  cotton,  and  gold  thread.  The 
warders  who  stood  round  were  (at  least  during  the  time  that 
the  council  was  held)  old,  grave  men,  the  personal  squires  of 
the  body,  most  of  them,  of  the  sovereigns  who  had  taken  the 
cross,  and  who  could  therefore,  be  trusted  as  a  guard  over 
the  assembly,  without  danger  of  their  blabbing  what  they 
might  overhear.  Their  appearance  was  serious  and  consid- 
erate, and  they  looked  like  men  who  had  taken  upon  them 
the  cross,  not  as  an  idle  adventure  of  arms,  but  as  a  purpose 
of  the  most  solemn  and  serious  nature.  One  of  these  stopped 
the  Italian,  and  demanded  what  business  authorized  him  to 
press  forward  into  the  council  of  the  crusaders,  who  were  al- 
ready taking  their  seats.  The  page  answered  by  giving  his 
name,  "  Ernest  of  Otranto,  page  of  Prince  Tancred  ; "  and 
stated  that  he  announced  a  young  woman,  who  bore  a  token 
of  the  Duke  of  Bouillon,  adding  that  it  was  accompanied  by 
a  message  for  his  own  ear. 

Bertha,  meantime,  laid  aside  her  mantle,  or  upper  gar- 
ment, and  disposed  the  rest  of  her  dress  according  to  the 
Anglo-Saxon  costume.  She  had  hardly  completed  this  task 
before  the  page  of  Prince  Tancred  returned,  to  conduct  her 
into  the  presence  of  the  council  of  the  crusade.  She  followed 
his  signal ;  while  the  other  young  men  wht)  had  accompanied 
her,  wondering  at  the  apparent  ease  with  which  she  gained 
admittance,  drew  back  to  a  respectful  distance  from  the 
tent,  and  there  canvassed  the  singularity  of  their  morning's 
adventure. 

In  the  meanwhile,  the  ambassadress  herself  entered  the 
council-chamber,  exhibiting  an  agreeable  mixture  of  shame- 


276  WAVEBLET  NOVELS 

facedness  and  reserve,  together  with  a  bold  determination  to 
do  her  duty  at  all  events.  There  were  about  fifteen  of  the 
principal  crusaders  assembled  in  council,  with  their  chief- 
tain Godfrey.  He  himself  was  a  tall  strong  man,  arrived  at 
that  period  of  life  in  which  men  are  supposed  to  have  lost 
none  of  their  resolution,  while  the}^  have  acquired  a  wisdom 
and  circumspection  unknown  to  their  earlier  years.  The 
countenance  of  Godfrey  bespoke  both  prudence  and  bold- 
ness, and  resembled  his  hair,  where  a  few  threads  of  silver 
were  already  mingled  with  his  raven  locks. 

Tancred,  the  noblest  knight  of  the  Christian  chivalry,  sat 
at  no  great  distance  from  him  with  Hugh  Earl  of  Verman- 
dois,  generally  called  the  Great  Count,  the  selfish  and  wily 
Bohemond,  the  powerful  Raymond  of  Provence,  and  others 
of  the  principal  crusaders,  all  more  or  less  completely 
sheathed  in  armor. 

Bertha  did  not  allow  her  courage  to  be  broken  down,  but 
advancing  with  a  timid  grace  towards  Godfrey,  she  placed 
in  his  hands  the  signet,  which  had  been  restored  to  her  by 
the  young  page,  and,  after  a  deep  obeisance,  spoke  these 
words  :  "  Godfrey,  Count  of  Bouillon,  Duke  of  Lorraine  the 
Lower,  chief  of  the  holy  enterprise  called  the  crusade,  and  you, 
his  gallant  comrades,  peers,  and  companions,  by  whatever 
titles  you  may  be  honored,  I,  an  humble  maiden  of  Eng- 
land, daughter  of  Engelred,  originally  a  franklin  of  Hamp- 
shire, and  since  chieftain  of  the  Foresters,  or  free  Anglo- 
Saxons,  under  the  command  of  the  celebrated  Ederic,  do 
claim  what  credence  is  due  to  the  bearer  of  the  true  pledge 
which  I  put  into  your  hand,  on  the  part  of  one  not  the  least 
considerable  of  your  own  body.  Count  Robert  of  Paris " 

"  Our  most  honorable  confederate,^^  said  Godfrey,  looking 
at  the  ring.  "  Most  of  you,  my  lords,  must,  I  think,  know 
this  signet — a  field  sown  with  the  fragments  of  many  splin- 
tered lances. ^^  The  signet  was  handed  from  one  of  the 
assembly  to  another,  and  generally  recognized. 

When  Godfrey  had  signified  so  much,  the  maiden  resumed 
her  message.  **  To  all  true  crusaders,  therefore,  comrades 
of  Godfrey  of  Bouillon,  and  especially  to  the  Duke  himself 
— to  all,  I  say,  excepting  Bohemond  of  Tarentum,  whom  he 
counts  unworthy  of  his  notice " 

''  Hah  !  me  unworthy  of  his  notice,"  said  Bohemond, 
''  What  mean  you  by  that,  damsel  ?  But  the  Count  of 
Paris  shall  answer  it  to  me." 

"  Under  your  favor.  Sir  Bohemond,"  said  Godfrey,  "  no. 
Our  articles  renounce  the  sending  of  challenges  among  our- 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  277 

selves,  and  the  matter,  if  not  dropped  betwixt  the  parties, 
must  be  referred  to  the  voice  of  this  honorable  council/' 

*^  I  think  I  guess  the  business  now,  my  lord,"  said  Bohe- 
mond.  "  The  Count  of  Paris  is  disposed  to  turn  and  tear 
me,  because  I  offered  him  good  counsel  on  the  evening  before 
we  left  Constantinople,  when  he  neglected  to  accept  or  be 
guided  by  it " 

'*  It  will  be  the  more  easily  explained  when  we  have  heard 
his  message,"  said  Godfrey.  ''Speak  forth  Lord  Robert  of 
Paris's  charge,  damsel,  that  we  may  take  some  order  with 
that  which  now  seems  a  perplexed  business." 

Bertha  resumed  her  message  ;  and,  having  briefly  narrated 
the  recent  events,  thus  concluded  :  ''  The  battle  is  to  be 
done  to-morrow,  about  two  hours  after  daybreak,  and  the 
Count  entreats  of  the  noble  Duke  of  Lorraine  that  he  will 
permit  some  fifty  of  the  lances  of  France  to  attend  the  deed 
of  arms,  and  secure  that  fair  and  honorable  conduct  which 
he  has  otherwise  some  doubts  of  receiving  at  the  hands  of 
his  adversary.  Or  if  any  young  and  gallant  knight  should, 
of  his  own  free  will,  wish  to  view  the  said  combat,  the  Count 
will  feel  his  presence  as  an  honor ;  always  he  desires  that 
the  name  of  such  knight  be  numbered  carefully  with  the 
armed  crusaders  who  shall  attend  in  the  lists,  and  that  the 
whole  shall  be  limited,  by  Duke  Godfrey's  own  inspection, 
to  fifty  lances  only,  which  are  enough  to  obtain  the  protec- 
tion required,  while  more  would  be  considered  as  a  prepara- 
tion for  aggression  upon  the  Grecians,  and  occasion  the  revival 
of  disputes  which  are  now  happily  at  rest." 

Bertha  had  no  sooner  finished  delivering  her  manifesto, 
and  made  with  great  grace  her  obeisance  to  the  council, 
than  a  sort  of  whisper  took  place  in  the  assembly,  which 
eoon  assumed  a  more  lively  tone. 

Their  solemn  vow  not  to  turn  their  back  upon  Palestine, 
now  that  they  had  set  their  hands  to  the  plow,  was  strongly 
urged  by  some  of  the  elder  knights  of  the  council,  and  two 
or  three  high  prelates,  who  had  by  this  time  entered  to  take 
share  in  the  deliberations.  The  young  knights,  on  the  other 
hand,  were  fired  with  indignation  on  hearing  the  manner  in 
which  their  comrade  had  been  trepanned  ;  and  few  of  them 
could  think  of  missing  a  combat  in  the  lists  in  a  country  in 
which  such  sights  were  so  rare,  and  where  one  was  to  be 
fought  so  near  them. 

Godfry  rested  his  brow  on  his  hand,  and  seemed  in  great 
perplexity.  To  break  with  the  Greeks,  after  having  suffered 
so  many  injuries  in  order  to  maintain  the  advantage  of  keep* 


278  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

ing  the  peace  with  them,  seemed  very  impolitic,  and  a 
sacrifice  of  all  he  had  obtained  by  a  long  course  of  painful 
forbearance  towards  Alexius  Comnenus.  On  the  other  hand, 
he  was  bound  as  a  man  of  honor  to  resent  the  injury  offered 
to  Count  Robert  of  Paris,  whose  reckless  spirit  of  chivalry 
made  him  the  darling  of  the  army.  It  was  the  cause,  too, 
of  a  beautiful  lady,  and  a  brave  one.  Every  knight  in  the 
host  would  think  himself  bound  by  his  vow  to  hasten  to  her 
defense.  When  Godfrey  spoke,  it  was  to  complain  of  the 
difficulty  of  the  determination,  and  the  short  time  there  was 
to  consider  the  case. 

"  With  submission  to  my  Lord  Duke  of  Lorraine,"  said 
Tancred,  "  I  was  a  knight  ere  I  was  a  crusader,  and  took  on 
me  the  vows  of  chivalry  ere  I  placed  this  blessed  sign  upon 
my  shoulder  :  the  vow  first  made  must  be  first  discharged. 
I  will  therefore  do  penance  for  neglecting,  for  a  space,  the 
obligations  of  the  second  vow,  while  1  observe  that  which 
recalls  me  to  the  first  duty  of  knighthood — the  relief  of  a 
distressed  lady  in  the  hands  of  men  whose  conduct  towards 
her,  and  towards  this  host,  in  every  respect  entitles  me  to 
call  them  treacherous  traitors." 

''  If  my  kinsman  Tancred,"  said  Bohemond,  '^  will  check 
his  impetuosity,  and  you,  my  lords,  will  listen,  as  you  have 
sometimes  deigned  to  do,  to  my  advice,  I  think  I  can  direct 
you  how  to  keep  clear  of  any  breach  of  your  oath,  and  yet 
fully  to  relieve  our  distressed  fellow-pilgrims.  I  see  some 
suspicious  looks  are  cast  towards  me,  which  are  caused 
perhaps  by  the  churlish  manner  in  which  this  violent,  and, 
in  this  case,  almost  insane,  young  warrior  has  protested 
against  receiving  my  assistance.  My  great  offense  is  the 
having  given  him  warning,  by  precept  and  example,  of  the 
treachery  which  was  about  to  be  practised  against  him,  and 
instructed  him  to  use  forbearance  and  temperance.  My 
warning  he  altogether  contemned,  my  example  he  neglected 
to  follow,  and  fell  into  the  snare  which  was  spread,  as  it 
were,  before  his  very  eyes.  Yet  the  Count  of  Paris,  in  rashly 
contemning  me,  has  acted  only  from  a  temper  which  mis- 
fortune and  disappointment  have  rendered  irrational  and 
frantic.  I  am  so  far  from  bearing  him  ill-will  that,  with 
your  lordship's  permission,  and  that  of  the  present  council, 
I  will  haste  to  the  place  of  rendezvous  with  fifty  lances, 
making  up  the  retinue  which  attends  upon  each  to  at  least 
ten  men,  which  will  make  the  stipulated  auxiliary  force 
equal  to  five  hundred  ;  and  with  these  I  can  have  little 
doubt  of  rescuing  the  Count  and  his  lady." 


COUNT  BOBEBT  OF  PABIS  279 

'*  Nobly  proposed/^  said  the  Duke  of  Bouillon,  ''  and  with 
a  charitable  forgiveness  of  injuries  which  becomes  our  Chris- 
tian expedition.  But  thou  hast  forgot  the  main  difficulty, 
brother  Bohemond,  that  we  are  sworn  never  to  turn  back 
upon  the  sacred  journey/^ 

^^  If  we  can  elude  that  oath  upon  the  present  occasion/' 
said  Bohemond,  ^'  it  becomes  our  duty  to  do  so.  Are  we 
such  bad  horsemen,  or  are  our  steeds  so  awkward,  that  we 
cannot  rein  them  back  from  this  to  the  landing-place  at 
Scutari  ?  We  can  get  them  on  shipboard  in  the  same  retro- 
grade manner,  and  when  we  arrive  in  Europe,  where  our 
vow  binds  us  no  longer,  the  Count  and  Countess  of  Paris 
are  rescued,  and  our  vow  remains  entire  in  the  chancery  of 
Heaven." 

A  general  shout  arose — "  Long  life  to  the  gallant  Bohe- 
mond !  Shame  to  us  if  we  do  not  fly  to  the  assistance  of  so 
valiant  a  knight  and  a  lady  so  lovely,  since  we  can  do  so 
without  breach  of  our  vow." 

''  The  question,"  said  Godfrey,  '^  appears  to  me  to  be 
eluded  rather  than  solved  ;  yet  such  evasions  have  been 
admitted  by  the  most  learned  and  scrupulous  clerks  ;  nor 
do  I  hesitate  to  admit  of  Bohemond^s  expedient,  any  more 
than  if  the  enemy  had  attacked  our  rear,  which  might  have 
occasioned  our  counter-marching  to  be  a  case  of  absolute 
necessity." 

Some  there  were  in  the  assembly,  particularly  the  church- 
men, inclined  to  think  that  the  oath  by  which  the  crusaders 
had  solemnly  bound  themselves  ought  to  be  as  literally 
obeyed.  But  Peter  the  Hermit,  who  had  a  place  in  the 
council,  and  possessed  great  weight,  declared  it  as  his  opin- 
ion, "  That  since  the  precise  observance  of  their  vow  would 
tend  to  diminish  the  forces  of  the  crusade,  it  was  in  fact  un- 
lawful, and  should  not  be  kept  according  to  the  literal  mean- 
ing, if,  by  a  fair  construction,  it  could  be  eluded." 

He  offered  himself  to  back  the  animal  which  he  bestrode 
— that  is,  his  ass ;  and  though  he  w^as  diverted  from. show- 
ing this  example  by  the  remonstrances  of  Godfrey  of  Bouil- 
lon, who  was  afraid  of  his  becoming  a  scandal  in  the  eyes  of 
the  heathen,  yet  he  so  prevailed  by  his  arguments,  that  the 
knights,  far  from  scrupling  to  counter-march,  eagerly  con- 
tended which  should  have  the  honor  of  making  one  of  the 
party  which  should  retrograde  to  Constantinople,  see  the 
combat,  and  bring  back  to  the  host  in  safety  the  valorous 
Count  of  Paris,  of  whose  victory  no  one  doubted,  and  his 
amazonian  countess. 


280  WAVEELET  NOVELS 

This  emulation  was  also  put  an  end  to  by  the  authority 
of  Godfrey,  who  himself  selected  the  fifty  knights  who  were 
to  compose  the  party.  They  were  chosen  from  different 
nations,  and  the  command  of  the  whole  was  given  to  young 
Tancred  of  Otranto.  Notwithstanding  the  claim  of  Bohe- 
mond,  Godfrey  detained  the  latter,  under  the  pretext  that 
his  knowledge  of  the  country  and  people  was  absolutely 
necessary  to  enable  the  council  to  form  the  plan  of  the 
campaign  in  Syria ;  but  in  reality  he  dreaded  the  selfish- 
ness of  a  man  of  great  ingenuity  as  well  as  military  skill, 
who,  finding  himself  in  a  separate  command,  might  be 
tempted,  should  opportunities  arise,  to  enlarge  his  own 
power  and  dominion  at  the  expense  of  the  pious  purposes 
of  the  crusade  in  general.  The  younger  men  of  the  expe- 
dition were  chiefly  anxious  to  procure  such  horses  as  had  been 
thoroughly  trained,  and  could  go  through  with  ease  and 
temper  the  maneuver  of  equitation  by  which  it  was  de- 
signed to  render  legitimate  the  movement  which  they  had 
recourse  to.  The  selection  was  at  length  made,  and  the  de- 
tachment ordered  to  draw  up  in  the  rear,  or  upon  the  east- 
ward line  of  the  Christian  encampment.  In  the  meanwhile, 
Godfrey  charged  Bertha  with  a  message  for  the  Count  of 
•Paris,  in  which,  slightly  censuring  him  for  not  observing 
more  caution  in  his  intercourse  with  the  Greeks,  he  informed 
him  that  he  had  sent  a  detachment  of  fifty  lances,  with  the 
corresponding  squires,  pages,  men-at-arms,  and  cross-bows, 
five  hundred  in  number,  commanded  by  the  valiant  Tancred, 
to  his  assistance.  The  Duke  also  informed  him  that  he  had 
added  a  suit  of  armor  of  the  best  temper  Milan  could 
afford,  together  with  a  trusty  war-horse,  which  he  entreated 
him  to  use  upon  the  field  of  battle  ;  for  Bertha  had  not 
omitted  to  intimate  Count  Robert's  want  of  the  means  of 
knightly  equipment.  The  horse  was  brought  before  the 
pavilion  accordingly,  completely  barbed  or  armed  in  steel, 
and  laden  with  armor  for  the  knight's  body.  Godfrey 
himself  put  the  bridle  into  Bertha's  hand. 

"  Thou  need'st  not  fear  to  trust  thyself  with  this  steed  : 
he  is  as  gentle  and  docile  as  he  is  fleet  and  brave.  Place 
thyself  on  his  back,  and  take  heed  thou  stir  not  from  the 
side  of  the  noble  Prince  Tancred  of  Otranto,  who  will  be 
the  faithful  defender  of  a  maiden  that  has  this  day  shown 
dexterity,  courage,  and  fidelity." 

Bertha  bowed  low,  as  her  cheeks  glowed  at  praise  from  one 
whose  talents  and  worth  were  in  such  general  esteem  as  to 
have  raised  him  to  the  distinguished  situation  of  leader  of  a 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  281 

host  which  numbered  in  it  the  bravest  and  most  distinguished 
captains  of  Christendom." 

**  Who  are  yon  two  persons  ?"  continued  Godfrey,  speak- 
ing of  the  companions  of  Bertha,  whom  he  saw  in  the  distance 
before  the  tent. 

''The  one," answered  the  damsel,  ''is  the  master  of  the 
ferry-boat  which  brought  me  over  ;  and  the  other  an  old 
Varangian  who  came  hither  as  my  protector." 

"As  they  may  come  to  employ  their  eyes  here,  and  their 
tongues  on  the  opposite  side,"  returned  the  general  of  the 
crusaders,  "I  do  not  think  it  prudent  to  let  them  accompany 
you.  They  shall  remain  here  for  some  short  time.  The 
citizens  of  Scutari  will  not  comprehend  for  some  space  what 
our  intention  is,  and  I  could  wish  Prince  Tancred  and  his 
attendants  to  be  the  first  to  announce  their  own  arrival." 

Bertha  accordingly  intimated  the  pleasure  of  the  French 
general  to  the  parties,  without  naming  his  motives  ;  when 
the  ferryman  began  to  exclaim  on  the  hardship  of  intercept- 
ing him  in  his  trade,  and  Osmund  to  complain  of  being 
detained  from  his  duties.  But  Bertha,  by  the  orders  of 
Godfrey,  left  them  with  the  assurance  that  they  would  be 
soon  at  liberty.  Finding  themselves  thus  abandoned,  each 
applied  himself  to  his  favorite  amusement.  The  ferryman 
occupied  himself  in  staring  about  at  all  that  was  new  ;  and 
Osmund,  having  in  the  mean  time  accepted  an  offer  of  break- 
fast from  some  of  the  domestics,  was  presently  engaged  with 
a  flask  of  such  red  wine  as  would  have  reconciled  him  to  a 
worse  lot  than  that  which  he  at  present  experienced. 

The  detachment  of  Tancred,  fifty  spears  and  their  armed 
retinue,  which  amounted  fully  to  five  hundred  men,  after 
having  taken  a  short  and  hasty  refreshment,  were  in  arms  and 
mounted  before  the  sultry  hour  of  noon.  After  some  man- 
euvers, of  which  the  Greeks  of  Scutari,  whose  curiosity  was 
awakened  by  the  preparations  of  the  detachment,  were  at  a 
loss  to  comprehend  the  purpose,  they  formed  into  a  single 
column,  having  four  men  in  front.  When  the  horses  were 
in  this  position,  the  whole  riders  at  once  began  to  rein  back. 
The  action  was  one  to  which  both  the  cavaliers  and  their 
horses  were  well  accustomed,  nor  did  it  at  first  afford  much 
surprise  to  the  spectators  ;  but  when  the  same  retrograde 
evolution  was  continued,  and  the  body  of  crusaders  seemed 
about  to  enter  the  town  of  Scutari  in  so  extraordinary  a 
fashion,  some  idea  of  the  truth  began  to  occupy  the  citizens. 
The  cry  at  length  was  general,  when  Tancred  and  a  few 
others,  whose  horses  were  unusually  well  trained,  arrived  at 


282  WA  VERLEY  NOVELS 

the  port,  and  possessed  themselves  of  a  galley,  into  which 
they  led  their  horses,  and,  disregarding  all  opposition  from 
the  imperial  officers  of  the  haven,  pushed  the  vessel  off  from 
the  shore. 

Other  cavaliers  did  not  accomplish  their  purpose  so  easily; 
the  riders,  or  the  horses,  were  less  accustomed  to  continue  in 
the  constrained  pace  for  such  a  considerable  length  of  time, 
so  that  many  of  the  knights,  having  retrograded  for  one  or 
two  hundred  yards,  thought  their  vow  was  sufficiently 
observed  by  having  so  far  deferred  to  it,  and  riding  in  the 
ordinary  manner  into  the  town,  seized  without  further  cere- 
mony on  some  vessels,  which,  notwithstanding  the  orders  of 
the  Greek  Emperor,  had  been  allowed  to  remain  on  the 
Asiatic  side  of  the  strait.  Some  less  able  horsemen  met  with 
various  accidents  ;  for  though  it  was  a  proverb  of  the  time 
that  nothing  was  so  bold  as  a  blind  horse,  yet  from  this  mode 
of  equitation,  where  neither  horse  nor  rider  saw  the  way  he 
was  going,  some  steeds  were  overthrown,  others  backed  upon 
dangerous  obstacles  ;  and  the  bones  of  the  cavaliers  themselves 
suffered  much  more  than  would  have  been  the  case  in  an 
ordinary  march. 

Those  horsemen,  also,  who  met  with  falls  incurred  the 
danger  of  being  slain  by  the  Greeks,  had  not  Godfrey,  sur- 
mounting his  religious  scruples,  despatched  a  squadron  to 
extricate  them,  a  task  which  they  performed  with  great  ease. 
The  greater  part  of  Tancred's  followers  succeeded  in  embark- 
ing, as  was  intended,  nor  was  there  more  than  a  score  or  two 
finally  amissing.  To  accomplish  their  voyage,  however,  even 
the  Prince  of  Otranto  himself,  and  most  of  his  followers, 
were  obliged  to  betake  themselves  to  the  unknightly  labors 
of  the  oar.  This  they  found  extremely  difficult,  as  well  from 
the  state  both  of  the  tide  and  the  wind  as  from  the  want  of 
practise  at  the  exercise.  Godfrey  in  person  viewed  their 
progress  anxiously  from  a  neighboring  height,  and  perceived 
with  regret  the  difficulty  which  they  found  in  making  their 
way,  which  was  still  more  increased  by  the  necessity  for  their 
keeping  in  a  body,  and  waiting  for  the  slowest  and  worst- 
manned  vessels,  which  considerably  detained  those  that  were 
more  expeditious.  They  made  some  progress,  however  ; 
nor  had  the  commander-in-chief  the  least  doubt  that  before 
sunset  they  would  safely  reach  the  opposite  side  of  the  strait. 

He  retired  at  length  from  his  post  of  observation,  having 
placed  a  careful  sentinel  in  his  stead,  with  directions  to 
bring  him  word  the  instant  that  the  detachment  reached 
the  opposite  shore.    This  the  soldier  could  easily  discern  by 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  283 

the  eye,  if  it  was  daylight  at  the  time  ;  if,  on  the  contrary, 
it  was  night  before  they  could  arrive,  the  Prince  of  Otranto 
had  orders  to  show  certain  lights,  which,  in  case  of  their 
meeting  resistance  from  the  Greeks,  should  be  arranged  in 
a  peculiar  manner,  so  as  to  indicate  danger. 

Godfrey  then  explained  to  the  Greek  authorities  of 
Scutari,  whom  he  summoned  before  him,  the  necessity  there 
was  that  he  should  keep  in  readiness  such  vessels  as  could 
be  procured,  with  which,  in  case  of  need,  he  was  determined 
to  transport  a  strong  division  from  his  army  to  support  those 
who  had  gone  before.  He  then  rode  back  to  his  camp,  the 
confused  murmurs  of  which,  rendered  more  noisy  by  the 
various  discussions  concerning  the  events  of  the  day,  rolled 
off  from  the  numerous  host  of  the  crusaders,  and  mingled 
with  the  hoarse  sound  of  the  many-billowed  Hellespont. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

All  is  prepared :  the  chambers  of  the  mine 

Are  cramm'd  with  the  combustible,  which,  harmlesB 

While  yet  unkindled  as  the  sable  sand, 

Needs  but  a  spark  to  change  its  nature  so 

That  he,  who  wakes  it  from  its  slumbrous  mood, 

Dreads  scarce  the  explosion  less  than  he  who  knows 

That  'tis  his  towers  which  meet  its  fury. 

Anonymous, 

When"  the  sky  is  darkened  suddenly,  and  the  atmosphere 
grows  thick  and  stifling,  the  lower  ranks  of  creation  enter- 
tain the  ominous  sense  of  a  coming  tempest.  The  birds  fly 
to  the  thickets,  the  wild  creatures  retreat  to  the  closest 
covers  which  their  instinct  gives  them  the  habit  of  frequent- 
ing, and  domestic  animals  show  their  apprehension  of  the 
approaching  thunderstorm  by  singular  actions  and  move- 
ments inferring  fear  and  disturbance.    ■ 

It  seems  that  human  nature,  when  its  original  habits  are 
cultivated  and  attended  to,  possesses,  on  similar  occasions, 
something  of  that  prescient  foreboding  which  announces 
the  approaching  tempest  to  the  inferior  ranks  of  creation. 
The  cultivation  of  our  intellectual  powers  goes  perhaps  too 
far  when  it  teaches  us  entirely  to  suppress  and  disregard 
those  natural  feelings  which  were  originally  designed  as  sen- 
tinels by  which  nature  warned  us  of  impending  danger. 

Something  of  the  kind,  however,  still  remains,  and  that 
species  of  feeling  which  announces  to  us  sorrowful  or  alarm- 
ing tidings  may  be  said,  like  the  prophecies  of  the  weird 
sisters,  to  come  over  us  like  a  sudden  cloud. 

During  the  fatal  day  which  was  to  precede  the  combat  of 
the  OaBsar  with  the  Count  of  Paris,  there  were  current 
through  the  city  of  Constantinople  the  most  contradictory, 
and  at  the  same  time  the  most  terrific,  reports.  Privy  con- 
spiracy, it  was  alleged,  was  on  the  very  eve  of  breaking  out ; 
open  war,  it  was  reported  by  others,  was  about  to  shake  her 
banners  over  the  devoted  city  ;  the  precise  cause  was  not 
agreed  upon,  any  more  than  the  nature  of  the  enemy.  Some 
said  that  the  barbarians  from  the  borders  of  Thracia,  the 
Hungarians,  as  they  were  termed,  and  the  Comani  were  on 

284 


COUNT  BOBERT  OF  PABIS  285 

their  march  from  the  frontiers  to  surprise  the  city ;  another 
report  stated  that  the  Turks,  who  during  this  period  were 
established  in  Asia,  had  resolved  to  prevent  the  threatened 
attack  of  the  crusaders  upon  Palestine,  by  surprising  not 
only  the  Western  pilgrims,  but  the  Christians  of  the  East, 
by  one  of  their  innumerable  invasions,  executed  with  their 
characteristic  rapidity. 

Another  report,  approaching  more  near  to  the  truth,  de- 
clared that  the  crusaders  themselves,  having  discovered  their 
various  causes  of  complaint  against  Alexius  Comnenus,  had 
resolved  to  march  back  their  united  forces  to  the  capital, 
with  a  view  of  dethroning  or  chastising  him  ;  and  the  citi- 
zens were  dreadfully  alarmed  for  the  consequences  of  the 
resentment  of  men  so  fierce  in  their  habits  and  so  strange  in 
their  manners.  In  short,  although  they  did  not  all  agree  on 
the  precise  cause  of  danger,  it  was  yet  generally  allowed  that 
something  of  a  dreadful  kind  was  impending,  which  ap- 
peared to  be  in  a  certain  degree  confirmed  by  the  motions 
that  were  taking  place  among  the  troops.  The  Varangians, 
as  well  as  the  Immortals,  were  gradually  assembled,  and 
placed  in  occupation  of  the  strongest  parts  of  the  city,  until 
at  length  the  fleet  of  galleys,  row-boats,  and  transports,  occu- 
pied by  Tancred  and  his  party,  were  observed  to  put  them- 
selves in  motion  from  Scutari,  and  attempt  to  gain  such  a 
height  in  the  narrow  sea  as  upon  the  turn  of  the  tide  should 
transport  them  to  the  port  of  the  capital. 

Alexius  Comnenus  was  himself  struck  at  this  unexpected 
movement  on  the  part  of  the  crusaders.  Yet,  after  some 
conversation  with  Hereward,  on  whom  he  had  determined 
to  repose  his  confidence,  and  had  now  gone  too  far  to  retreat, 
he  became  reassured,  the  more  especially  by  the  limited  size 
of  the  detachment  which  seemed  to  meditate  so  bold  a  meas- 
ure as  an  attack  upon  his  capital.  To  those  around  him  he 
said,  with  carelessness,  that  it  was  hardly  to  be  supposed 
that  a  trumpet  could  blow  to  the  charge,  within  hearing  of 
the  crusaders'  camp,  without  some  out  of  so  many  knights 
coming  forth  to  see  the  cause  and  the  issue  of  the  conflict. 

The  conspirators  also  had  their  secret  fears  when  the  little 
armament  of  Tancred  had  been  seen  on  the  straits.  Age- 
lastes  mounted  a  mule  and  went  to  the  shore  of  the  sea,  at 
the  place  now  called  Galata.  He  met  Bertha's  old  ferryman, 
whom  Godfrey  had  set  at  liberty,  partly  in  contempt,  and 
partly  that  the  report  he  was  likely  to  make  might  serve  to 
amuse  the  conspirators  in  the  city.  Closely  examined  by 
Agelastes,  he  confessed  that  the  present  detachment,  so  far 


286  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

as  he  understood,  was  despatched  at  the  instance  of  Bohe- 
mond,  and  was  under  the  command  of  his  kinsman,  Tan- 
cred,  whose  well-known  banner  was  floating  from  the  head- 
most vessel.  This  gave  courage  to  Agelastes,  who,  in  the 
course  of  his  intrigues,  had  opened  a  private  communication 
with  the  wily  and  ever  mercenary  prince  of  Antioch.  The 
object  of  the  philosopher  had  been  to  obtain  from  Bohe- 
mond  a  body  of  his  followers  to  co-operate  in  the  intended 
conspiracy,  and  fortify  the  party  of  insurgents.  It  is  true, 
that  Bohemond  had  returned  no  answer  ;  but  the  account 
now  given  by  the  ferryman,  and  the  sight  of  Tancred  the 
kinsman  of  Bohemond's  banner  displayed  on  the  straits, 
satisfied  the  philosopher  that  his  offers,  his  presents,  and  liis 
promises  had  gained  to  his  side  the  avaricious  Italian,  and 
that  this  band  had  been  selected  by  Bohemond,  and  were 
coming  to  act  in  his  favor. 

As  Agelastes  turned  to  go  off,  he  almost  jostled  a  person 
as  much  muffled  up,  and  apparently  as  unwilling  to  be 
known,  as  the  philospher  himself.  Alexius  Comnenus,  how- 
ever— for  it  was  the  Emperor  himself — knew  Agelastes, 
though  rather  from  his  stature  and  gestures  than  his  coun- 
tenance ;  and  could  not  forbear  whispering  in  his  ear,  as  he 
passed,  the  well-known  lines,  to  which  the  pretended  sage's 
various  acquisitions  gave  some  degree  of  point : — 

"  Grammatlcus,  rhetor,  geometres,  pictor,  aliptes, 
Augur,  schoenobates,  medicus,  magus  ;  omnia  novit. 
Graeculus  esuriens  in  coelum,  jusseris,  ibit." 

Agelastes  first  started  at  the  unexpected  sound  of  the  Em- 
peror's voice,  yet  immediately  recovered  presence  of  mind, 
the  want  of  which  had 'made  him  suspect  himself  betrayed  ; 
and  without  taking  notice  of  the  rank  of  the  person  to  whom 
he  spoke,  he  answered  by  a  quotation  which  should  return 
the  alarm  he  had  received.  The  speech  that  suggested  itself 
was  said  to  be  that  which  the  phantom  of  Oleonice  dinned 
into  the  ears  of  the  tyrant  who  murdered  her — 

"  Tu  cole  justitiam  ;  teque  atque  alios  manet  ultor."* 

The  sentence,  and  the  recollections  which  accompanied  it, 
thrilled  through  the  heart  of  the  Emperor,  who  walked  on, 
however,  without  any  notice  or  reply. 

''The  vile  conspirator,"  he  said,  ''had  his  associates 
arouij^  him,  otherwise  he  had  not  hazarded  that  threat.     Or 

*3ee  Latin  Quotations.    Not©  10. 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PA  BIS  2«7 

It  may  have  been  worse  ;  Agelastes  himself,  on  the  very 
brink  of  this  world,  may  have  obtained  that  singular  glance 
Into  futurity  proper  to  that  situation,  and  perhaps  speaks 
less  from  his  own  reflection  than  from  a  strange  spirit  of 
prescience,  which  dictates  his  words.  Have  I  then  in  earn- 
est sinned  so  far  in  my  imperial  duty  as  to  make  it  just  to 
apply  to  me  the  warning  used  by  the  injured  Cleonice  to  her 
ravisher  and  murderer  ?  Methinks  I  have  not.  Methinks 
that,  at  less  expense  than  that  of  a  just  severity,  I  could  ill 
have  kept  my  seat  in  the  high  place  where  Heaven  has  been 
pleased  to  seat  me,  and  where,  as  a  ruler,  I  am  bound  to 
maintain  my  station.  Methinks  the  sum  of  those  who  have 
experienced  my  clemency  may  be  well  numbered  with  that 
of  such  as  have  sustained  the  deserved  punishments  of  their 
guilt.  But  has  that  vengeance,  however  deserved  in  itself, 
been  always  taken  in  a  legal  or  justifiable  manner  ?  My 
conscience,  I  doubt,  will  hardly  answer  so  home  a  question  ; 
and  where  is  the  man,  had  he  the  virtues  of  Antoninus  him- 
self, that  can  hold  so  high  and  responsible  a  place,  yet  sus- 
tain such  an  interrogation  as  is  implied  in  that  sort  of  warning 
which  I  have  received  from  this  traitor  ?  Tu  cole  justitiam; 
we  all  need  to  use  justice  to  others.  Teque  atque  alios  manet 
ultor;  we  are  all  amenable  to  an  avenging  being.  I  will  see 
the  Patriarch — instantly  will  I  see  him ;  and  by  confessing 
my  transgressions  to  the  church,  I  will,  by  her  plenary  indul- 
gence, acquire  the  right  of  spending  the  last  day  of  my  reign 
in  a  consciousness  of  innocence,  or  at  least  of  pardon — a 
state  of  mind  rarely  the  lot  of  those  whose  lines  have  fallen 
in  lofty  places." 

So  saying,  he  passed  to  the  palace  of  Zosimus  the  Patriarch, 
to  whom  he  could  unbosom  himself  with  more  safety  because 
he  had  long  considered  Agelastes  as  a  private  enemy  to  the 
church,  and  a  man  attached  to  the  ancient  doctrines  of 
heathenism.  In  the  councils  of  the  state  they  were  also 
opposed  to  each  other,  nor  did  the  Emperor  doubt  that,  in 
communicating  the  secret  of  the  conspiracy  to  the  Patriarch, 
he  was  sure  to  attain  a  loyal  and  firm  supporter  in  the  de- 
fense which  he  proposed  to  himself.  He  therefore  gave  a 
signal  by  a  low  whistle,  and  a  confidential  officer,  well 
mounted,  approached  him,  who  attended  him  in  his  ride, 
though  unostentatiously,  and  at  some  distance. 

In  this  manner,  therefore,  Alexius  Comnenus  proceeded 
to  the  palace  of  the  Patriarch,  with  as  much  speed  as  was 
consistent  with  his  purpose  of  avoiding  to  attract  any  par- 
ticular notice  as  he  passed  through  the  street.     During  the 


288  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

whole  ride  the  warning  of  Agelastes  repeatedly  occurred  to 
him,  and  his  conscience  reminded  him  of  too  many  actions 
of  his  reign  which  could  only  be  justified  by  necessity,  em- 
phatically said  to  be  the  tyrant's  plea,  and  which  were  of 
themselves  deserving  the  dire  vengeance  so  long  delayed. 

When  he  came  in  sight  of  the  splendid  towers  which 
adorned  the  front  of  the  patriarchal  palace,  he  turned  aside 
from  the  lofty  gates,  repaired  to  a  narrow  court,  and  again 
giving  his  mule  to  his  attendant,  he  stopped  before  a  postern, 
whose  low  arch  and  humble  architrave  seemed  to  exclude  the 
possibility  of  its  leading  to  any  place  of  importance.  On 
knocking,  however,  a  priest  of  an  inferior  order  opened  the 
door,  who,  with  a  deep  reverence,  received  the  Emperor  so 
soon  as  he  had  made  himself  known,  and  conducted  him 
into  the  interior  of  the  palace.  Demanding  a  secret  inter- 
view with  the  Patriarch,  Alexius  was  then  ushered  into  his 
private  library,  where  he  was  received  by  the  aged  priest 
with  the  deepest  respect,  which  the  nature  of  his  communi- 
cation soon  changed  into  horror  and  astonishment. 

Although  Alexius  was  supposed  by  many  of  his  own  court, 
and  particularly  by  some  members  of  his  own  family,  to  be 
little  better  than  a  hypocrite  in  his  religious  professions,  yet 
such  severe  observers  were  unjust  in  branding  him  with  a 
name  so  odious.  He  was  indeed  aware  of  the  great  support 
which  he  received  from  the  good  opinion  of  the  clergy,  and 
to  them  he  was  willing  to  make  sacrifices  for  the  advantage 
of  the  church,  or  of  individual  prelates  who  manifested 
fidelity  to  the  crown  ;  but  though,  on  the  one  hand,  such 
sacrifices  were  rarely  made  by  Alexius  without  a  view  to 
temporal  policy,  yet,  on  the  other,  he  regarded  them  as 
recommended  by  his  devotional  feelings,  and  took  credit  to 
himself  for  various  grants  and  actions,  as  dictated  by  sincere 
piety,  which,  in  another  aspect,  were  the  fruits  of  temporal 
policy.  His  mode  of  looking  on  these  measures  was  that  of 
a  person  with  oblique  vision,  who  sees  an  object  in  a  differ- 
ent manner  according  to  the  point  from  which  he  chances 
to  contemplate  it. 

The  Emperor  placed  his  own  errors  of  government  before 
the  Patriarch  in  his  confession,  giving  due  weight  to  every 
breach  of  morality  as  it  occurred,  and  stripping  from  them 
the  lineaments  and  palliative  circumstances  which  had  in 
his  own  imagination  lessened  their  guilt.  The  Patriarch 
heard,  to  his  astonishment,  the  real  thread  of  many  a  court 
intrigue,  which  had  borne  a  very  different  appearance  till 
the  Emperor's  narrative  either  justified  his  conduct  upon 


COUNT  BOBERT  OF  PARIS  289 

the  occasion  or  left  it  totally  unjustifiable.  Upon  the  whole, 
the  balance  was  certainly  more  in  favor  of  Alexius  than  the 
Patriarch  had  supposed  likely  in  that  more  distant  view  he 
had  taken  of  the  intrigues  of  the  court,  when,  as  usual,  the 
ministers  and  the  courtiers  endeavored  to  make  up  for  the 
applause  which  they  had  given  in  counsel  to  the  most 
blameable  actions  of  the  absolute  monarch  by  elsewhere  im- 
puting to  his  motives  greater  guilt  than  really  belonged  to 
them.  Many  men  who  had  fallen  sacrifices,  it  was  supposed, 
to  the  personal  spleen  or  jealousy  of  the  Emperor,  appeared 
to  have  been  in  fact  removed  from  life,  or  from  liberty,  be- 
cause their  enjoying  either  was  inconsistent  with  the  quiet 
of  the  state  and  the  safety  of  the  monarch. 

Zosimus  also  learned,  what  he  perhaps  already  suspected, 
that,  amidst  the  profound  silence  of  despotism  which  seemed 
to  pervade  the  Grecian  empire,  it  heaved  frequently  with 
convulsive  throes,  which  ever  and  anon  made  obvious  the 
existence  of  a  volcano  under  the  surface.  Thus,  while 
smaller  delinquencies,  or  avowed  discontent  with  the  im- 
perial government,  seldom  occurred,  and  were  severely  pun- 
ished when  they  did,  the  deepest  and  most  mortal  con- 
spiracies against  the  life  and  the  authority  of  the  Emperor 
were  cherished  by  those  nearest  to  his  person  ;  and  he  was 
often  himself  aware  of  them,  though  it  was  not  until  they 
approached  an  explosion  that  he  dared  act  upon  his  knowl- 
edge and  punish  the  conspirators. 

The  whole  treason  of  the  Caesar,  with  his  associates,  Age- 
lastes  and  Achilles  Tatius,  was  heard  by  the  Patriarch  with 
wonder  and  astonishment,  and  he  was  particularly  surprised 
at  the  dexterity  with  which  the  Emperor,  knowing  the  exist- 
ence of  so  dangerous  a  conspiracy  at  home,  had  been  able  to 
parry  the  danger  from  the  crusaders  occurring  at  the  same 
moment. 

^*  In  that  respect,"  said  the  Emperor,  to  whom  indeed  the 
churchman  hinted  his  surprise,  '^  I  have  been  singularly  un- 
fortunate. Had  I  been  secure  of  the  forces  of  my  own  em- 
pire, I  might  have  taken  one  out  of  two  manly  and  open 
courses  with  these  frantic  warriors  of  the  West :  I  might, 
my  reverend  father,  have  devoted  the  sums  paid  to  Bohe- 
mond  and  other  of  the  more  selfish  among  the  crusaders  to 
the  honest  and  open  support  of  the  army  of  Western  Chris- 
tians, and  safely  transported  them  to  Palestine,  without  ex- 
posing them  to  the  great  loss  which  they  are  likely  to  sustain 
by  the  opposition  of  the  infidels  ;  their  success  would  have 
been  in  fact  my  own,  and  a  Latin  kingdom  in  Palestine,  de- 
10 


290  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

fended  by  its  steel-clad  warriors,  would  have  been  a  safe  and 
inexpugnable  barrier  of  the  empire  against  the  Saracens. 
Or,  if  it  was  thought  more  expedient  for  the  protection  of  the 
empire  and  the  holy  church,  over  which  you  are  ruler,  we 
might  at  once,  and  by  open  force,  have  defended  the  fron- 
tiers of  our  states  against  a  host  commanded  by  so  many  dif- 
ferent and  discording  chiefs,  advancing  upon  us  with  such 
equivocal  intentions.  If  the  first  swarm  of  these  locusts, 
under  him  whom  they  called  Walter  the  Penniless,  was 
thinned  by  the  Hungarians,  and  totally  destroyed  by  the 
Turks,  as  the  pyramids  of  bones  on  the  frontiers  of  the  country 
still  keep  in  memory,  surely  the  united  forces  of  the  Grecian 
empire  would  have  had  little  difficulty  in  scattering  this 
second  flight,  though  commanded  by  these  Godfreys,  Bohe- 
monds,  and  Tancreds.^' 

The  Patriarch  was  silent,  for  though  he  disliked,  or  rather 
detested,  the  crusaders,  as  members  of  the  Latin  Church,  he 
yet  thought  it  highly  doubtful  that  in  feats  of  battle  they 
could  have  been  met  and  overcome  by  the  Grecian  forces. 

''At  any  rate,"  said  Alexius,  rightly  interpreting  his 
silence,  ''  if  vanquished,  I  had  fallen  under  my  shield  as  a 
Greek  emperor  should,  nor  had  I  been  forced  into  these 
mean  measures  of  attacking  men  by  stealth,  and  with  forces 
disguised  as  infidels  ;  while  the  lives  of  the  faithful  sol- 
diers of  the  empire  who  have  fallen  in  obscure  skir- 
mishes, had  better,  both  for  them  and  me,  been  lost  bravely  in 
their  ranks,  avowedly  fighting  for  their  native  emperor  and 
their  native  country.  Now,  and  as  the  matter  stands,  I  shall 
be  handed  down  to  posterity  as  a  wily  tyrant,  who  engaged 
his  subjects  in  fatal  feuds  for  the  safety  of  his  own  obscure 
life.  Patriarch,  these  crimes  rest  not  with  me,  but  with  the 
rebels  whose  intrigues  compelled  me  into  such  courses. 
What,  reverend  father,  will  be  my  fate  hereafter,  and  in 
what  light  shall  I  descend  to  posterity,  the  author  of  so 
many  disasters  ?  " 

''For  futurity,"  said  the  Patriarch,  ''your  Grace  hath 
referred  yourself  to  the  holy  church,  which  hath  power  to 
bind  and  to  loose  ;  your  means  of  propitiating  her  are  ample, 
and  I  have  already  indicated  such  as  she  may  reasonably  ex- 
pect, in  consequence  of  your  repentance  and  forgiveness." 

"  They  shall  be  granted,"  replied  the  Emperor,  "  in  their 
fullest  extent  ;  nor  will  I  injure  you  in  doubting  their  effect 
in  the  next  world.  In  this  present  state  of  existence,  how- 
ever, the  favorable  opinion  of  the  church  may  do  much  for 
me  during  this  important  crisis.     If  we  understand  each 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  291 

other,  good  Zosimus,  her  doctors  and  bishops  are  to  thunder 
in  my  behalf,  nor  is  it  my  benefit  from  her  pardon  to  be  de- 
ferred till  the  funeral  monument  closes  upon  me  ? '' 

"  Certainly  not,"  said  Zosimus,  "  the  conditions  which  I 
have  already  stipulated  being  strictly  attended  to." 

''And  my  memory  in  history,"  said  Alexius,  "in  what 
manner  is  that  to  be  preserved  ?  " 

''For  that,"  answered  the  Patriarch,  "your  Imperial 
Majesty  must  trust  to  the  filial  piety  and  literary  talents  of 
your  accomplished  daughter,  Anna  Comnena." 

The  Emperor  shook  his  head.  "  This  unhappy  Caesar," 
he  said,  "  is  like  to  make  a  quarrel  between  us  ;  for  I  shall 
scarce  pardon  so  ungrateful  a  rebel  as  he  is  because  my 
daughter  clings  to  him  with  a  woman^s  fondness.  Besides, 
good  Zosimus,  it  is  not,  I  believe,  the  page  of  a  historian 
such  as  my  daughter  that  is  most  likely  to  be  received  with- 
out challenge  by  posterity.  Some  Procopius,  some  philo- 
sophical slave,  starving  in  a  garret,  aspires  to  write  the  life 
of  an  emperor  whom  he  durst  not  approach  ;  and  although 
the  principal  merit  of  his  production  be  that  it  contains  par- 
ticulars upon  the  subject  which  no  man  durst  have  promul- 
gated while  the  prince  was  living,  yet  no  man  hesitates  to 
admit  such  as  true  when  he  has  passed  from  the  scene." 

"  On  that  subject,"  said  Zosimus,  "  I  can  neither  afford 
your  Imperial  Majesty  relief  or  protection.  If,  however, 
your  memory  is  unjustly  slandered  upon  earth,  it  will  be  a 
matter  of  indifference  to  your  Highness,  who  will  be  then,  I 
trust,  enjoying  a  state  of  beatitude  which  idle  slander  can- 
not assail.  The  only  way,  indeed,  to  avoid  it  while  on  this 
side  of  time  would  be  to  write  your  Majesty^s  own  memoirs 
while  you  are  yet  in  the  body  ;  so  convinced  am  I  that  it  is 
in  your  power  to  assign  legitimate  excuses  for  those  actions 
of  your  life  which,  without  your  doing  so,  would  seem  most 
worthy  of  censure." 

"  Change  we  the  subject,"  said  the  Emperor ;  "  and  since 
the  danger  is  imminent,  let  us  take  care  for  the  present,  and 
leave  future  ages  to  judge  for  themselves.  What  circum- 
stance is  it,  reverend  father,  in  your  opinion,  which  encour- 
ages these  conspirators  to  make  so  audacious  an  appeal  to 
the  populace  and  the  Grecian  soldiers  ?  " 

"  Certainly,"  answered  the  Patriarch,  "  the  most  irritating 
incident  of  your  Highnesses  reign  was  the  fate  of  Ursel,  who, 
submitting,  it  is  said,  upon  capitulation,  for  life,  limb,  and 
liberty,  was  starved  to  death  by  your  orders  in  the  dungeons 
of  the  Blacquernal,  and  whose  courage,  liberality,  and  other 


292  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

popular  virtues  'are  still  fondly  remembered  by  the  citizens 
of  this  metropolis,  and  by  the  soldiers  of  the  guard  called 
Immortal/' 

''And  this/'  said  the  Emperor,  fixing  his  eye  upon  his 
confessor,  ^'  your  reverence  esteems  actually  the  most  dan- 
gerous point  of  the  popular  tumult  ?  " 

"I  cannot  doubt,"  said  the  Patriarch,  ''that  his  very 
name,  boldly  pronounced  and  artfully  repeated,  will  be  the 
watchword,  as  has  been  plotted,  of  a  horrible  tumult/' 

"  I  thank  Heaven  !"  said  the  Emperor,  "  on  that  particu- 
lar I  will  be  on  my  guard.  Good  night  to  your  reverence  ; 
and  believe  me  that  all  in  this  scroll,  to  which  I  have  set  my 
hand,  shall  be  with  the  utmost  fidelity  accomplished.  Be 
not,  however,  over-impatient  in  this  business  :  such  a  shower 
of  benefits  falling  at  once  upon  the  church  would  make  men 
suspicious  that  the  prelates  and  ministers  proceeded  rather 
as  acting  upon  a  bargain  between  the  Emperor  and  Patriarch 
than  as  paying  or  receiving  an  atonement  offered  by  a  sinner 
in  excuse  of  his  crimes.  This  would  be  injurious,  father, 
both  to  yourself  and  me." 

"  All  regular  delay,"  said  the  Patriarch,  "  shall  be  inter- 
posed at  your  Highness's  pleasure  ;  and  we  shall  trust  to  you 
for  recollection  that  the  bargain,  if  it  could  be  termed  one, 
was  of  your  own  seeking,  and  that  the  benefit  to  the  church 
was  contingent  upon  the  pardon  and  the  support  which  she 
has  afforded  to  your  Majesty." 

"  True,"  said  the  Emperor — "most  true  ;  nor  shall  I  for- 
get it.  Once  more  adieu,  and  forget  not  what  I  have  told 
thee.  This  is  a  night,  Zosimus,  in  which  the  Emperor 
must  toil  like  a  slave,  if  he  means  not  to  return  to  the  hum- 
ble Alexius  Comnenus,  and  even  then  there  were  no  resting- 
place." 

So  saying,  he  took  leave  of  the  Patriarch,  who  was  highly 
gratified  with  the  advantages  he  had  obtained  for  the  church, 
which  many  of  his  predecessors  had  struggled  for  in  vain. 
He  resolved,  therefore,  to  support  the  staggering  Alexius. 


CHAPTER  XXV 

Heaven  knows  its  time ;  the  bullet  has  its  billet, 
Arrow  and  javelin  each  its  destined  purpose ; 
The  fated  beasts  of  nature's  lower  strain 
Have  each  their  separate  task. 

Old  Play, 

Agelastes,  after  crossing  the  Emperor  in  the  manner  we 
have  already  described,  and  after  having  taken  such  measures 
as  occurred  to  him  to  ensure  the  success  of  the  conspiracy, 
returned  to  the  lodge  of  his  garden,  where  the  lady  of  the 
Count  of  Paris  still  remained,  her  only  companion  being  an 
old  woman  named  Vexhelia,  the  wife  of  the  soldier  who 
accompanied  Bertha  to  the  camp  of  the  crusaders,  the  kind- 
hearted  maiden  having  stipulated  that,  during  her  absence, 
her  mistress  was  not  to  be  left  without  an  attendant,  and 
that  attendant  connected  with  the  Varangian  Guard.  He 
had  been  all  day  playing  the  part  of  the  ambitious  politi- 
cian, the  selfish  time-server,  the  dark  and  subtle  conspir- 
ator ;  and  now  it  seemed,  as  if  to  exhaust-  the  catalogue  of 
his  various  parts  in  the  human  drama,  he  chose  to  exhibit 
himself  in  the  character  of  the  wily  sophist,  and  justify,  or 
seem  to  justify,  the  arts  by  which  he  had  risen  to  wealth  and 
eminence,  and  hoped  even  now  to  arise  to  royalty  itself. 

^^Fair  Countess,^'  he  said,  '''what  occasion  is  there  for 
your  wearing  this  veil  of  sadness  over  a  countenance  so 
lovely?^' 

"  Do  you  suppose  me,"  said  Brenhilda,  "  a  stock,  a  stone, 
or  a  creature  without  the  feelings  of  a  sensitive  being,  that 
I  should  endure  mortification,  imprisonment,  danger,  and 
distress,  without  expressing  the  natural  feelings  of  human- 
ity ?  Do  you  imagine  that  to  a  lady  like  me,  as  free  as  the 
unreclaimed  falcon,  you  can  offer  the  insult  of  captivity, 
without  my  being  sensible  to  the  disgrace,  or  incensed 
against  the  authors  of  it  ?  And  dost  thou  think  that  I  will 
receive  consolation  at  thy  hands — at  thine — one  of  the  most 
active  artificers  in  this  web  of  treachery  in  which  I  am  so 
basely  entangled  ?  " 

*'  Not   entangled   certainly    by    my    means,*'    answered 

293 


294  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

Agelastes  ;  ''  clap  your  hands,  call  for  what  you  wish,  and 
the  slave  who  refuses  instant  obedience  had  better  been  un- 
born. Had  I  not,  with  reference  to  your  safety  and  your 
honor,  agreed  for  a  short  time  to  be  your  keeper,  that  office 
would  have  been  usurped  by  the  Caesar,  whose  object  you 
know,  and  may  partly  guess  the  modes  by  which  it  would 
be  pursued.  Why  then  dost  thou  childishly  weep  at  being 
held  for  a  short  space  in  an  honorable  restraint,  which  the 
renowned  arms  of  your  husband  will  probably  put  an  end 
to  long  ere  to-morrow  at  noon  ?  " 

^'  Canst  thou  not  comprehend, '*  said  the  Countess,  "  thou 
man  of  many  words,  but  of  few  honorable  thoughts,  that  a 
heart  like  mine,  which  has  been  trained  in  the  feelings  of 
reliance  upon  my  own  worth  and  valor,  must  be  necessarily 
affected  with  shame  at  being  obliged  to  accept,  even  from 
the  sword  of  a  husband,  that  safety  which  I  would  gladly 
have  owed  only  to  my  own  ?  " 

'^  Thou  art  misled,  Countess,'*  answered  the  philosopher, 
*'  by  thy  pride,  a  failing  predominant  in  woman.  Thinkest 
thou  there  has  been  no  offensive  assumption  in  laying  aside 
the  character  of  a  mother  and  a  wife,  and  adopting  that  of  one 
of  those  brain-sick  female  fools  who,  like  the  bravoes  of  the 
other  sex,  sacrifice  everything  that  is  honorable  or  useful  to  a 
frantic  and  insane  affectation  of  courage  ?  Believe  me,  fair 
lady,  that  the  true  system  of  virtue  consists  in  filling  thine 
own  place  gracefiilly  in  society,  breeding  up  thy  children, 
and  delighting  those  of  the  other  sex  ;  and  anything  beyond 
this  may  well  render  thee  hateful  or  terrible,  but  can  add 
nothing  to  thy  amiable  qualities. '* 

*^  Thou  pretendest,*'  said  the  Countess,  ^'  to  be  a  philos- 
opher ;  methinks  thou  shouldst  know  that  the  fame  which 
hangs  its  chaplet  on  the  tomb  of  a  brave  hero  or  heroine  is 
worth  all  the  petty  engagements  in  which  ordinary  persons 
spend  the  current  of  their  time.  One  hour  of  life,  crowded 
to  the  full  with  glorious  action,  and  filled  with  noble  risks, 
is  worth  whole  years  of  those  mean  observances  of  paltry 
decorum  in  which  men  steal  through  existence,  like  sluggish 
waters  through  a  marsh,  without  either  honor  or  observa- 
tion." 

"  Daughter, '*  said  Agelastes,  approaching  nearer  to  the 
lady,  "it  is  with  pain,  I  see  you  bewildered  in  errors  which 
a  little  calm  reflection  might  remove.  We  may  flatter  our- 
selves, and  human  vanity  usually  does  so,  that  beings  in- 
finitely more  powerful  than  those  belonging  to  mere  human- 
ity are  employed  <^aily  in  measuring  out  the  good  and  evil  of 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  295 

this  world,  the  termination  of  combats,  or  the  fate  of 
empires,  according  to  their  own  ideas  of  what  is  right  or 
wrong,  or,  more  properly,  according  to  what  we  ourselves 
conceive  to  be  such.  The  Greek  heathens,  renowned  for 
their  wisdom  and  glorious  for  their  actions,  explained  to 
men  of  ordinary  minds  the  supposed  existence  of  Jupiter 
and  his  pantheon,  where  various  deities  presided  over  vari- 
ous  virtues  and  vices,  and  regulated  the  temporal  fortune 
and  future  happiness  of  such  as  practised  them.  The  more 
learned  and  wise  of  the  ancients  rejected  such  the  vulgar 
interpretation,  and  wisely,  although  affecting  a  difference  to 
the  public  faith,  denied  before  their  disciples  in  private  the 
gross  fallacies  of  Tartarus  and  Olympus,  the  vain  doctrines 
concerning  the  gods  themselves,  and  the  extravagant  expecta- 
tions which  the  vulgar  entertained  of  an  immortality  sup- 
posed to  be  possessed  by  creatures  who  were  in  every  re- 
spect mortal,  both  in  the  conformation  of  their  bodies  and  in 
the  internal  belief  of  their  souls.  Of  these  wise  and  good 
men  some  granted  the  existence  of  the  supposed  deities,  but 
denied  that  they  cared  about  the  actions  of  mankind  any 
more  than  those  of  the  inferior  animals.  A  merry,  jovial, 
careless  life,  such  as  the  followers  of  Epicurus  would  choose 
for  themselves,  was  what  they  assigned  for  those  gods  whose 
being  they  admitted.  Others,  more  bold  or  more  consis- 
tent, entirely  denied  the  existence  of  deities  who  apparently 
had  no  proper  object  or  purpose,  and  believed  that  such  of 
them  whose  being  and  attributes  were  proved  to  us  by  no 
supernatural  appearances  had  in  reality  no  existence  what- 
ever.^' 

"Stop,  wretch  !''  said  the  Countess,  '^and  know  that, 
thou  speakest  not  to  one  of  those  blinded  heathens  of  whose 
abominable  doctrines  you  are  detailing  the  result.  Know- 
that,  if  an  erring,  I  am  nevertheless  a  sincere,  daughter  of 
the  church,  and  this  cross  displayed  on  my  shoulder  is  a 
sufficient  emblem  of  the  vows  I  have  undertaken  in  its  cause. 
Be  therefore  wary,  as  thou  art  wily  ;  for,  believe  me,  if  thou 
scoft'est  or  utterest  reproach  against  my  holy  religion,  what 
I  am  unable  to  answer  in  language  I  will  reply  to,  without 
hesitation,  with  the  point  of  my  dagger. '^ 

"  To  that  argument,''  said  Agelastes,  drawing  back  from 
the  neighborhood  of  Brenhilda,  ''' believe  me,  fair  lady,  I 
am  very  unwilling  to  urge  your  gentleness.  But,  although 
I  shall  not  venture  to  say  anything  of  those  superior  and 
benevolent  powers  to  whom  you  ascribe  the  management  of 
the  world,  you  will  surely  not  take  offense  at  my  noticing 


296  WA  VERLEY  NO  VELS 

those  base  superstitions  which  have  been  adopted  in  explana- 
tion of  what  is  called  by  the  Magi  the  Evil  Principle.  Was 
there  ever  received  into  a  human  creed  a  being  so  mean — 
almost  so  ridiculous — as  the  Christian  Satan  ?  A  goatish 
figure  and  limbs,  with  grotesque  features,  formed  to  express 
the  most  execrable  passions  ;  a  degree  of  power  scarce  inferior 
to  that  of  the  Deity  ;  and  a  talent  at  the  same  time  scarce 
equal  to  that  of  the  stupidest  of  the  lowest  order  !  What  is 
he,  this  being,  who  is  at  least  the  second  arbiter  of  the  human 
race,  save  an  immortal  spirit,  with  the  petty  spleen  and  spite 
of  a  vindictive  old  man  or  old  woman  ?  " 

Agelastes  made  a  singular  pause  in  this  part  of  his  dis- 
course. A  mirror  of  considerable  size  hung  in  the  apart- 
ment, so  that  the  philosopher  could  see  in  its  reflection  the 
figure  of  Brenhilda,  and  remark  the  change  of  her  counte- 
nance, though  she  had  averted  her  face  from  him  in  hatred 
of  the  doctrines  which  he  promulgated.  On  this  glass  the 
philosopher  had  his  eyes  naturally  fixed,  and  he  was  con- 
founded at  perceiving  a  figure  glide  from  behind  the  shadow 
of  a  curtain,  and  glare  at  him  with  the  supposed  mien  and 
expression  of  the  Satan  of  monkish  mythology,  or  a  satyr  of 
the  heathen  age. 

"  Man  ! "  said  Brenhilda,  whose  attention  was  attracted 
by  this  extraordinary  apparition,  as  it  seemed,  of  the  Fiend, 
'^  have  thy  wicked  words,  and  still  more  wicked  thoughts, 
brought  the  Devil  amongst  us  ?  If  so,  dismiss  him  instantly, 
else,  by  Our  Lady  of  the  Broken  Lances  !  thou  shalt  know 
better  than  at  present  what  is  the  temper  of  a  Frankish 
maiden  when  in  presence  of  the  Fiend  himself,  and  those 
who  pretend  skill  to  raise  him.  I  wish  not  to  enter  into  a 
contest  unless  compelled  ;  but  if  I  am  obliged  to  join  battle 
with  an  enemy  so  horrible,  believe  me,  no  one  shall  say  that 
Brenhilda  feared  him.'' 

Agelastes,  after  looking  with  surprise  and  horror  at  the 
figure  as  reflected  in  the  glass,  turned  back  his  head  to  ex- 
amine the  substance,  of  which  the  reflection  was  so  strange. 
The  object,  however,  had  disappeared  behind  the  curtain, 
under  which  it  probably  lay  hid,  and  it  was  after  a  minute 
or  two  that  the  half-gibing,  half-scowling  countenance 
showed  itself  again  in  the  same  position  in  the  mirror. 

••'  By  the  gods V  said  Agelastes. 

*'  In  whom  but  now,"  said  the  Countess,  '^  you  professed 
unbelief." 

*'  By  the  gods  ! "  repeated  Agelastes,  in  part  recovering 
himself,  "'  it  is  Sylvan,  that  singular  mockery  of  humanity. 


COUNT  BOBERT  OF  PABIS  297 

who  was  said  to  have  been  brought  from  Taprobana.  I  war- 
rant he  also  believes  in  his  jolly  god  Pan,  or  the  veteran 
Sjlvanus.  He  is  to  the  uninitiated  a  creature  whose  ap- 
pearance is  full  of  terrors,  but  he  shrinks  before  the  phil- 
osopher like  ignorance  before  knowledge/'  So  saying,  he 
with  one  hand  pulled  down  the  curtain,  under  which  the 
animal  had  nestled  itself  when  it  entered  from  the  garden- 
window  of  the  pavilion,  and  with  the  other,  in  which  he  had 
a  staff  uplifted,  threatened  to  chastise  the  creature,  with  the 
words — ''  How  now,  Sylvanus  !  what  insolence  is  this  ?  To 
your  place  ! " 

As,  in  uttering  these  words,  he  struck  the  animal,  the 
blow  unluckily  lighted  upon  his  wounded  hand,  and  recalled 
its  bitter  smart.  The  wild  temper  of  the  creature  returned, 
unsubdued  for  the  moment  by  any  awe  of  man  ;  uttering  a 
fierce,  and  at  the  same  time  stifled,  cry,  it  flew  on  the  phil- 
osopher, and  clasped  its  strong  and  sinewy  arms  about  his 
throat  with  the  utmost  fury.  The  old  man  twisted  and 
struggled  to  deliver  himself  from  the  creature's  grasp,  but 
in  vain.  Sylvan  kept  hold  of  his  prize,  compressed  his 
sinewy  arms,  and  abode  by  his  purpose  of  not  quitting  his 
hold  of  the  philosopher's  throat  until  he  had  breathed  his 
last.  Two  more  bitter  yells,  accompanied  each  with  a  des- 
perate contortion  of  the  countenance  and  squeeze  of  the 
hands,  concluded,  in  less  than  five  minutes,  the  dreadful 
strife. 

Agelastes  lay  dead  upon  the  ground,  and  his  assassin 
Sylvan,  springing  from  the  body  as  if  terrified  and  alarmed 
at  what  he  had  done,  made  his  escape  by  the  window.  The 
Countess  stood  in  astonishment,  not  knowing  exactly  whether 
she  had  witnessed  a  supernatural  display  of  the  judgment  of 
Heaven  or  an  instance  of  its  vengeance  by  mere  mortal 
means.  Her  new  attendant  Vexhelia  was  no  less  astonished, 
though  her  acquaintance  with  the  animal  was  considerably 
more  intimate. 

"  Lady,"  she  said,  ''  that  gigantic  creature  is  an  animal 
of  great  strength,  resembling  mankind  in  form,  but  huge  in 
its  size,  and,  encouraged  by  its  immense  power,  sometimes 
malevolent  in  its  intercourse  with  mortals.  I  have  heard 
the  Varangians  often  talk  of  it  as  belonging  to  the  imperial 
museum.  It  is  fitting  we  remove  the  body  of  this  unhappy 
man,  and  hide  it  in  a  plot  of  shrubbery  in  the  garden.  It 
is  not  likely  that  he  will  be  missed  to-night,  and  to-morrow 
there  will  be  other  matter  astir,  which  will  probably  pre- 
vent much  inquiry   about  him."     The  Countess  Brenhilda 


298  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

assented,  for  she  was  not  one  of  tliose  timorous  females  to 
whom  the  countenances  of  the  dead  are  objects  of  terror. 

Trusting  to  the  parole  which  she  had  given,  Agelastes  had 
permitted  the  Countess  and  her  attendant  the  freedom  of 
his  gardens,  of  that  part  at  least  adjacent  to  the  pavilion. 
They  therefore  were  in  little  risk  of  interruption  as  they 
bore  forth  the  dead  body  between  them,  and  without  much 
trouble  disposed  of  it  in  the  thickest  part  of  one  of  the  bos- 
quets with  which  the  garden  was  studded. 

As  they  returned  to  their  place  of  abode  or  confinement, 
the  Countess,  half  speaking  to  herself,  half  addressing  Vex- 
helia,  said — "  I  am  sorry  for  this ;  not  that  the  infamous 
wretch  did  not  deserve  the  full  punishm.ent  of  Heaven  com- 
ing upon  him  in  the  very  moment  of  blasphemy  and  infi- 
delity, but  because  the  courage  and  truth  of  the  unfortunate 
Brenhilda  may  be  brought  into  suspicion,  as  his  slaughter 
took  place  when  he  was  alone  with  her  and  her  attendant,  and 
as  no  one  was  witness  of  the  singular  manner  in  which  the 
old  blasphemer  met  his  end.  Thou  knowest,"  she  added, 
addressing  herself  to  Heaven — "  thou  !  blessed  Lady  of  the 
Broken  Lances,  the  protectress  both  of  Brenhilda  and  her 
husband,  well  knowest  that,  whatever  faults  may  be  mine,  I 
am  free  from  the  slightest  suspicion  of  treachery  ;  and  into 
thy  hands  I  put  my  cause,  with  a  perfect  reliance  upon 
thy  wisdom  and  bounty  to  bear  evidence  in  my  favor."  So 
saying,  they  returned  to  the  lodge  unseen,  and  with  pious 
and  submissive  prayers  the  Countess  closed  that  eventful 
evening. 


CHAPTEE  XXVI 

Will  you  hear  of  a  Spanish  lady. 

How  she  wooed  an  Englishman  ? 
Garments  gay,  as  rich  as  may  be, 
Deck'd  with  jewels  she  had  on. 
Of  a  comely  countenance  and  grace  was  she, 
And  by  birth  and  parentage  of  high  degree. 

Old  Ballad. 

We  left  Alexias  Comnenus  after  he  Lad  unloaded  his  con- 
science in  the  ears  of  the  Patriarch,  and  received  from  him 
a  faithful  assurance  of  the  pardon  and  patronage  of  the 
national  church.  He  took  leave  of  the  dignitary  with  some 
exulting  exclamations,  so  unexplicitly  expressed,  however, 
that  it  was  by  no  means  easy  to  conceive  the  meaning  of 
what  he  said.  His  first  inquiry,  when  he  reached  the  Blac- 
quernal,  being  for  his  daughter,  he  was  directed  to  the  room 
encrusted  with  beautifully  carved  marble,  from  which  she 
herself,  and  many  of  her  race,  derived  the  proud  appellation 
of  porphyrogenita,  or  born  in  the  purple.  Her  countenance 
was  clouded  with  anxiety,  which,  at  the  sight  of  her  father, 
broke  out  into  open  and  uncontrollable  grief. 

"  Daughter,"  said  the  Emperor,  with  a  harshness  little 
common  to  his  manner,  and  a  seriousness  which  he  sternly 
maintained,  instead  of  sympathizing  with  his  daughter's 
affliction,  "  as  you  would  prevent  the  silly  fool  with  whom 
you  are  connected  from  displaying  himself  to  the  public  both 
as  an  ungrateful  monster  and  a  traitor,  you  will  not  fail  to 
exhort  him,  by  due  submission,  to  make  his  petition  for 
pardon,  accompanied  with  a  full  confession  of  his  crimes, 
or,  by  my  scepter  and  my  crown,  he  shall  die  the  death  ! 
Nor  will  I  pardon  any  who  rushes  upon  his  doom  in  an  open 
tone  of  defiance,  under  such  a  standard  of  rebellion  as  my 
ungrateful  son-in-law  has  hoisted.'' 

*' What  canyon  require  of  me,  father?"  said  the  Prin- 
cess. ''  Can  you  expect  that  I  am  to  dip  my  own  hands  in 
the  blood  of  this  unfortunate  man  ;  or  wilt  thou  seek  a 
revenge  yet  more  bloody  than  that  which  was  exacted  by  the 
deities  of  antiquity  upon  those  criminals  who  offended  against 
their  divine  power  ?  " 


300  WAVJEBLEY  NOVELS 

*'  Think  not  so,  my  daughter/^  said  the  Emperor  ;  '*  but 
rather  believe  that  thon  hast  the  last  opportunity  afforded 
by  my  filial  affection  of  rescuing,  perhaps  from  death,  that 
silly  fool  thy  husband,  who  has  so  richly  deserved  it/' 

"  My  father,"  said  the  Princess,  '^  God  knows  it  is  not  at 
your  risk  that  I  would  wish  to  purchase  the  life  of  Nice- 
phorus  ;  but  he  has  been  the  father  of  my  children,  though 
they  are  now  no  more,  and  women  cannot  forget  that  such 
a  tie  has  existed,  even  though  it  has  been  broken  by  fate. 
Permit  me  only  to  hope  that  the  unfortunate  culprit  shall 
have  an  opportunity  of  retrieving  his  errors ;  nor  shall  it, 
believe  me,  be  my  fault  if  he  resumes  those  practices,  treason- 
able at  once  and  unnatural,  by  which  his  life  is  at  present 
endangered." 

'*  Follow  me,  then,  daughter,"  said  the  Emperor,  ^'  and 
know,  that  to  thee  alone  I  am  about  to  entrust  a  secret,  upon 
which  the  safety  of  my  life  and  crown,  as  well  as  the  pardon 
of  my  son-in-law's  life,  will  be  found  eventually  to  depend." 
He  then  assumed  in  haste  the  garment  of  a  slave  of  the 
seraglio,  and  commanded  his  daughter  to  arrange  her  dress 
in  a  more  succinct  form,  and  to  take  in  her  hand  a  lighted 
lamp. 

"  Wliither  are  we  going,  my  father  ?"  said  Anna  Com- 
nena. 

^'  It  matters  not,"  replied  her  father,  *'  since  my  destiny 
calls  me,  and  since  thine  ordains  thee  to  be  my  torch-bearer. 
Believe  it,  and  record  it,  if  thou  darest,  in  thy  book,  that 
Alexius  Oomnenus  does  not,  without  alarm,  descend  into 
those  awful  dungeons  which  his  predecessors  built  for  men, 
even  when  his  intentions  are  innocent  and  free  from  harm. 
Be  silent,  and  should  we  meet  any  inhabitant  of  those  in- 
ferior regions,  speak  not  a  word,  nor  make  any  observation 
upon  his  appearance." 

Passing  through  the  intricate  apartments  of  the  palace, 
they  now  came  to  that  large  hall  through  which  Hereward 
had  passed  on  the  first  night  of  his  introduction  to  the  place 
of  Anna's  recitation,  called  the  Temple  of  the  Muses.  It 
was  constructed,  as  we  have  said,  of  black  marble,  dimly 
illuminated.  At  the  upper  end  of  the  apartment  was  a 
small  altar,  on  which  was  laid  some  incense,  while  over  the 
,  smoke  were  suspended,  as  if  projecting  from  the  wall,  two 
imitations  of  human  hands  and  arms,  which  were  but  im- 
perfectly seen. 

At  the  bottom  of  this  hall,  a  small  iron  door  led  to  a 
narrow  and  winding  staircase,  resembling  a  draw-well  in 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  301 

shape  and  size,  the  steps  of  which  were  excessively  steep, 
and  which  the  Emperor,  after  a  solemn  gesture  to  hia 
daughter  commanding  her  attendance,  began  to  descend 
with  the  imperfect  light,  and  by  the  narrow  and  difficult 
steps  by  which  those  who  visited  the  under  regions  of  the 
Blacquernal  seemed  to  bid  adieu  to  the  light  of  day.  Door 
after  door  they  passed  in  their  descent,  leading,  it  was  prob- 
able, to  different  ranges  of  dungeons,  from  which  was 
obscurely  heard  the  stifled  voice  of  groans  and  sighs,  such 
as  attracted  Hereward's  attention  on  a  former  occasion. 
The  Emperor  took  no  notice  of  these  signs  of  human  misery, 
and  three  stories,  or  ranges  of  dungeons,  had  been  already 
passed,  ere  the  father  and  daughter  arrived  at  the  lowest 
story  of  the  building,  the  base  of  which  was  the  solid  rock, 
roughly  carved,  upon  which  were  erected  the  side-walls  and 
arches  of  solid  but  unpolished  marble. 

'^Here,^'  said  Alexius  Comnenus,  *' all  hope,  all  expecta- 
tion takes  farewell,  at  the  turn  of  a  hinge  or  the  grating  of  a 
lock.  Yet  shall  not  this  be  always  the  case  ;  the  dead  shall 
revive  and  resume  their  right,  and  the  disinherited  of  these 
regions  shall  again  prefer  their  claim  to  inhabit  the  upper 
world.  If  I  cannot  entreat  Heaven  to  my  assistance,  be  as- 
sured, my  daughter,  that  rather  than  be  the  poor  animal  which 
I  have  stooped  to  be  thought,  and  even  to  be  painted  in  thy 
history,  I  would  sooner  brave  every  danger  of  the  multitude 
which  now  erect  themselves  betwixt  me  and  safety.  Nothing 
is  resolved  save  that  I  will  live  and  die  an  emperor  ;  and  thou, 
Anna,  be  assured  that,  if  there  is  power  in  the  beauty  or  in 
the  talents  of  which  so  much  has  been  boasted,  that  power 
shall  be  this  evening  exercised  to  the  advantage  of  thy  parent, 
from  whom  it  is  derived. ^^ 

"  What  is  it  that  you  mean,  imperial  father  ?  Holy 
Virgin  !  is  this  the  promise  you  made  me  to  save  the  life  of 
the  unfortunate  Nicephorus  ?  " 

''  And  so  I  will,^'  said  the  Emperor  ;  "  and  I  am  now 
about  that  action  of  benevolence.  But  think  not  I  will  once 
more  warm  in  my  bosom  the  household  snake  which  had  so 
nearly  stung  me  to  death.  No,  daughter,  I  have  provided 
for  thee  a  fitting  husband,  in  one  who  is  able  to  maintain 
and  defend  the  rights  of  the  Emperor  thy  father  ;  and  be- 
ware how  thou  opposest  an  obstacle  to  what  is  my  pleasure  ! 
for  behold  these  walls  of  marble,  though  unpolished,  and 
recollect  it  is  as  possible  to  die  within  the  marble  as  to  be 
born  there.^* 

The  Princess  Anna  Comnena  wax  frightened  at  seeing  hei 


302  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

father  in  a  state  of  mind  entirely  different  from  any  whici 
she  had  before  witnessed.     '^  0,  Heaven  !  that  my  mothe 
were  here  ! "  she  ejaculated;  in  the  terror  of  something  shv 
hardly  knew  what. 

*'  Anna,"  said  the  Emperor,  '^  your  fears  and  your  screams 
are  alike  in  vain.  I  am  one  of  those  who,  on  ordinary  oc- 
casions, hardly  nourish  a  wish  of  my  own,  and  account  my- 
self obliged  to  those  who,  like  my  wife  and  daughter,  take 
care  to  save  me  all  the  trouble  of  free  judgment.  But  when 
the  vessel  is  among  the  breakers,  and  the  master  is  called  to 
the  helm,  believe  that  no  meaner  hand  shall  be  permitted  to 
interfere  with  him,  nor  will  the  wife  and  daughter  whom 
he  indulged  in  prosperity  be  allowed  to  thwart  his  will  while 
he  can  yet  call  it  his  own.  Thou  couldst  scarcely  fail  to 
understand  that  I  was  almost  prepared  to  have  given  thee 
as  a  mark  of  my  sincerity  to  yonder  obscure  Varangian, 
without  asking  question  of  either  birth  or  blood.  Thou 
mayst  hear  when  I  next  promise  thee  to  a  three  years'  in- 
habitant of  these  vaults,  who  shall  be  Caesar  in  Briennius's 
stead,  if  I  can  move  him  to  accept  a  princess  for  his  bride, 
and  an  imperial  crown  for  his  inheritance,  in  place  of  a 
starving  dungeon.'' 

^^  I  tremble  at  your  words,  father,"  said  Anna  Comnena. 
''  How  canst  thou  trust  a  man  who  has  felt  thy  cruelty  ? 
How  canst  thou  dream  that  aught  can  ever  in  sincerity 
reconcile  thee  to  one  whom  thou  hast  deprived  of  his  eye- 
sight ?" 

"  Care  not  for  that,"  said  Alexius  ;  "  he  becomes  mine, 
or  he  shall  never  know  what  it  is  to  be  again  his  own.  And 
thou,  girl,  mayest  rest  assured  that,  if  I  will  it,  thou  art  next 
day  the  bride  of  my  present  captive,  or  thou  retirest  to  the 
most  severe  nunnery,  never  again  to  mix  with  society.  Be 
silent,  therefore,  and  await  thy  doom,  as  it  shall  come,  and 
hope  not  that  thy  utmost  endeavors  can  avert  the  current  of 
thy  destiny." 

As  he  concluded  this  singular  dialogue,  in  which  he  had 
assumed  a  tone  to  which  his  daughter  was  a  stranger,  and 
before  which  she  trembled,  he  passed  on  through  more  than 
one  strictly  fastened  door,  while  his  daughter,  with  a  falter- 
ing step,  illuminated  him  on  the  obscure  road.  At  length 
he  found  admittance  by  another  passage  into  the  cell  in 
which  Ursel  was  confined,  and  found  him  reclining  in  hope- 
less misery,  all  those  expectations  having  faded  from  his 
heart  which  the  Count  of  Paris  had  by  his  indomitable 
gallantry  for  a  time  excited.     He  turned  his  sightless  eyes 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  303 

towards  the  place  where  he  heard  the  moving  of  bolts  and 
the  approach  of  steps. 

''  A  new  feature/'  he  said,  "  in  my  imprisonment — a  man 
comes  with  a  heavy  and  determined  step,  and  a  woman  or  a 
child  with  one  that  scarcely  presses  the  floor  !  Is  it  my 
death  that  you  bring  ?  Believe  me,  that  I  have  lived  long 
enough  in  these  dungeons  to  bid  my  doom  welcome/' 

''It  is  not  thy  death,  noble  Ursel,"  said  the  Emperor,  in 
a  voice  somewhat  disguised.  '''Life,  liberty,  whatever  the 
world  has  to  give,  is  placed  by  the  Emperor  Alexius  at  the 
feet  of  his  noble  enemy,  and  he  trusts  that  many  years  of 
happiness  and  power,  together  with  the  command  of  a  large 
share  of  the  empire,  will  soon  obliterate  the  recollection  of 
the  dungeons  of  the  Blacquernal/' 

'  It  cannot  be,"  said  Ursel,  with  a  sigh.  ''  He  upon  whose 
eyes  the  sun  has  set  even  at  middle  day  can  have  nothing 
left  to  hope  from  the  most  advantageous  change  of  circum- 
stances.'' 

''  You  are  not  entirely  assured  of  that,"  said  the  Emperor  ; 
"  allow  us  to  convince  you  that  what  is  intended  towards 
you  is  truly  favorable  and  liberal,  and  I  hope  you  will  be 
rewarded  by  finding  that  there  is  more  possibility  of  amend- 
ment in  your  case  than  your  first  apprehensions  are  willing 
to  receive.  Make  an  effort,  and  try  whether  your  eyes  are 
not  sensible  of  the  light  of  the  lamp." 

''Do  with  me,"  said  Ursel,  "  according  to  your  pleasure  ; 
I  have  neither  strength  to  remonstrate  nor  the  force  of  mind 
equal  to  make  me  set  your  cruelty  at  defiance.  Of  some- 
thing like  light  I  am  sensible  ;  but  whether  it  is  reality  or 
illusion  I  cannot  determine.  If  you  are  come  to  deliver  me 
from  this  living  sepulcher,  I  pray  God  to  requite  you  ;  and 
if,  under  such  deceitful  pretense,  you  mean  to  take  my  life, 
I  can  only  commend  my  soul  to  Heaven,  and  the  vengeance 
due  to  my  death  to  him  who  can  behold  the  darkest  places  in 
which  injustice  can  shroud  itself." 

So  saying,  and  the  revulsion  of  his  spirits  rendering  him 
unable  to  give  almost  any  other  sign  of  existence,  Ursel 
sunk  back  upon  his  seat  of  captivity,  and  spoke  not  another 
word  during  the  time  that  Alexius  disembarrassed  him  of 
those  chains  which  had  so  long  hung  about  him  that  they 
almost  seemed  to  make  a  part  of  his  person. 

"  This  is  an  affair  in  which  thy  aid  can  scarce  be  sufficient, 
Anna,"  said  the  Emperor  :  "  it  would  have  been  well  if  you 
and  I  could  have  borne  him  into  the  open  air  by  our  joint 
strength,  for  there  is  little  wisdom  in  showing  the  secrets  of 


304  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

this  prison-house  to  those  to  whom  they  are  not  yet  known  ; 
nevertheless,  go,  my  child,  and  at  a  short  distance  from  the 
head  of  the  staircase  which  we  descended  thou  wilt  find 
Edward,  the  bold  and  trusty  Varangian,  who,  on  your  com- 
municating to  him  my  orders,  will  come  hither  and  render 
his  assistance ;  and  see  that  you  send  also  the  experienced 
leach,  Douban/' 

Terrified,  half-stifled,  and  half-struck  with  horror,  the 
lady  yet  felt  a  degree  of  relief  from  the  somewhat  milder  tone 
in  which  her  father  addressed  her.  With  tottering  steps,  yet 
in  some  measure  encouraged  by  the  tenor  of  her  instructions, 
she  ascended  the  staircase,  which  yawned  upon  these  infernal 
dungeons.  As  she  approached  the  top,  a  large  and  strong 
figure  threw  its  broad  shadow  between  the  lamp  and  the 
opening  of  the  hall.  Frightened  nearly  to  death  at  the 
thoughts  of  becoming  the  wife  of  a  squalid  wretch  like 
Ursel,  a  moment  of  weakness  seized  upon  the  Princess's  mind, 
and,  when  she  considered  the  melancholy  option  which  her 
father  had  placed  before  her,  she  could  not  but  think  that 
the  handsome  and  gallant  Varangian,  who  had  already  res- 
cued the  royal  family  from  such  imminent  danger,  was  a 
fitter  person  with  whom  to  unite  herself,  if  she  must  needs 
make  a  second  choice,  than  the  singular  and  disgusting 
being  whom  her  father's  policy  had  raked  from  the  bottom 
of  the  Blacquernal  dungeons. 

I  will  not  say  of  poor  Anna  Comnena,  who  was  a  timid  but 
not  an  unfeeling  woman,  that  she  would  have  embraced  such 
a  proposal,  had  not  the  life  of  her  present  husband,  Nicepho- 
rus  Briennius,  been  in  extreme  danger  ;  and  it  was  obviously 
the  determination  of  the  Emperor  that,  if  he  spared  him,  it 
should  be  on  the  sole  condition  of  unloosing  his  daughter's 
hand,  and  binding  her  to  some  one  of  better  faith,  and  pos- 
sessed of  a  greater  desire  to  prove  an  aifectionate  son-in-law. 
Neither  did  the  plan  of  adopting  the  Varangian  as  a  second 
husband  enter  decidedly  into  the  mind  of  the  Princess.  The 
present  was  a  moment  of  danger,  in  which  her  rescue  to  be 
successful  must  be  sudden,  and  perhaps,  if  once  achieved, 
the  lady  might  have  had  an  opportunity  of  freeing  herself 
both  from  Ursel  and  the  Varangian,  without  disjoining  either 
of  them  from  her  father's  assistance,  or  of  herself  losing  it. 
At  any  rate,  the  surest  means  of  safety  were  to  secure,  if 
possible,  the  young  soldier,  whose  features  and  appearance 
were  of  a  kind  which  rendered  the  task  no  way  disagreeable 
to  a  beautiful  woman.  The  schemes  of  conquest  are  so  nat- 
ural to  the  fair  sex,  and  the  whole  idea  passed  so  quickly 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  805 

through  Anna  Comnena's  mind,  that,  having  first  entered 
while  the  soldier's  shadow  was  interposed  between  her 
and  the  lamp,  it  had  fully  occupied  her  quick  imagination, 
when,  with  deep  reverence  and  great  surprise  at  her  sudden 
appearance  on  the  ladder  of  Acheron,  the  Varangian  ad- 
vancing, knelt  down  and  lent  his  arm  to  the  assistance  of 
the  fair  lady,  in  order  to  help  her  out  of  the  dreary  stair- 
case. 

''  Dearest  Hereward,"  said  the  lady,  with  a  degree  of  in- 
timacy which  seemed  unusual,  ''how  much  do  I  rejoice,  in 
this  dreadful  night,  to  have  fallen  under  your  protection  ! 
I  have  been  in  places  which  the  spirit  of  Hell  appears  to 
have  contrived  for  the  human  race/'  The  alarm  of  the 
Princess,  the  familiarity  of  a  beautiful  woman,  who,  while 
in  mortal  fear,  seeks  refuge,  like  a  frightened  dove,  in  the 
bosom  of  the  strong  and  the  brave,  must  be  the  excuse  of 
Anna  Comnena  for  the  tender  epithet  with  which  she  greeted 
Hereward ;  nor,  if  he  had  chosen  to  answer  in  the  same 
tone,  which,  faithful  as  he  was,  might  have  proved  the  case 
if  the  meeting  had  chanced  before  he  saw  Bertha,  would  the 
daughter  of  Alexius  have  been,  to  say  the  truth,  irreconcil- 
ably offended.  Exhausted  as  she  was,  she  suffered  herself  to 
repose  upon  the  broad  breast  and  shoulder  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  ;  nor  did  she  make  an  attempt  to  recover  herself, 
although  the  decorum  of  her  sex  and  station  seemed  to 
recommend  such  an  exertion.  Hereward  was  obliged  him- 
self to  ask  her,  with  the  unimpassioned  and  reverential  de- 
meanor of  a  private  soldier  to  a  princess,  whether  he  ought 
to  summon  her  female  attendants,  to  which  she  faintly 
uttered  a  negative.  ''No — no,''  said  she,  "I  have  a  duty 
to  execute  for  my  father,  and  I  must  not  summon  eye- 
witnesses ;  he  knows  me  to  be  in  safety,  Hereward,  since  he 
knows  I  am  with  thee  ;  and  if  I  am  a  burden  to  you  in  my 
present  state  of  weakness,  I  shall  soon  recover,  if  you  will 
set  me  down  upon  the  marble  steps." 

"  Heaven  forbid,  lady,"  said  Hereward,  "that  I  were  thus 
neglectful  of  your  Highness's  gracious  health  !  I  see  your 
two  young  ladies,  Astarte  and  Violante,  are  in  quest  of  you. 
Permit  me  to  summon  them  hither,  and  I  will  keep  watch 
upon  you  if  you  are  unable  to  retire  to  your  chamber,  where, 
methinks,  the  present  disorder  of  your  nerves  will  be  most 
properly  treated." 

"Do  as  thou  wilt,  barbarian,"  said  the  Princess,  rallying 
herself,  with  a  certain  degree  of  pique,  arising  perhaps  from 
ber  not  thinking  more  dramatis  person(B  were  appropriate 


306  WA  VEBLEY  NO  VELS 

to  the  scene  than  the  two  who  were  already  upon  the  stage. 
Then,  as  if  for  the  first  time  appearing  to  recollect  the 
message  with  which  she  had  been  commissioned,  she  exhorted 
the  Varangian  to  repair  instantly  to  her  father. 

On  such  occasions,  the  slightest  circumstances  have  their 
effect  on  the  actors.  The  Anglo-Saxon  was  sensible  that 
the  Princess  was  somewhat  offended,  though  whether  she  was 
so  on  account  of  her  being  actually  in  Hereward^s  arms,  or 
whether  the  cause  of  her  anger  was  the  being  nearly  dis- 
covered there  by  the  two  young  maidens,  the  sentinel  did 
not  presume  to  guess,  but  departed  for  the  gloomy  vaults  to 
join  Alexius,  with  the  never-failing  double-edged  ax,  the 
bane  of  many  a  Turk,  glittering  upon  his  shoulder. 

Astarte  and  her  companion  had  been  despatched  by  the 
Empress  Irene  in  search  of  Anna  Comnena,  through  those 
apartments  of  the  palace  which  she  was  wont  to  inhabit. 
The  daughter  of  Alexius  could  nowhere  be  found,  although 
the  business  on  which  they  were  seeking  her  was  described 
by  the  Empress  as  of  the  most  pressing  nature.  Nothing, 
however,  in  a  palace  passes  altogether  unespied,  so  that  the 
Empress's  messengers  at  length  received  information  that 
their  mistress  and  the  Emperor  had  been  seen  to  descend 
that  gloomy  access  to  the  dungeons  which,  by  allusion  to 
the  classical  infernal  regions,  was  termed  the  Pit  of  Acheron. 
They  came  thither,  accordingly,  and  we  have  related  the 
consequences.  Hereward  thought  it  necessary  to  say  that 
her  Imperial  Highness  had  swooned  upon  being  suddenly 
brought  into  the  upper  air.  The  Princess,  on  the  other 
part,  briskly  shook  off  her  juvenile  attendants,  and  declared 
herself  ready  to  proceed  to  the  chamber  of  her  mother. 
The  obeisance  which  she  made  Hereward  at  parting  had 
something  in  it  of  haughtiness,  yet  evidently  qualified  by  a 
look  of  friendship  and  regard.  As  she  passed  an  apartment 
in  which  some  of  the  royal  slaves  were  in  waiting,  she  ad- 
dressed to  one  of  them,  an  old,  respectable  man,  of  medical 
skill,  a  private  and  hurried  order,  desiring  him  to  go  to  the 
assistance  of  her  father,  whom  he  would  find  at  the  bottom 
of  the  staircase  called  the  Pit  of  Acheron,  and  to  take  his 
scimitar  along  with  him.  To  hear,  as  usual,  was  to  obey, 
iind  Douban,  for  that  was  his  name,  only  replied  by  that 
significant  sign  which  indicates  immediate  acquiescence. 
In  the  mean  time,  Anna  Comnena  herself  hastened  onward 
to  her  mother's  apartments,  in  which  she  found  the  Empress 
alone. 

*'  Go  hence,  maidens/'  said  Irene,  ''  and  do  not  let  any 


COUNT  ROBEBT  OF  PABIS  807 

on©  have  access  to  these  apartments,  even  if  the  Emperor 
himself  should  command  it.  Shut  the  door,"  she  said. 
'^  Anna  Oomnena  :  and  if  the  jealousy  of  the  stronger  sex 
do  not  allow  us  the  masculine  privilege  of  bolts  and  bars  to 
secure  the  insides  of  our  apartments,  let  us  avail  ourselves, 
as  quickly  as  may  be,  of  such  opportunities  as  are  permitted 
us  ;  and  remember.  Princess,  that  however  implicit  your 
duty  to  your  father,  it  is  yet  more  so  to  me,  who  am  of  the 
same  sex  with  thyself,  and  may  truly  call  thee,  even  accord- 
ing to  the  letter,  blood  of  my  blood  and  bone  of  my  bone. 
Be  assured  thy  father  knows  not  at  this  moment  the  feel- 
ings of  a  woman.  Neither  he  nor  any  man  alive  can  justly 
conceive  the  pangs  of  the  heart  which  beats  under  a  woman's 
robe.  These  men,  Anna,  would  tear  asunder  without 
scruple  the  tenderest  ties  of  affection,  the  whole  structure  of 
domestic  felicity,  in  which  lie  a  woman's  cares,  her  joy,  her 
pain,  her  love,  and  her  despair.  Trust,  therefore,  to  me, 
my  daughter,  and  believe  me,  I  will  at  once  save  thy  father's 
crown  and  thy  happiness.  The  conduct  of  thy  husband  has 
been  wrong — most  cruelly  wrong ;  but,  Anna,  he  is  a  man, 
and  in  calling  him  such  I  lay  to  his  charge,  as  natural 
frailties,  thoughtless  treachery,  wanton  infidelity,  every 
species  of  folly  and  inconsistency  to  which  his  race  is  subject. 
You  ought  not,  therefore,  to  think  of  his  faults,  unless  it  be 
to  forgive  them." 

"  Madam,"  said  Anna  Comuena,  "  forgive  me  if  I  remind 
you  that  you  recommend  to  a  princess  born  in  the  purple  it- 
self a  line  of  conduct  which  would  hardly  become  the  female 
who  carries  the  pitcher  for  the  needful  supply  of  water  to 
the  village  well.  All  who  are  around  me  have  been  taught 
to  pay  me  the  obeisance  due  to  my  birth,  and  while  this 
Mcephorus  Briennius  crept  on  his  knees  to  your  daughter's 
hand,  which  you  extended  towards  him,  he  was  rather  re- 
ceiving the  yoke  of  a  mistress  than  accepting  a  household 
alliance  with  a  wife.  He  has  incurred  his  doom,  without  a 
touch  even  of  that  temptation  which  may  be  plead  by  lesser 
culprits  in  his  condition  ;  and  if  it  is  the  will  of  my  father 
that  he  should  die,  or  suffer  banishment  or  imprisonment, 
for  the  crime  he  has  committed,  it  is  not  the  business  of 
Anna  Comnena  to  interfere,  she  being  the  most  injured 
among  the  imperial  family,  who  have  in  so  many  and  such 
gross  respects  the  right  to  complain  of  his  falsehood." 

"Daughter,"  replied  the  Empress,  "so  far  I  agree  with 
you,  that  the  treason  of  Nicephorus  towards  your  father  and 
myself  has  been  in  a  great  degree  unpardonable  ;  nor  do  I 


308  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

easily  see  on  what  footing,  save  that  of  generosity,  his  life 
could  be  saved.  But  still  you  are  yourself  in  different  cir- 
cumstances from  me,  and  may,  as  an  affectionate  and  fond 
wife,  compare  the  intimacies  of  your  former  habits  with  the 
bloody  change  which  is  so  soon  to  be  the  consequence  and 
the  conclusion  of  his  crimes.  He  is  possessed  of  that  person 
and  of  those  features  which  women  most  readily  recall  to 
their  memory,  whether  alive  or  dead.  Think  what  it  will 
cost  you  to  recollect  that  the  rugged  executioner  received  his 
last  salute,  that  the  shapely  neck  had  no  better  repose  than 
the  rough  block,  that  the  tongue  the  sound  of  which  you 
used  to  prefer  to  the  choicest  instruments  of  music  is  silent 
in  the  dust ! " 

Anna,  who  was  not  insensible  to  the  personal  graces  of  her 
husband,  was  much  affected  by  this  forcible  appeal.  ''  Why 
distress  me  thus,  mother  ?  "  she  replied,  in  a  weeping  ac- 
cent. "  Did  I  not  feel  as  acutely  as  you  would  have  me  to 
do,  this  moment,  however  awful,  would  be  easily  borne.  I 
had  but  to  think  of  him  as  he  is,  to  contrast  his  personal 
qualities  with  those  of  the  mind,  by  which  they  are  more 
than  overbalanced,  and  resign  myself  to  his  deserved  fate 
with  unresisting  submission  to  my  father's  will.^' 

'^ And  that,"  said  the  Empress,  ''would  be  to  bind  thee, 
by  his  sole  fiat,  to  some  obscure  wretch,  whose  habits  of 
plotting  and  intriguing  had,  by  some  miserable  chance, 
given  him  the  opportunity  of  becoming  of  importance  to 
the  Emperor,  and  who  is  therefore  to  be  rewarded  by  the 
hand  of  Anna  Comnena.'^ 

''  Do  not  think  so  meanly  of  me,  madam,"  said  the  Prin- 
cess. *'  I  know,  as  well  as  ever  Grecian  maiden  did,  how  I 
should  free  myself  from  dishonor ;  and,  you  may  trust  me, 
you  shall  never  blush  for  your  daughter." 

"  Tell  me  not  that,"  said  the  Empress,  ''  since  I  shall 
blush  alike  for  the  relentless  cruelty  which  gives  up  a  once 
beloved  husband  to  an  ignominious  death,  and  for  the  pas- 
sion, for  which  I  want  a  name,  which  would  replace  him 
by  an  obscure  barbarian  from  the  extremity  of  Thule,  or 
some  wretch  escaped  from  the  Blacquernal  dungeons." 

The  Princess  was  astonished  to  perceive  that  her  mother 
was  acquainted  with  the  purposes,  even  the  most  private, 
which  her  father  had  formed  for  his  governance  during  this 
emergency.  She  was  ignorant  that  Alexius  and  his  royal 
consort,  in  other  respects  living  together  with  a  decency 
ever  exemplary  in  people  of  their  rank,  had  sometimes,  on 
interesting   occasions,  family   debates,  in  which    the  hus- 


COUNT  R OBER T  OF  PA  RIS  309 

band,  provoked  by  the  seeming  unbelief  of  his  partner^  was 
tempted  to  let  her  guess  more  of  his  real  purposes  than  he 
would  have  coolly  imparted  of  his  own  calm  choice. 

The  Princess  was  affected  at  the  anticipation  of  the  death 
of  her  husband,  nor  could  this  have  been  reasonably  sup- 
posed to  be  otherwise  ;  but  she  was  still  more  hurt  and  af- 
fronted by  her  mother  taking  it  for  granted  that  she  designed 
upon  the  instant  to  replace  the  Caesar  by  an  uncertain, 
and  at  all  events  an  unworthy,  successor.  Whatever  consid- 
erations had  operated  to  make  Hereward  her  choice,  their 
effect  was  lost  when  the  match  was  placed  in  this  odious  and 
degrading  point  of  view  ;  besides  which  is  to  be  remembered, 
that  women  almost  instinctively  deny  their  first  thoughts  in 
favor  of  a  suitor,  and  seldom  willingly  reveal  them,  unless 
time  and  circumstance  concur  to  favor  them.  She  called 
Heaven,  therefore,  passionately  to  witness,  while  she  repelled 
the  charge. 

"  Bear  witness,''  she  said,  '^  Our  Lady,  Queen  of  Heaven  ! 
bear  witness,  saints  and  martyrs  all,  ye  blessed  ones,  who 
are,  more  than  ourselves,  the  guardians  of  our  mental  purity  ; 
that  I  know  no  passion  which  I  dare  not  avow,  and  that,  if 
Nicephorus's  life  depended  on  my  entreaty  to  God  and  men, 
all  his  injurious  acts  towards  me  disregarded  and  despised, 
it  should  be  as  long  as  Heaven  gave  to  those  servants  whom 
it  snatched  from  the  earth  without  suffering  the  pangs  of 
mortality." 

*'You  have  sworn  boldly,''  said  the  Empress.  ''See, 
Anna  Comnena,  that  you  keep  your  word,  for  believe  me  it 
will  be  tried." 

''What  will  be  tried,  mother?"  said  the  Princess;  "or 
what  have  I  to  do  to  pronounce  the  doom  of  the  Caesar,  who 
is  not  subject  to  my  power  ?  " 

"  I  will  show  you,"  said  the  Empress,  gravely  ;  and,  lead- 
ing her  towards  a  sort  of  wardrobe,  which  formed  a  closet  in 
the  wall,  she  withdrew  a  curtain  which  hung  before  it,  and 
placed  before  her  her  unfortunate  husband,  Nicephorus 
Briennius,  half-attired,  with  his  sword  drawn  in  his  hand. 
Looking  upon  him  as  an  enemy,  and  conscious  of  some 
schemes  with  respect  to  him  which  had  passed  through  her 
mind  in  the  course  of  these  troubles,  the  Princess  screamed 
faintly,  upon  perceiving  him  so  near  her  with  a  weapon  in 
his  hand. 

"  Be  more  composed,"  said  the  Empress,  "  or  this 
wretched  man,  if  discovered,  falls  no  less  a  victim  to  thy  idle 
fears  than  to  thy  baneful  revenge." 


310  WAVBRLET  NOVELS 

Nicephorns  at  this  speech  seemed  to  have  adopted  his  cue, 
for,  dropping  the  point  of  his  sword,  and  falling  on  his  knees 
before  the  Princess,  he  clasped  his  hands  to  entreat  for 
mercy. 

*^  What  hast  thou  to  ask  from  me  ?  "  said  his  wife,  natu- 
rally assured,  by  her  husband's  prostration,  that  the  stronger 
force  was  upon  her  own  side — '^what  hast  thou  to  ask  from 
me,  that  outraged  gratitude,  betrayed  affection,  the  most 
solemn  vows  violated,  and  the  fondest  ties  of  nature  torn 
asunder  like  the  spider's  broken  web,  will  permit  thee  to 
put  in  words  for  very  shame  ?  " 

"  Do  not  suppose,  Anna,"  replied  the  suppliant,  *'  that  1 
am  at  this  eventful  period  of  my  life  to  play  the  hypocrite, 
for  the  purpose  of  saving  the  wretched  remnant  of  a  dis- 
honored existence.  I  am  but  desirous  to  part  in  charity  with 
thee,  to  make  my  peace  with  Heaven,  and  to  nourish  the 
last  hope  of  making  my  way,  though  burdened  with  many 
crimes,  to  those  regions  in  which  alone  I  can  find  thy  beauty, 
thy  talents,  equaled  at  least,  if  not  excelled." 

''You  hear  him,  daughter  ?"  said  Irene.  *"'  His  boon  is 
for  forgiveness  alone  ;  thy  condition  is  the  more  godlike, 
since  thou  mayst  unite  the  safety  of  his  life  with  the  pardon 
of  his  offenses." 

''Thou  art  deceived,  mother,"  answered  Anna.  "It  is 
not  mine  to  pardon  his  guilt,  far  less  to  remit  his  punish- 
ment. You  have  taught  me  to  think  of  myself  as  future 
ages  shall  know  me  ;  what  will  they  say  of  me,  those  future 
ages,  when  I  am  described  as  the  unfeeling  daughter  who 
pardoned  the  intended  assassin  of  her  father  because  she 
saw  in  him  her  own  unfaithful  husband  ?  " 

"  See  there,"  said  the  Caesar,  "  is  not  that,  most  serene 
Empress,  the  very  point  of  despair  ?  and  have  I  not  in  vain 
offered  my  life-blood  to  wipe  out  the  stain  of  parricide  and 
ingratitude  ?  Have  I  not  also  vindicated  myself  from  the 
most  unpardonable  part  of  the  accusation,  which  charged 
me  with  attempting  the  murder  of  the  godlike  emperor  ? 
Have  I  not  sworn  by  all  that  is  sacred  to  man,  that  my  pur- 
pose went  no  farther  than  to  sequestrate  Alexius  for  a  little 
time  from  the  fatigues  of  empire,  and  place  him  where  he 
should  quietly  enjoy  ease  and  tranquillity  ;  while,  at  the  same 
time,  his  empire  should  be  as  implicitly  regulated  by  himself, 
his  sacred  pleasure  being  transmitted  through  me,  as  in  any 
respect,  or  at  any  period,  it  had  ever  been  ?  " 

"  Erring  man  !  "  said  the  Princess,  "  hast  thou  approached 
80  near  to  the  footstool  of  Alexius  Comnenus,  and  durst 


COUNT  ROBEBT  OF  PABIS  3 : 1 

thou  form  so  false  an  estimate  of  him  as  to  conceive  it  pos- 
sible that  he  would  consent  to  be  a  mere  puppet  by  whose 
intervention  you  might  have  brought  his  empire  to  submis- 
sion ?  Know  that  the  blood  of  Comnenus  is  not  so  poor : 
my  father  would  have  resisted  the  treason  in  arms,  and  by 
the  death  of  thy  benefactor  only  couldst  thou  have  gratified 
the  suggestions  of  thy  criminal  ambition." 

**  Be  such  your  belief,"  said  the  Caesar ;  "  I  have  said 
enough  for  a  life  which  is  not  and  ought  not  to  be  dear  to 
me.  Call  your  guards  and  let  them  take  the  li|e  of  the 
unfortunate  Briennius,  since  it  has  become  hateful  to  his 
once  beloved  Anna  Comnena.  Be  not  afraid  that  any  resis- 
tance of  mine  shall  render  the  scene  of  my  apprehension 
dubious  or  fatal.  Nicephorus  Briennius  is  Caesar  no  longer, 
and  he  thus  throws  at  the  feet  of  his  princess  and  spouse 
the  only  poor  means  which  he  has  of  resisting  the  just  doom 
which  is  therefore  at  her  pleasure  to  pass." 

He  cast  his  sword  before  the  feet  of  the  Princess,  while 
Irene  exclaimed,  weeping,  or  seeming  to  weep,  bitterly — "I 
have  indeed  read  of  such  scenes ;  but  could  I  ever  have 
thought  that  my  own  daughter  would  have  been  the  principal 
actress  in  one  of  them ;  could  I  ever  have  thought  that  her 
mind,  admired  by  every  one  as  a  palace  for  the  occupation 
of  Apollo  and  the  Muses,  should  not  have  had  room  enough 
for  the  humbler  but  more  amiable  virtue  of  feminine  charity 
and  compassion,  which  builds  itself  a  nest  in  the  bosom  of 
the  lowest  village  girl  ?  Do  thy  gifts,  accomplishments,  and 
talents  spread  hardness  as  well  as  polish  over  thy  heart  ?  If 
so,  a  hundred  times  better  renounce  them  all,  and  retain  in 
their  stead  those  gentle  and  domestic  virtues  which  are  the 
first  honors  of  the  female  heart.  A  woman  who  is  pitiless 
is  a  worse  monster  than  one  who  is  unsexed  by  any  other 
passion." 

"What  would  you  have  me  do  ?"  said  Anna.  "You, 
mother,  ought  to  know  better  than  I  that  the  life  of  my 
father  is  hardly  consistent  with  the  existence  of  this  bold 
and  cruel  man.  0, 1  am  sure  he  still  meditates  his  purpose  of 
conspiracy !  He  that  could  deceive  a  woman  in  the  man- 
ner he  has  done  me  will  not  relinquish  a  plan  which  is 
founded  upon  the  death  of  his  benefactor." 

"  You  do  me  injustice,  Anna,"  said  Briennius,  starting  up 
and  imprinting  a  kiss  upon  her  lips  ere  she  was  aware.  "  By 
this  caress,  the  last  that  will  pass  between  us,  I  swear  that, 
if  in  my  life  I  have  yielded  to  folly,  I  have,  notwithstanding, 
never  been  guilty  of  a  treason  of  the  heart  towards  a  woman 


312  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

as  superior  to  the  rest  of  the  female  world  in  talents  and 
accomplishments  as  in  personal  beauty/' 

The  Princess,  much  softened,  shook  her  head  as  she  replied 
— "Ah,  Nicephorus,  such  were  once  your  words;  such,  perhaps 
were  then  your  thoughts  ;  but  who  or  what  shall  now  war- 
rant to  me  the  veracity  of  either  ?  " 

"  Those  very  accomplishments  and  that  very  beauty  itself,'* 
replied  Nicephorus. 

*'  And  if  more  is  wanting,'*  said  Irene,  ''  thy  mother  will 
enter  her  security  for  him.  Deem  her  not  an  insufficient 
pledge  in  this  affair :  she  is  thy  mother,  and  the  wife  of 
Alexius  Comnenus,  interested  beyond  all  human  beings  in  the 
growth  and  increase  of  the  power  and  dignity  of  her  husband 
and  her  child  ;  and  one  who  sees  on  this  occasion  an  oppor- 
tunity for  exercising  generosity,  for  soldering  up  the  breaches 
of  the  imperial  house,  and  reconstructing  the  form  of 
government  upon  a  basis  which,  if  there  be  faith  and  grati- 
tude in  man,  shall  never  be  again  exposed  to  hazard," 

'^  To  the  reality  of  that  faith  and  gratitude  then,"  said 
the  Princess,"  "we  must  trust  implicitly,  as  it  is  your  will, 
mother  ;  although  even  my  own  knowledge  of  the  subject, 
both  through  study  and  experience  of  the  world,  has  called 
me  to  observe  the  rashness  of  such  confidence.  But  although 
we  two  may  forgive  Nicephorus's  errors,  the  Emperor  is 
still  the  person  to  whom  the  final  reference  must  be  had,  both 
as  to  pardon  and  favor." 

"  Fear  not  Alexius,"  answered  her  mother ;  "  he  will 
speak  determinedly  and  decidedly,  but,  if  he  acts  not  in  the 
very  moment  of  forming  the  resolution,  it  is  no  more  to  be 
relied  on  than  an  icicle  in  time  of  thaw.  Do  thou  apprise 
me,  if  thou  canst,  what  the  Emperor  is  at  present  doing, 
and  take  my  word  I  will  find  means  to  bring  him  round  to 
our  opinion." 

"  Must  I  then  betray  secrets  which  my  father  has  entrusted 
to  me  ?"  said  the  Princess,  "and  to  one  who  has  so  lately 
held  the  character  of  his  avowed  enemy  ?" 

"  Call  it  not  betray,"  said  Irene,  "  since  it  is  written,  thou 
shalt  betray  no  one,  least  of  all  thy  father,  and  the  father  of 
the  empire.  Yet  again  it  is  written  by  the  holy  Luke,  that 
men  shall  be  betrayed,  both  by  parents  and  brethren,  and 
kinsfolk,  and  friends,  and  therefore  surely  also  by  daugh- 
ters ;  by  which  I  only  mean  thou  shalt  discover  to  us  thy 
father's  secrets,  so  far  as  may  enable  us  to  save  the  life  of 
thy  husband.  The  necessity  of  the  case  excuses  whatever 
.  may  be  otherwise  considered  as  irregular/* 


COUNT  ROBEBT  OF  PABIS  813 

"Be  it  so  then,  mother.  Having  yielded  my  consent, 
perhaps  too  easily,  to  snatch  this  malefactor  from  my  father's 
justice,  I  am  sensible  I  must  secure  his  safety  by  such  meana 
as  are  in  my  power.  I  left  my  father  at  the  bottom  of  thoso 
stairs  called  the  Pit  of  Archeron,  in  the  cell  of  a  blind  man, 
to  whom  he  gave  the  name  of  Ursel.^' 

^'  Holy  Mary  !  "  exclaimed  the  Empress,  *'  thou  hast 
named  a  name  which  has  been  long  unspoken  in  the  open 
air." 

"  Has  the  Emperor's  sense  of  his  danger  from  the  living, *' 
said  the  Cassar,  "  induced  him  to  invoke  the  dead  ?  for  Ursel 
has  been  no  living  man  for  the  space  of  three  years. '^ 

*'  It  matters  not,"  said  Anna  Comnena  ;  "  I  tell  you  true. 
My  father  even  now  held  conference  with  a  miserable-looking 
prisoner  whom  he  so  named." 

" It  is  a  danger  the  more,"  said  the  Cassar  :  "he  cannot 
have  forgotten  the  zeal  with  which  I  embraced  the  cause  of 
the  present  emperor  against  his  own  ;  and  so  soon  as  he  is 
at  liberty,  he  will  study  to  avenge  it.  For  this  we  must 
endeavor  to  make  some  provision,  though  it  increases  our 
difficulties.  Sit  down  then,  my  gentle,  my  beneficent  mother; 
and  thou,  my  wife,  who  hast  preferred  thy  love  for  an  un- 
worthy husband  to  the  suggestions  of  jealous  passion  and  of 
headlong  revenge,  sit  down,  and  let  us  see  in  what  manner 
it  may  be  in  our  power,  consistently  with  your  duty  to  the 
Emperdr,  to  bring  our  broken  vessel  securely  into  port." 

He  employed  much  natural  grace  of  manner  in  handing 
the  mother  and  daughter  to  their  seats ;  and,  taking  his 
place  confidentially  between  them,  all  were  soon  engaged  in 
concerting  what  measures  should  be  taken  for  the  morrow, 
not  forgetting  such  as  should  at  once  have  the  effect  of  pre- 
serving the  Cassar's  life,  and  at  the  same  time  of  securing 
the  Grecian  empire  against  the  conspiracy  of  which  he  had 
been  the  chief  instigator.  Briennius  ventured  to  hint  that 
perhaps  the  best  way  would  be  to  suffer  the  conspiracy  to 
proceed  as  originally  intended,  pledging  his  own  faith  that 
the  rights  of  Alexius  should  be  held  inviolate  during  the 
struggle  ;  but  his  influence  over  the  Empress  and  her 
daughter  did  not  extend  to  obtaining  so  great  a  trust. 
They  plainly  protested  against  permitting  him  to  leave  the 
palace,  or  taking  the  least  share  in  the  confusion  which  to- 
morrow was  certain  to  witness. 

"You  forget,  noble  ladies,"  said  the  Caesar,  "that  my 
honor  is  concerned  in  meeting  the  Count  of  Paris." 

' '  Pshaw  !  tell  me  not  of  your  honor,   Briennius,'*  said 


314  WA  VEBLEY  NO  VELS 

Anna  Comnena  ;  *'  do  I  not  well  know  that,  although  the 
honor  of  the  Western  knights  be  a  species  of  Moloch,  a  flesh- 
devouring,  blood-quaffing  demon,  yet  that  which  is  the 
god  of  idolatry  to  the  Eastern  warriors,  though  equally  loud 
and  noisy  in  the  hall,  is  far  less  implacable  in  the  field  ? 
Believe  not  that  I  have  forgiven  great  injuries  and  insults, 
in  order  to  take  such  false  coin  as  honor  in  payment.  Your 
ingenuity  is  but  poor,  if  you  cannot  devise  some  excuse 
which  will  satisfy  the  Greeks  ;  and  in  good  sooth,  Briennius, 
to  this  battle  you  go  not,  whether  for  your  good  or  for  your 
ill.  Believe  not  that  I  will  consent  to  your  meeting  either 
Count  or  Countess,  whether  in  warlike  combat  or  amorous 
parley.  So  you  may  at  a  word  count  upon  remaining  pris- 
oner here  until  the  hour  appointed  for  such  gross  folly  be 
past  and  over.^' 

The  CaBsar,  perhaps,  was  not  in  his  heart  angry  that  his 
wife's  pleasure  was  so  bluntly  and  resolutely  expressed  against 
the  intended  combat.  ^^If,"  said  he,  '^you  are  determined 
to  take  my  honor  into  your  own  keeping,  I  am  here  for  the 
present  your  prisoner,  nor  have  I  the  means  of  interfering 
with  your  pleasure.  When  once  at  liberty,  the  free  exercise 
of  my  valor  and  my  lance  is  once  more  my  own." 

'*  Be  it  so,  sir  paladin,'^  said  the  Princess,  very  composedly. 
''  I  have  good  hope  that  neither  of  them  will  involve  you 
with  any  of  yon  daredevils  of  Paris,  whether  male  or  female, 
and  that  we  will  regulate  the  pitch  to  which  your  courage 
soars  by  the  estimation  of  Greek  philosophy,  and  the  Judg- 
ment of  our  blessed  Lady  of  Mercy,  not  her  of  the  Broken 
Lances. '' 

At  this  moment,  an  authoritative  knock  at  the  door 
alarmed  the  consultation  of  the  Caesar  and  the  ladies. 


CHAPTEE  XXVII 

Physician.    Be  comforted,  good  madam  ;  the  great  rage, 
You  see,  is  cured  in  him  ;  and  yet  it  is  danger 
To  make  him  even  o'er  the  time  he  has  lost. 
Desire  him  to  go  in ;  trouble  him  no  more, 
Till  further  settling. 

King  Lear, 

We  left  the  Emperor  Alexius  Comnenus  at  the  bottom  of 
a  subterranean  vault,  with  a  lamp  expiring,  and  having 
charge  of  a  prisoner  who  seemed  himself  nearly  reduced  to 
the  same  extremity.  For  the  first  two  or  three  moments  he 
listened  after  his  daughter's  retiring  footsteps.  He  grew 
impatient,  and  began  to  long  for  her  to  return  before  it  was 
possible  she  could  have  traversed  the  path  betwixt  him  and 
the  summit  of  these  gloomy  stairs.  A  minute  or  two  he  en- 
dured with  patience  the  absence  of  the  assistance  which  he 
had  sent  her  to  summon  ;  but  strange  suspicions  began  to 
cross  his  imagination.  Could  it  be  possible  ?  Had  she 
changed  her  purpose  on  account  of  the  hard  words  which  he 
had  used  towards  her  ?  Had  she  resolved  to  leave  her  father 
to  his  fate  in  his  hour  of  utmost  need  ?  and  was  he  to  rely 
no  longer  upon  the  assistance  which  he  had  implored  her  to 
send? 

The  short  time  which  the  Princess  trifled  away  in  a  sort 
of  gallantry  with  the  Varangian  Hereward  was  magnified 
tenfold  by  the  impatience  of  the  Emperor,  who  began  to 
think  that  she  was  gone  to  fetch  the  accomplices  of  the 
Caesar  to  assault  their  prince  in  his  defenseless  condition, 
and  carry  into  effect  their  half- disconcerted  conspiracy. 

After  a  considerable  time,  filled  up  with  this  feeling  of 
agonizing  uncertainty,  he  began  at  length,  more  composedly, 
to  recollect  the  little  chance  there  was  that  the  Princess 
would,  even  for  her  own  sake,  resentful  as  she  was  in  the 
highest  degree  of  her  husband's  ill-behavior,  join  her  re- 
sources to  his,  to  the  destruction  of  one  who  had  so  generally 
showed  himself  an  indulgent  and  affectionate  father.  When 
he  had  adopted  this  better  mood,  a  step  was  heard  upon  the 
staircase,  and,  after  a  long  and  unequal  descent,  Hereward, 
in  his  heavy  armor,  at  length  coolly  arrived  at  the  bottODi 

315 


316  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

of  the  steps.  Behind  him,  panting  and  trembling,  .partly 
with  cold  and  partly  with  terror,  came  Douban,  the  slave 
well  skilled  in  medicine. 

"  Welcome,  good  Edward  !  Welcome,  Douban  ! "  he  said, 
*'  whose  medical  skill  is  sufficiently  able  to  counterbalance 
the  weight  of  years  which  hang  upon  him/' 

*'  Your  Highness  is  gracious "  said  Douban  ;  but  what 

he  would  have  farther  said  was  cut  off  by  a  violent  fit  of  cough- 
ing, the  consequence  of  his  age,  of  his  feeble  habit,  of  the 
damps  of  the  dungeon,  and  the  rugged  exercise  of  descend- 
ing the  long  and  difficult  staircase. 

*'  Thou  art  unaccustomed  to  visit  thy  patients  in  so  rough 
an  abode,"  said  Alexius  ;  ''  and,  nevertheless,  to  the  damps 
of  these  dreary  regions  state  necessity  obliges  us  to  confine 
many  who  are  no  less  our  beloved  subjects  in  reality  than 
they  are  in  title." 

The  medical  man  continued  his  cough,  perhaps  as  an 
apology  for  not  giving  that  answer  of  assent  with  which  his 
conscience  did  not  easily  permit  him  to  reply  to  an  observa- 
tion which,  though  stated  by  one  who  should  know  the  fact, 
seemed  not  to  be  in  itself  altogether  likely. 

''  Yes,  my  Douban,"  said  the  Emperor,  ''  in  this  strong 
case  of  steel  and  adamant  have  we  found  it  necessary  to 
inclose  the  redoubted  Ursel,  whose  fame  is  spread  through 
the  whole  world,  both  for  military  skill,  political  wisdom, 
personal  bravery,  and  other  noble  gifts,  which  we  have  been 
obliged  to  obscure  for  a  time,  in  order  that  we  might,  at  the 
fittest  conjuncture,  which  is  now  arrived,  restore  them  to 
the  world  in  their  full  luster.  Feel  his  pulse,  therefore, 
Douban  ;  consider  him  as  one  who  hath  suffered  severe  con- 
finement, with  all  its  privations,  and  is  about  to  be  suddenly 
restored  to  the  full  enjoyment  of  life  and  whatever  renders 
life  valuable." 

^'  I  will  do  my  best,"  said  Douban ;  ''  but  your  Majesty 
must  consider  that  we  work  upon  a  frail  and  exhausted  sub- 
ject, whose  health  seems  already  well-nigh  gone,  and  may 
perhaps  vanish  in  an  instant,  like  this  pale  and  trembling 
light,  whose  precarious  condition  the  life-breath  of  this  un- 
fortunate patient  seems  closely  to  resemble." 

"  Desire,  therefore,  good  Douban,  one  or  two  of  the  mutes 
who  serve  in  the  interior,  and  who  have  repeatedly  been  thy 
assistants  in  such  cases — or  stay — Edward,  thy  motions  will 
be  more  speedy ;  do  thou  go  for  the  mutes  ;  make  them 
bring  some  kind,  of  litter  to  transport  the  patient ;  and, 
Douban,  do  thou  superintend  the  whole.     Transport  him 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  317 

instantly  to  a  suitable  apartment,  only  taking  care  that  it 
be  secret,  and  let  him  enjoy  the  comforts  of  the  bath,  and 
whatever  else  may  tend  to  restore  his  feeble  animation, 
keeping  in  mind  that  he  must,  if  possible,  appear  to-morrow 
in  the  field." 

"  That  will  be  hard,"  said  Douban,  *'  after  having  been, 
it  would  appear,  subjected  to  such  fare  and  such  usage  as  his 
fluctuating  pulse  intimates  but  too  plainly." 

'^'Twas  a  mistake  of  the  dungeon-keeper,  the  inhuman 
villain,  who  should  not  go  without  his  reward,"  continued 
the  Emperor,  "  had  not  Heaven  already  bestowed  it  by  the 
strange  means  of  a  sylvan  man  or  native  of  the  woods,  who 
yesterday  put  to  death  the  jailer  who  meditated  the  death  of 
his  prisoner.  Yes,  my  dear  Douban,  a  private  sentinel  of 
our  guards  called  the  Immortal  had  well-nigh  annihilated 
this  flower  of  our  trust,  whom  for  a  time  we  were  compelled 
to  immure  in  secret.  Then,  indeed,  a  rude  hammer  had 
dashed  to  pieces  an  unparalleled  brilliant,  but  the  fates  have 
arrested  such  a  misfortune." 

The  assistance  having  arrived,  the  physician,  who  seemed 
more  accustomed  to  act  than  to  speak,  directed  a  bath  to  be 
prepared  with  medicated  herbs,  aud  gave  it  as  his  opinion 
that  the  patient  should  not  be  disturbed  till  to-morrow's  sun 
was  high  in  the  heavens.  Ursel  accordingly  was  assisted  to 
the  bath,  which  was  employed  according  to  the  directions  of 
the  physician,  but  without  affording  any  material  symptoms 
of  recovery.  From  thence  he  was  transferred  to  a  cheerful 
bedchamber,  opening  by  an  ample  window  to  one  of  the 
terraces  of  the  palace,  which  commanded  an  extensive  pros- 
pect. These  operations  were  performed  upon  a  frame  so 
extremely  stupefled  by  previous  suffering,  so  dead  to  the 
usual  sensations  of  existence,  that  it  was  not  till  the  sensi- 
bility should  be  gradually  restored,  by  friction  of  the  stif- 
fened limbs  and  other  means,  that  the  leech  hoped  the  mists 
of  the  intellect  should  at  length  begin  to  clear  away. 

Douban  readily  undertook  to  obey  the  commands  of  the 
Emperor,  and  remained  by  the  bed  of  the  patient  until  the 
dawn  of  morning,  ready  to  support  nature  as  far  as  the  skill 
of  leechcraft  admitted. 

From  the  mutes,  much  more  accustomed  to  be  the  execu- 
tioners of  the  Emperor's  displeasure  than  of  his  humanity, 
Douban  selected  one  man  of  milder  mood,  and  by  Alexius's 
order  made  him  understand  that  the  task  in  which  he  was 
engaged  was  to  be  kept  most  strictly  secret,  while  the  har- 
dened slave  was  astonished  to  find  that  the  attentions  paid 


318  WA  VERLET  NOVELS 

to  the  sick  were  to  be  rendered  with  yet  more  mystery  than 
the  bloody  offices  of  death  and  torture. 

The  passive  patient  received  the  various  acts  of  attention 
which  were  rendered  to  him  in  silence  ;  and  if  not  totally 
without  consciousness,  at  least  without  a  distinct  compre- 
hension of  their  object.  After  the  soothing  operation  of  the 
bath,  and  the  voluptuous  exchange  of  the  rude  and  musty 
pile  of  straw  on  which  he  had  stretched  himself  for  years 
for  a  couch  of  the  softest  down,  Ursel  was  presented  with  a 
sedative  draught,  slightly  tinctured  with  an  opiate.  The 
balmy  restorer  of  nature  came  thus  invoked,  and  the  cap- 
tive sunk  into  a  delicious  slumber  long  unknown  to  him, 
and  which  seemed  to  occupy  equally  his  mental  faculties  and 
his  bodily  frame,  while  the  features  were  released  from  their 
rigid  tenor,  and  the  posture  of  the  limbs,  no  longer  dis- 
turbed by  fits  of  cramp  and  sudden  and  agonizing  twists  and 
throes,  seemed  changed  for  a  placid  state  of  the  most  perfect 
ease  and  tranquillity. 

The  morn  was  already  coloring  the  horizon,  and  the  fresh- 
ness of  the  breeze  of  dawn  had  insinuated  itself  into  the 
lofty  halls  of  the  Palace  of  the  Blacquernal,  when  a  gentle 
tap  at  the  door  of  the  chamber  awakened  Douban,  who,  un- 
disturbed from  the  calm  state  of  his  patient,  had  indulged 
himself  in  a  brief  repose.  The  door  opened,  and  a  figure 
appeared,  disguised  in  the  robes  worn  by  an  officer  of  the 
palace,  and  concealed  beneath  an  artificial  beard  of  great 
size,  and  of  a  white  color,  the  features  of  the  Emperor  him- 
self. ''  Douban,^'  said  Alexius,  ''  how  fares  it  with  thy  pa- 
tient, whose  safety  is  this  day  of  such  consequence  to  the 
Grecian  state  ?" 

"  Well,  my  lord,"  replied  the  physician — *'  excellently 
well ;  and  if  he  is  not  now  disturbed,  I  will  wager  whatever 
skill  I  possess  that  nature,  assisted  by  the  art  of  the  physi- 
cian, will  triumph  over  the  damps  and  the  unwholesome  air 
of  the  impure  dungeon.  Only  be  prudent,  my  lord,  and  let 
not  an  untimely  haste  bring  this  Ursel  forward  into  the  con- 
test ere  he  has  arranged  the  disturbed  current  of  his  ideas, 
and  recovered,  in  some  degree,  the  spring  of  his  mind  and 
the  powers  of  his  body." 

''  I  will  rule  my  impatience,"  said  the  Emperor,  "  or 
rather,  Douban,  I  will  be  ruled  by  thee.  Thinkest  thou  he 
is  awake  ?  " 

'^  I  am  inclined  to  think  so,"  said  the  leech,  *'  but  he  opens 
not  his  eyes,  and  seems  to  me  as  if  he  absolutely  resisted  the 
natural  impulse  to  rouse  himself  and  look  around  him." 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  319 

"  Speak  to  him,"  said  the  Emperor,  "  let  us  know  what 
is  passing  in  his  mind.'' 

*'  It  is  at  some  risk/'  replied  the  physician,  ''  but  you  shall 
be  obeyed.  Ursel,"  he  said,  approaching  the  bed  of  his 
blind  patient ;  and  then,  in  a  louder  tone,  he  repeated  again 
_^^Ursel— Ursel!" 

"  Peace— hush  ! "  muttered  the  patient ;  "  disturb  not  the 
blest  in  their  ecstacy,  nor  again  recall  the  most  miserable  of 
mortals  to  finish  the  draught  of  bitterness  which  his  fate  had 
compelled  him  to  commence." 

"Again — again,"  said  the  Emperor,  aside  to  Douban-— 
"  try  him  yet  again  ;  it  is  of  importance  for  me  to  know  in 
what  degree  he  possesses  his  senses,  or  in  what  measure  they 
have  disappeared  from  him." 

"I  would  not,  however,"  said  the  physician,  "be  the  rash 
and  guilty  person  who,  by  an  ill-timed  urgency,  should  pro- 
duce a  total  alienation  of  mind,  and  plange  him  back  either 
into  absolute  lunacy  or  produce  a  stupor  in  which  he  might 
remain  for  a  long  period." 

"  Surely  not,"  replied  the  Emperor  ;  "  my  commands  are 
those  of  one  Christian  to  another,  nor  do  I  wish  them  farther 
obeyed  than  as  they  are  consistent  with  the  laws  of  God  and 
man." 

He  paused  for  a  moment  after  this  declaration,  and  yet 
but  few  minutes  had  elapsed  ere  he  again  urged  the  leech  to 
pursue  the  interrogation  of  his  patient.  "  If  you  hold  me 
not  competent,"  said  Douban,  somewhat  vain  of  the  trust 
necessarily  reposed  in  him,  "  to  judge  of  the  treatment  of 
my  patient,  your  Imperial  Highness  must  take  the  risk  and 
the  trouble  upon  yourself." 

"  Marry,  I  shall,"  said  the  Emperor,  "  for  the  scruples  of 
leeches  are  not  to  be  indulged  when  the  fate  of  kingdoms  and 
the  lives  of  monarchs  are  placed  against  them  in  the  scales. 
Kouse  thee,  my  noble  Ursel ;  hear  a  voice  with  which  thy 
ears  were  once  well  acquainted  welcome  thee  back  to  glory 
and  command.  Look  around  thee,  and  see  how  the  world 
smiles  to  welcome  thee  back  from  imprisonment  to  empire." 

"  Cunning  fiend,"  said  Ursel,  "  who  usest  the  most  wily 
baits  in  order  to  augment  the  misery  of  the  wretched  !  Know, 
tempter,  that  I  am  conscious  of  the  whole  trick  of  the  sooth- 
ing images  of  last  night — thy  baths,  thy  beds,  and  thy  bowers 
of  bliss  ;  but  sooner  shalt  thou  be  able  to  bring  a  smile  upon 
the  cheek  of  St.  Anthony  the  Eremite  than  induce  me  to 
curl  mine  after  the  fashion  of  earthly  voluptuaries." 

"  Try  it,  foolish  man,"  insisted  the  Emperor,  "  and  trust 


I 


320  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

to  the  evidence  of  thy  senses  for  the  reality  of  the  pleasures 
by  which  thou  art  now  surrounded  ;  or,  if  thou  art  obstinate 
in  thy  lack  of  faith,  tarry  as  thou  art  for  a  single  moment, 
and  I  will  bring  with  me  a  being  so  unparalleled  in  her  love- 
liness that  a  single  glance  of  her  were  worth  the  restoration 
of  thine  eyes,  were  it  only  to  look  upon  her  for  a  moment." 
So  saying,  he  left  the  apartment. 

^'Traitor,"  said  Ursel,  *'and  deceiver  of  old,  bring  no  one 
hither  ;  and  strive  not,  by  shadowy  and  ideal  forms  of  beauty, 
to  increase  the  delusion  that  gilds  my  prison-house  for  a 
moment,  in  order,  doubtless,  to  destroy  totally  the  spark  of 
reason,  and  then  exchange  this  earthly  hell  for  a  dungeon 
in  the  infernal  regions  themselves." 

^'  His  mind  is  somewhat  shattered,"  mused  the  physician, 
''  which  is  often  the  consequence  of  a  long  solitary  confine- 
ment. I  marvel  much,"  was  his  farther  thought,  *^  if  the 
Emperor  can  shape  out  any  rational  service  which  this  man 
can  render  him,  after  being  so  long  immured  in  so  horrible 
a  dungeon.  Thou  thinkest,  then,"  continued  he,  addressing 
the  patient,  '^  that  the  seeming  release  of  last  night,  with  its 
baths  and  refreshments,  was  only  a  delusive  dream,  without 
any  reality  ?  " 

*' Ay — what  else  ?"  answered  Ursel. 

"  And  that  the  arousing  thyself,  as  we  desire  thee  to  do, 
would  be  but  a  resigning  to  a  vain  temptation,  in  order  to 
wake  to  more  unhappiness  than  formerly  ?" 

*'  Even  so,"  returned  the  patient. 

''  What,  then,  are  thy  thoughts  of  the  Emperor,  by  whose 
command  thou  sufferest  so  severe  a  restraint  ?  " 

Perhaps  Douban  wished  he  had  forborne  this  question,  for, 
in  the  very  moment  when  he  put  it,  the  door  of  the  chamber 
opened  and  the  Emperor  entered,  with  his  daughter  hang- 
ing upon  his  arm,  dressed  with  simplicity,  yet  with  becom- 
ing splendor.  She  had  found  time,  it  seems,  to  change  her 
dress  for  a  white  robe,  which  resembled  a  kind  of  mourning, 
the  chief  ornament  of  which  was  a  diamond  chaplet,  of  in- 
estimable value,  which  surrounded  and  bound  the  long  sable 
tresses,  that  reached  from  her  head  to  her  waist.  Terrified 
almost  to  death,  she  had  been  surprised  by  her  father  in  the 
company  of  her  husband  the  Caesar  and  her  mother  ;  and 
the  same  thundering  mandate  had  at  once  ordered  Briennius, 
in  the  character  of  a  more  than  suspected  traitor,  under  the 
custody  of  a  strong  guard  of  Varangians  and  commanded 
her  to  attend  her  father  to  the  bedchamber  of  Ursel,  in 
which  she  now  stood;  resolved,  however,  that  she  would 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  321 

stick  by  the  sinking  fortunes  of  her  husband,  even  in  the 
last  extremity,  yet  no  less  determined  that  she*  would  not 
rely  upon  her  own  entreaties  or  remonstrances  until  she 
should  see  whether  her  father's  interference  was  likely  to  re- 
assume  a  resolved  and  positive  character.  Hastily  as  the 
plans  of  Alexius  had  been  formed,  and  hastily  as  they  had 
been  disconcerted  by  accident,  there  remained  no  slight 
chance  that  he  might  be  forced  to  come  round  to  the  purpose 
on  which  his  wife  and  daughter  had  fixed  their  heart,  the 
forgiveness,  namely,  of  the  guilty  Nicephorns  Briennius. 
To  bis  astonishment,  and  not  perhaps  greatly  to  his  satis- 
faction, he  heard  the  patient  deeply  engaged  with  the  physi- 
cian in  canvassing  his  own  character. 

"  Think  not,"  said  Ursel  in  reply  to  him,  *'  that,  though 
I  am  immured  in  this  dungeon,  and  treated  as  something 
worse  than  an  outcast  of  humanity — and  although  I  am, 
moreover,  deprived  of  my  eyesight,  the  dearest  gift  of 
Heaven — think  not,  I  say,  though  I  suffer  all  this  by  the 
cruel  will  of  Alexius  Comnenus,  that  therefore  I  hold  him 
to  be  mine  enemy  ;  on  the  contrary,  it  is  by  his  means  that 
the  blinded  and  miserable  prisoner  has  been  taught  to  seek 
a  liberty  far  more  unconstrained  than  this  poor  earth  can 
afford,  and  a  vision  far  more  clear  than  any  Mount  Pisgah 
on  this  wretched  side  of  the  grave  can  give  us.  Shall  I 
therefore  account  the  Emperor  among  mine  enemies — he 
who  has  taught  me  the  vanity  of  earthly  things,  the  nothing- 
ness of  earthly  enjoyments,  and  the  pure  hope  of  a  better 
world,  as  a  certain  exchange  for  the  misery  of  the  present  ? 
No.'' 

The  Emperor  had  stood  somewhat  disconcerted  at  the  be- 
ginning of  this  speech,  but  hearing  it  so  very  unexpectedly 
terminate,  as  he  was  willing  to  suppose,  much  in  his  own 
favor,  he  threw  himself  into  an  attitude  which  was  partly 
that  of  a  modest  person  listening  to  his  own  praises,  and 
partly  that  of  a  man  highly  struck  with  the  commendations 
heaped  upon  him  by  a  generous  adversary. 

"  My  friend,"  he  said  aloud,  "how  truly  do  you  read  my 
purpose,  when  you  suppose  that  the  knowledge  which  men 
of  your  disposition  can  extract  from  evil  was  all  the  experi- 
ence which  I  wished  you  to  derive  from  a  captivity  protracted 
by  adverse  circumstances  far — very  far  beyond  my  wishes  ! 
Let  me  embrace  the  generous  man  who  knows  so  well  how 
to  construe  the  purpose  of  a  perplexed  but  still  faithfu] 
friend." 

The  patient  raised  himself  in  his  bed. 


322  WA  VEBLEY  NOVELS 

''  Hold,  there/'  he  said  ;  *'  methinks  my  faculties  hegin 
to  collect  'themselves.  Yes/'  he  muttered,  "that  is  the 
treacherous  voice  which  first  bid  me  welcome  as  a  friend,  and 
then  commanded  fiercely  that  I  should  be  deprived  of  the 
sight  of  my  eyes.  Increase  thy  rigor  as  thou  wilt,  Comne- 
nus — add,  if  thou  canst,  to  the  torture  of  my  confinement ; 
but,  since  I  cannot  see  thy  hypocritical  and  inhuman  fea- 
tures, spare  me,  in  mercy,  the  sound  of  a  voice  more  dis- 
tressing to  mine  ear  than  toads,  than  serpents,  than  whatever 
nature  has  most  offensive  and  disgusting.'* 

This  speech  was  delivered  with  so  much  energy,  that  it  was 
in  vain  that  the  Emperor  strove  to  interrupt  its  tenor,  al- 
though he  himself,  as  well  as  Douban  and  his  daughter, 
heard  a  great  deal  more  of  the  language  of  unadorned  and 
natural  passion  than  he  had  counted  upon. 

"  Kaise  thy  head,  rash  man,''  he  said,  "  and  charm  thy 
tongue,  ere  it  proceed  in  a  strain  which  may  cost  thee  dear. 
Look  at  me,  and  see  if  I  have  not  reserved  a  reward  capable 
of  atoning  for  all  the  evil  which  thy  folly  may  charge  to  my 
account." 

Hitherto  the  prisoner  had  remained  with  his  eyes  obsti- 
nately shut,  regarding  the  imperfect  recollection  he  had  of 
sights  which  had  been  before  his  eyes  the  foregoing  evening 
as  the  mere  suggestion  of  a  deluded  imagination,  if  not 
actually  presented  by  some  seducing  spirit.  But  now,  when 
his  eyes  fairly  encountered  the  stately  figure  of  the  Emperor, 
and  the  graceful  form  of  his  lovely  daughter,  painted  in  the 
tender  rays  of  the  morning  dawn,  he  ejaculated  faintly,  "  I 
see — I  see ! "  and  with  that  ejaculation  fell  back  on  the 
pillow  in  a  swoon,  which  instantly  found  employment  for 
Douban  and  his  restoratives. 

''  A  most  wonderful  cure  indeed  !"  exclaimed  the  physi- 
cian, "  and  the  height  of  my  wishes  would  be  to  possess  such 
another  miraculous  restorative." 

"  Fool ! "  said  the  Emperor  ;  "  canst  thou  not  conceive  that 
what  has  never  been  taken  away  is  restored  with  little  diffi- 
culty ?  He  was  made,"  he  said,  lowering  his  voice,  "  to 
undergo  a  painful  operation,  which  led  him  to  believe  that 
the  organs  of  sight  were  destroyed  ;  and  as  light  scarcely 
ever  visited  him,  and  when  it  did,  only  in  doubtful  and 
almost  invisible  glimmerings,  the  prevailing  darkness,  both 
physical  and  mental,  that  surrounded  him  prevented  him 
from  being  sensible  of  the  existence  of  that  precious  faculty, 
of  which  he  imagined  himself  bereft.  Perhaps  thou  wilt 
ask  my  reason  for  inflicting  upon  him  so  strange  a  deception? 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  323 

Simply  it  was  that,  being  by  it  conceived  incapable  of  reign- 
ing, his  memory  might  pass  out  of  the  minds  of  the  public, 
while,  at  the  same  time,  I  reserved  his  eyesight,  that,  in  case 
occasion  should  call,  it  might  be  in  my  power  once  more  to 
liberate  him  from  his  dungeon,  and  employ,  as  I  now  propose 
to  do,  his  courage  and  talents  in  the  service  of  the  empire, 
to  counterbalance  those  of  other  conspirators." 

"  And  can  your  Imperial  Highness,"  said  Douban,  *'  hope 
that  you  have  acquired  this  man^s  duty  and  affection  by  the 
conduct  you  have  observed  to  him  ?  " 

"  I  cannot  tell,"  answered  the  Emperor  ;  *'  that  must  be 
as  futurity  shall  determine.  All  I  know  is,  that  it  is  no 
fault  of  mine  if  Ursel  does  not  reckon  freedom  and  a  long 
course  of  empire — perhaps  sanctioned  by  an  alliance  with 
our  own  blood — and  the  continued  enjoyment  of  the  precious 
organs  of  eyesight,  of  which  a  less  scrupulous  man  would 
have  deprived  him,  against  a  maimed  and  darkened 
existence." 

"Since  such  is  your  Highnesses  opinion  and  resolution," 
said  Douban,  *'  it  is  for  me  to  aid  and  not  to  counteract  it. 
Permit  me,  therefore,  to  pray  your  Highness  and  the  Prin- 
cess to  withdraw,  that  I  may  use  such  remedies  as  may  con- 
firm a  mind  which  has  been  so  strangely  shaken,  and  restore 
to  him  fully  the  use  of  those  eyes  of  which  he  has  been  so 
long  deprived." 

"  I  am  content,  Douban,"  said  the  Emperor  ;  "  but  take 
notice,  Ursel  is  not  totally  at  liberty  until  he  has  expressed 
the  resolution  to  become  actually  mine.  It  may  behove  both 
him  and  thee  to  know  that,  although  there  is  no  purpose  of 
remitting  him  to  the  dungeons  of  the  Blacquernal  Palace, 
yet  if  he,  or  any  on  his  part,  should  aspire  to  head  a  party 
in  these  feverish  times,  by  the  honor  of  a  gentleman,  to 
swear  a  Prankish  oath,  he  shall  find  that  he  is  not  out  of  the 
reach  of  the  battle-axes  of  my  Varangians.  I  trust  to  thee 
to  communicate  this  fact,  which  concerns  alike  him  and  all 
who  have  interest  in  his  fortunes.  Come,  daughter,  we  will 
withdraw,  and  leave  the  leech  with  his  patient.  Take  notice, 
Douban,  it  is  of  importance  that  you  acquaint  me  the  very 
first  moment  when  the  patient  can  hold  rational  communica- 
tion with  me." 

Alexius  and  his  accomplished  daughter  departed  accord' 
ingly. 


CHAPTER  XXVin 

Sweet  are  the  uses  of  adversity, 

Which,  like  the  toad,  ugly  and  venomous, 

Bears  yet  a  precious  jewel  in  its  head. 

As  You  Like  It, 

Feom  a  terraced  roof  of  the  Blacquernal  Palace,  accessibl« 
by  a  sash-door,  which  opened  from  the  bedchamber  of  Ursel, 
there  was  commanded  one  of  the  most  lovely  and  striking 
views  which  the  romantic  neighborhood  of  Constantinople 
afforded. 

After  suffering  him  to  repose  and  rest  his  agitated  facul- 
ties, it  was  to  this  place  that  the  physician  led  his  patient ; 
for,  when  somewhat  composed,  he  had  of  himself  requested 
to  be  permitted  to  verify  the  truth  of  his  restored  eyesight 
by  looking  out  once  more  upon  the  majestic  face  of  nature. 

On  the  one  hand,  the  scene  which  he  beheld  was  a  master- 
piece of  human  art.  The  proud  city,  ornamented  with 
stately  buildings,  as  became  the  capital  of  the  world,  showed 
a  succession  of  glittering  spires  and  orders  of  architecture, 
some  of  them  chaste  and  simple,  like  those  the  capitals  of 
which  were  borrowed  from  baskets-full  of  acanthus  ;  some 
deriving  the  fluting  of  their  shafts  from  the  props  made 
originally  to  support  the  lances  of  the  earlier  Greeks — forms 
simple,  yet  more  graceful  in  their  simplicity  than  any  which 
human  ingenuity  has  been  able  since  to  invent.  With  the 
most  splendid  specimens  which  ancient  art  could  afford  of 
those  strictly  classical  models  were  associated  those  of  a  later 
age,  where  more  modern  taste  had  endeavored  at  improve- 
ment, and,  by  mixing  the  various  orders,  had  produced 
such  as  were  either  composite  or  totally  out  of  rule.  The 
size  of  the  buildings  in  which  they  were  displayed,  however, 
procured  them  respect  ;  nor  could  even  the  most  perfect 
judge  of  architecture  avoid  being  struck  by  the  grandeur  of 
their  extent  and  effect,  although  hurt  by  the  incorrectness 
of  the  taste  in  which  they  were  executed.  Arches  of 
triumph,  towers,  obelisks,  and  spires,  designed  for  various 
)j>urposes,  rose  up  into  the  air  in  confused  magnificence  ; 
while  the  lower  view  was  filled  by  the  streets  of  the  city,  th4 

324 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  325 

domestic  habitations  forming  long  narrow  alleys,  on  either 
side  of  which  the  houses  arose  to  various  and  unequal 
heights,  but,  being  generally  finished  with  terraced  cover- 
ings, thickset  with  plants  and  flowers,  and  fountains,  had, 
when  seen  from  an  eminence,  a  more  noble  and  interesting 
aspect  than  is  ever  afforded  by  the  sloping  and  uniform 
roofs  of  streets  in  the  capitals  of  the  north  of  Europe. 

It  has  taken  us  some  time  to  give  in  words  the  idea  which 
was  at  a  single  glance  conveyed  to  Ursel,  and  affected  him 
at  first  with  great  pain.  His  eyeballs  had  been  long 
strangers  to  that  daily  exercise  which  teaches  us  the  habit 
of  correcting  the  scenes  as  they  appear  to  our  sight,  by  the 
knowledge  which  we  derive  from  the  use  of  our  other  senses. 
His  idea  of  distance  was  so  confused  that  it  seemed  as  if 
all  the  spires,  turrets,  and  minarets  which  he  beheld  were 
crowded  forward  upon  his  eyeballs,  and  almost  touching 
them.  With  a  shriek  of  horror,  Ursel  turned  himself  to 
the  further  side,  and  cast  his  eyes  upon  a  different  scene. 
Here  also  he  saw  towers,  steeples,  and  turrets,  but  they  were 
those  of  the  churches  and  public  buildings  beneath  his  feet, 
reflected  from  the  dazzling  piece  of  water  which  formed  the 
harbor  of  Constantinople,  and  which,  from  the  abundance  of 
wealth  which  it  transported  to  the  city,  was  well  termed  the 
Golden  Horn.  In  one  place,  this  superb  basin  was  lined 
with  quays,  where  stately  dromonds  and  argosies  unloaded 
their  wealth ;  while,  by  the  shore  of  the  haven,  galleys, 
feluccas,  and  other  small  craft  idly  flapped  the  singularly 
shaped  and  snow-white  pinions  which  served  them  for  sails. 
In  other  places,  the  Golden  Horn  lay  shrouded  in  a  verdant 
mantle  of  trees,  where  the  private  gardens  of  wealthy  or 
distinguished  individuals,  or  places  of  public  recreation,  shot 
down  upon  and  were  bounded  by  the  glassy  waters. 

On  the  Bosphorus,  which  might  be  seen  in  the  distance, 
the  little  fleet  of  Tancred  was  lying  in  the  same  station  they 
had  gained  during  the  night,  which  was  fitted  to  command 
the  opposite  landing ;  this  their  general  had  preferred  to 
a  midnight  descent  upon  Constantinople,  not  knowing 
whether,  so  coming,  they  might  be  received  as  friends  or 
enemies.  This  delay,  however,  had  given  the  Greeks  an 
opportunity,  either  by  the  orders  of  Alexius,  or  the  equally 
powerful  mandates  of  some  of  the  conspirators,  to  tow  six 
ships  of  war,  full  of  armed  men,  and  provided  with  the  mari- 
time offensive  weapons  peculiar  to  the  Greeks  at  that  period, 
which  they  had  moored  so  as  exactly  to  cover  the  place 
where  the  troops  of  Tancred  must  necessarily  land- 


326  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

This  preparation  gave  some  surprise  to  the  valiant  Tancred, 
who  did  not  know  that  such  vessels  had  arrived  in  the  harbor 
from  Lemnos  on  the  preceding  night.  The  undaunted 
courage  of  that  prince  was,  however,  in  no  respect  to  be 
skaken  by  the  degree  of  unexpected  danger  with  which  his 
adventure  now  aj)peared  to  be  attended. 

This  splendid  view,  from  the  description  of  which  we  have 
in  some  degree  digressed,  was  seen  by  the  physician  and 
Ursel  from  a  terrace  the  loftiest  almost  on  the  Palace  of  the 
Blacquernal.  To  the  cityward,  it  was  bounded  by  a  solid 
wall  of  considerable  height,  giving  a  resting-place  for  the 
roof  of  a  lower  building,  which,  sloping  outward,  broke  to 
the  view  the  vast  height,  unobscured  otherwise  save  by  a 
high  and  massy  balustrade,  composed  of  bronze,  which,  to 
the  havenward,  sunk  sheer  down  upon  an  uninterrupted 
precipice. 

No  sooner,  therefore,  had  Ursel  turned  his  eyes  that  way 
than,  though  placed  far  from  the  brink  of  the  terrace,  he 
exclaimed,  with  a  shriek,  '^Save  me — save  me,  if  you  are 
not  indeed  the  destined  executors  of  the  Emperor's  will.'' 

''We  are  indeed  such,"  said  Douban,  ''to  save  and  if  pos- 
sible to  bring  you  to  complete  recovery  ;  but  by  no  means 
to  do  you  injury,  or  to  suffer  it  to  be  offered  by  others." 

" Guard  me  then  from  myself,"  said  Ursel,  "and  save  me 
from  the  reeling  and  insane  desire  which  I  feel  to  plunge 
myself  into  the  abyss  to  the  edge  of  which  you  have  guided 
me." 

"  Such  a  giddy  and  dangerous  temptation  is,"  said  the 
physician,  "  common  to  those  who  have  not  for  a  long  time 
looked  down  from  precipitous  heights,  and  are  suddenly 
brought  to  them.  Nature,  however  bounteous,  hath  not 
provided  for  the  cessation  of  our  faculties  for  years  and  for 
their  sudden  resumption  in  full  strength  and  vigor.  An 
interval,  longer  or  shorter,  must  needs  intervene.  Can  you 
not  believe  this  terrace  a  safe  station  while  you  have  my 
support  and  that  of  this  faithful  slave  ?" 

"Certainly,"  said  Ursel;  "but  permit  me  to  turn  my 
face  towards  this  stone  wall,  for  I  cannot  bear  to  look  at  the 
flimsy  piece  of  wire  which  is  the  only  battlement  of  defense 
that  interposes  betwixt  me  and  the  precipice."  He  spoke 
of  the  bronze  balustrade,  six  feet  high,  and  massive  in  pro- 
portion. Thus  saying,  and  holding  fast  by  the  physician's 
arm,  Ursel,  though  himself  a  younger  and  more  able  man, 
trembled,  and  moved  his  feet  as  slowly  as  if  made  of  lead, 
until  he  reached  the  sashed-door,  where  stood  a  kind  of  bal- 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  821 

cony  seat,  in  which  he  placed  himself.  '^Heve/'  he  said, 
*'  will  I  remain." 

"  And  here/'  said  Douban,  "  will  I  make  the  communica- 
tion of  the  Emperor,  which  it  is  necessary  you  should  be  pre- 
pared to  reply  to.  It  places  you,  you  will  observe,  at  your 
own  disposal  for  liberty  or  cai)tivity,  but  it  conditions  for 
your  resigning  that  sweet  but  sinful  morsel  termed  revenge, 
which,  I  must  not  conceal  from  you,  chance  appears  willing 
to  put  into  your  hand.  You  know  the  degree  of  rivalry  in 
which  you  have  been  held  by  the  Emperor,  and  you  know 
4,he  measure  of  evil  you  have  sustained  at  his  hand.  The 
question  is.  Can  you  forgive  what  has  taken  place  ?  " 

*'  Let  me  wrap  my  head  round  with  my  mantle,"  said  Ursel, 
"  to  dispel  this  dizziness  which  still  oppresses  my  poor  brain, 
and  as  soon  as  the  power  of  recollection  is  granted  to  me,  you 
shall  know  my  sentiments." 

He  sunk  upon  the  seat,  muffled  in  the  way  which  he  de- 
scribed, and  after  a  few  minutes'  reflection,  with  a  trepida- 
tion which  argued  the  patient  still  to  be  under  the  nervous 
feeling  of  extreme  horror  mixed  with  terror,  he  addressed 
Douban  thus — "  The  operation  of  wrong  and  cruelty,  in  the 
moment  when  they  are  first  inflicted,  excites,  of  course,  the 
utmost  resentment  of  the  sufferer  ;  nor  is  there,  perhaps,  a 
passion  which  lives  so  long  in  his  bosom  as  the  natural  desire 
of  revenge.  If,  then,  during  the  first  month,  when  I  lay 
stretched  upon  my  bed  of  want  and  misery,  you  had  offered 
me  an  opportunity  of  revenge  upon  my  cruel  oppressor,  the 
remnant  of  miserable  life  which  remained  to  me  should  have 
been  willingly  bestowed  to  purchase  it.  But  a  suffering  of 
weeks,  or  even  months,  must  not  be  compared  in  effect  with 
that  of  years.  For  a  short  space  of  endurance,  the  body,  as 
well  as  the  mind,  retains  that  vigorous  habit  which  holds  the 
prisoner  still  connected  with  life,  and  teaches  him  to  thrill 
at  the  long-forgotten  chain  of  hopes,  of  wishes,  of  disappoint- 
ments, and  mortifications  which  affected  his  former  exist- 
ence. But  the  wounds  become  callous  as  they  harden,  and 
other  and  better  feelings  occupy  their  place,  while  they 
gradually  die  away  in  forgetfulness.  The  enjoyments,  the 
amusements  of  this  world  occupy  no  part  of  his  time  upon 
whom  the  gates  of  despair  have  once  closed.  I  tell  thee,  my 
kind  physician,  that  for  a  season,  in  an  insane  attempt  to 
effect  my  liberty,  I  cut  through  a  large  portion  of  the  living 
rock.  But  Heaven  cured  me  of  so  foolish  an  idea ;  and  if  I 
did  not  actually  come  to  love  Alexius  Comnenus — for  how 
could  that  have  been  a  possible  effect  in  any  rational  state 


828  WAVER  LEY  JSOVELb 

of  my  intellects  ? — yet  as  I  became  convinced  of  my  own 
crimes,  sins,  and  follies,  the  more  and  more  I  was  also  per- 
suaded that  Alexius  was  but  the  agent  through  whom  Heaven 
exercised  a  dearly-purchased  right  of  punishing  me  for  my 
manifold  offences  and  transgressions  ;  and  that  it  was  not 
therefore  upon  the  Emperor  that  my  resentment  ought  to 
visit  itself.  And  I  can  now  say  to  thee  that,  so  far  as  a  man 
who  has  undergone  so  dreadful  a  change  can  be  supposed  to 
know  his  own  mind,  I  feel  no  desire  either  to  rival  Alexius  in  a 
race  for  empire  or  to  avail  myself  of  any  of  the  various  prof- 
fers which  he  proposes  to  me  as  the  price  of  withdrawing 
my  claim.  Let  him  keep  unpurchased  the  crown,  for  which 
he  has  paid,  in  my  opinion,  a  price  which  it  is  not  worth.'' 

'^  This  is  extraordinary  stoicism,  noble  Ursel,''  answered 
the  physician  Douban.  ^^  Am  I  then  to  understand  that  you 
reject  the  fair  offers  of  Alexius,  and  desire,  instead  of  all 
which  he  is  willing,  nay,  anxious,  to  bestow,  to  be  com- 
mitted safely  back  to  thy  old  blinded  dungeon  in  the  Blac- 
quernal,  that  you  may  continue  at  ease  those  pietistic  medi- 
tations which  have  already  conducted  thee  to  so  extravagant 
a  conclusion  ?'' 

"  Physician,^'  said  Ursel,  while  a  shuddering  fit  that  af- 
fected his  whole  body  testified  his  alarm  at  the  alternative 
proposed,  "one  would  imagine  thine  own  profession  might 
have  taught  thee  that  no  mere  mortal  man,  unless  predes- 
tined to  be  a  glorified  saint,  could  ever  prefer  darkness  to  the 
light  of  day,  blindness  itself  to  the  enjoyment  of.  the  power 
of  sight,  the  pangs  of  starving  to  competent  sustenance,  or 
the  damps  of  a  dungeon  to  the  free  air  of  God^s  creation. 
No  !  it  may  be  virtue  to  do  so,  but  to  such  a  pitch  mine  does 
not  soar.  All  I  require  of  the  Emperor  for  standing  by  him 
with  all  the  power  my  name  can  give  him  at  this  crisis  is, 
that  he  will  provide  for  my  reception  as  a  monk  in  some  of 
those  pleasant  and  well-endowed  seminaries  of  piety  to  which 
his  devotion,  or  his  fears,  have  given  rise.  Let  me  not  be 
again  the  object  of  his  suspicion,  the  operation  of  which  is 
more  dreadful  than  that  of  being  the  object  of  his  hate. 
Forgotten  by  power,  as  I  have  myself  lost  the  remembrance 
of  those  that  wielded  it,  let  me  find  my  way  to  the  grave, 
unnoticed,  unconstrained,  at  liberty,  in  possession  of  my  dim 
and  disused  organs  of  sight,  and,  above  all,  at  peace.'' 

"  If  such  be  thy  serious  and  earnest  wish,  noble  Ursel,* 
said  the  physician,  ''I  myself  have  no  hesitation  to  warrant 
to  thee  the  full  accomplishment  of  thy  religious  and  mod- 
erate desires.     But,  bethink  thee,  thou  art  once  more  an  in- 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  329 

habitant  of  the  court,  in  which  thou  mayst  obtain  what  thou 
wilt  to-day,  while  to-morrow,  shouldst  thou  regret  thy  in- 
difference, it  may  be  thy  utmost  entreaty  will  not  suffice  to 
gain  for  thee  the  slightest  extension  of  thy  present  condi- 
tions." 

'*  Be  it  so,"  said  Ursel ;  "  I  will  then  stipulate  for  an- 
other condition,  which  indeed  has  only  reference  to  this 
day.  I  will  solicit  his  imperial  Majesty,  with  all  humility, 
to  spare  me  the  pain  of  a  personal  treaty  between  himself 
and  me,  and  that  he  will  be  satisfied  with  the  solemn  assur- 
ance that  I  am  most  willing  to  do  in  his  favor  all  that  he  is 
desirous  of  dictating  ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  I  desire  only 
the  execution  of  those  moderate  conditions  of  my  future 
aliment  which  I  have  already  told  thee  at  length." 

"  But  wherefore,"  saidDouban,  "shouldst  thou  be  afraid 
of  announcing  to  the  Emperor  thy  disposition  to  an  agree- 
ment which  cannot  be  esteemed  otherwise  than  extremely 
moderate  on  thy  part  ?  Indeed,  I  fear  the  Emperor  will  in- 
sist on  a  brief  personal  conference." 

"  I  am  not  ashamed,"  said  Ursel,  "  to  confess  the  truth. 
It  is  true  that  I  have,  or  think  I  have,  renounced  what  the 
Scripture  calls  the  pride  of  life  ;  but  the  old  Adam  still 
lives  within  us,  and  maintains  against  the  better  part  of  our 
nature  an  inextinguishable  quarrel,  easy  to  be  aroused  from 
its  slumber,  but  as  difficult  to  be  again  couched  in  peace. 
While  last  night  I  but  half  understood  that  mine  enemy  was 
in  my  presence,  and  while  my  faculties  performed  but  half 
their  duty  in  recalling  his  deceitful  and  hated  accents,  did 
not  my  heart  throb  in  my  bosom  with  all  the  agitation  of  a 
taken  bird,  and  shall  I  again  have  to  enter  into  a  personal 
treaty  with  the  man  who,  be  his  general  conduct  what  it 
may,  has  been  the  constant  and  unprovoked  cause  of  my 
unequaled  misery  ?  Douban,  no  !  to  listen  to  his  voice 
again  were  to  hear  an  alarm  sounded  to  every  violent  and 
vindictive  passion  of  my  heart ;  and  though,  may  Heaven 
so  help  me  as  my  intentions  towards  him  are  upright,  yet  it 
is  impossible  for  me  to  listen  to  his  professions  with  a  chance 
of  safety  either  to  him  or  to  myself." 

"  If  you  be  so  minded,"  replied  Douban,  "  I  shall  only 
repeat  to  him  your  stipulation,  and  you  must  swear  to  him 
that  you  will  strictly  observe  it.  Without  this  being  done, 
it  must  be  difficult,  or  perhaps  impossible,  to  settle  the 
league  of  which  both  are  desirous." 

''^Amen!"  said  Ursel,  "  and  as  I  am  pure  in  my  pur- 
pose,  and  resolved  to    keep  it  to  the  uttermost,  so  may 


330  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

Heaven  guard  me  from  the  influence  of  precipitate  revenge, 
ancient  grudge,  or  new  quarrel ! " 

An  authoritative  knock  at  the  door  of  the  sleeping- 
chamber  was  now  heard,  and  Ursel,  relieved  by  more  power- 
ful feelings  from  the  giddiness  of  which  he  had  complained, 
walked  firmly  into  the  bedroom,  and,  seating  himself, 
waited  with  averted  eyes  the  entrance  of  the  person  who 
demanded  admittance,  and  who  proved  to  be  no  other  than 
Alexius  Comnenus. 

The  Emperor  appeared  at  the  door  in  a  warlike  dress, 
suited  for  the  decoration  of  a  prince  who  was  to  witness  a 
combat  in  the  lists  fought  out  before  him. 

"  Sage  Douban,^'  he  said,  ''  has  our  esteemed  prisoner, 
Ursel,  made  his  choice  between  our  peace  and  enmity  ?" 

"  He  hath,  my  lord,''  replied  the  physician,  '^  embraced 
the  lot  of  that  happy  portion  of  mankind  whose  hearts  and 
lives  are  devoted  to  the  service  of  your  Majesty's  govern- 
ment." 

"  He  will  then  this  day,"  continued  the  Emperor, 
''  render  me  the  office  of  putting  down  all  those  who  may 
pretend  to  abet  insurrection  in  his  name,  and  under  pretext 
of  his  wrongs  ? '' 

"  He  will,  my  lord,"  replied  the  physician,  "  act  to  the 
fullest  the  part  which  you  require." 

''  And  in  what  way,"  said  the  Emperor,  adopting  his  most 
gracious  tone  of  voice,  '^  would  our  faithful  Ursel  desire 
that  services  like  these,  rendered  in  the  hour  of  extreme 
need,  should  be  acknowledged  by  the  Emperor  ?  " 

"  Simply,"  answered  Douban,  ^'  by  saying  nothing  upon 
the  subject.  He  desires  only  that  all  jealousies  between  you 
and  him  may  be  henceforth  forgotten,  and  that  he  may  be 
admitted  into  one  of  your  Highness's  monastic  institutions, 
with  leave  to  dedicate  the  rest  of  his  life  to  the  worship  of 
Heaven  and  its  saints." 

''  Hath  he  persuaded  t'nee  of  this,  Douban  ?  "  said  the 
Emperor,  in  a  low  and  altered  voice.  "  By  Heaven  !  when 
I  consider  from  what  prison  he  was  brought,  and  in  what 
guise  he  inhabited  it,  I  cannot  believe  in  this  gall-less  dis- 
position. He  must  at  least  speak  to  me  himself,  ere  I  can 
believe,  in  some  degree,  the  transformation  of  the  fiery  Ursel 
into  a  being  so  little  capable  of  feeling  the  ordinary  im- 
pulses of  mankind. '^ 

''  Hear  me,  Alexius  Comnenus,"  said  the  prisoner ;  ^'  and 
so  may  thine  own  prayers  to  Heaven  find  access  and  ac- 
ceptation, as  thou  believest  the  words  which  I  speak  to  thee 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  331 

in  simplicity  of  heart.  If  thine  empire  of  Greece  were 
made  of  coined  gold,  it  would  hold  out  no  bait  for  my  ac- 
ceptance ;  nor,  I  thank  Heaven,  have  even  the  injuries  I 
have  experienced  at  thy  hand,  cruel  and  extensive  as  they 
have  been,  impressed  upon  me  the  slightest  desire  of  re- 
quiting treachery  with  treachery.  Think  of  me  as  thou 
wilt,  so  thou  seetst  not  again  to  exchange  words  with  me  : 
and  believe  me  that,  when  thou  hast  put  me  under  the 
most  rigid  of  thy  ecclesiastical  foundations,  the  discipline, 
.the  fare,  and  the  vigils  will  be  far  superior  to  the  existence 
falling  to  the  share  of  those  whom  the  king  delights  to 
honor,  and  who  therefore  must  afford  the  king  their  society 
whenever  they  are  summoned  to  do  so.'* 

''  It  is  hardly  for  me,"*'  said  the  physician,  "  to  interpose 
in  so  high  a  matter  ;  yet,  as  trusted  both  by  the  noble  Ursel 
and  by  his  Highness  the  Emperor,  I  have  made  a  brief  ab- 
stract of  these  short  conditions  to  be  kept  by  the  high  par- 
ties towards  each  other,  sub  crimine  falsi." 

The  Emperor  protracted  the  intercourse  with  Ursel  until 
he  more  fully  explained  to  him  the  occasion  which  he  should 
have  that  very  day  for  his  services.  When  they  parted, 
Alexius,  with  a  great  show  of  affection,  embraced  his  lato 
prisoner,  while  it  required  all  the  self-command  and  stoicism 
of  Ursel  to  avoid  expressing  in  plain  terms  the  extent  to 
which  he  abhorred  the  person  who  thus  caressed  him. 


CHAPTER  XXIX 

O,  conspiracy  I 
Sham'st  thou  to  show  thy  dangerous  brow  by  night. 
When  evils  are  most  free  ?    O,  then,  by  day, 
"Where  wilt  thou  find  a  cavern  dark  enough 
To  mask  thy  monstrous  visage  ?    Seek  none,  conspiracy : 
Hide  it  in  smiles  and  affability  ; 
For  if  thou  path,  thy  native  semblance  on, 
Not  Erebus  itself  were  dim  enough 
To  hide  thee  from  prevention. 

Julius  Caesar, 

The  important  morning  at  last 'arrived  on  which,  by  the 
imperial  proclamation,  the  combat  between  the  Osesar  and 
Robert  Count  of  Paris  was  appointed  to  take  place.  This 
was  a  circumstance  in  a  great  measure  foreign  to  the  Grecian 
manners,  and  to  which,  therefore,  the  people  annexed  dif- 
ferent ideas  from  those  which  were  associated  with  the  same 
solemn  decision  of  God,  as  the  Latins  called  it,  by  the  West- 
ern nations.  The  consequence  was  a  vague  but  excessive 
agitation  among  the  people,  who  connected  the  extraordi- 
nary strife  which  they  were  to  witness  with  the  various 
causes  which  had  been  whispered  abroad  as  likely  to  give 
occasion  to  some  general  insurrection  of  a  great  and  terrible 
nature. 

By  the  imperial  order,  regular  lists  had  been  prepared  for 
the  combat,  with  opposite  gates,  or  entrances,  as  was  usual, 
for  the  admittance  of  the  two  champions  ;  and  it  was  under- 
stood that  the  appeal  was  to  be  made  to  the  Divinity  by 
each,  according  to  the  forms  prescribed  by  the  church  of 
which  the  combatants  were  respectively  members.  The 
situation  of  these  lists  was  on  the  side  of  the  shore  adjoin- 
ing on  the  west  to  the  continent.  At  no  great  distance,  the 
walls  of  the  city  were  seen,  of  various  architecture,  com- 
posed of  lime  and  of  stone,  and  furnished  with  no  less  than 
four-and-twenty  gates,  or  posterns,  five  of  which  regarded 
the  land  and  nineteen  the  water.  All  this  formed  a  beauti- 
ful prospect,  much  of  which  is  still  visible.  The  town 
itself  is  about  nineteen  miles  in  circumference  ;  and  as  it  is 
on  all  sides  surrounded  with  lofty  cypresses,  its  general  ap- 
pearance is  that  of  a  city  arising  out  of  a  stately  wood  of 

332 


COUNT  BOBERT  OF  PABI8  333 

these  magnificent  trees,  partly  shrouding  the  pinnacles, 
obelisks,  and  minarets  which  then  marked  the  site  of  many 
noble  Christian  temples,  but  now,  generally  speaking,  inti- 
mate the  position  of  as  many  Mohammedan  mosques. 

These  lists,  for  the  convenience  of  spectators,  were  sur- 
rounded on  all  sides  by  long  rows  of  seats,  sloping  down- 
wards. In  the  middle  of  these  seats,  and  exactly  opposite 
the  center  of  the  lists,  was  a  high  throne,  erected  for  the 
Emperor  himself,  and  which  was  separated  from  the  more 
vulgar  galleries  by  a  circuit  of  wooden  barricades,  which  an 
experienced  eye  could  perceive  might,  in  case  of  need,  be 
made  serviceable  for  purposes  of  defense. 

The  lists  were  sixty  yards  in  length,  by  perhaps  about  forty 
in  breadth,  and  these  afforded  ample  space  for  the  exercise 
of  the  combat,  both  on  horseback  and  on  foot.  Numerous 
bands  of  the  Greek  citizens  began,  with  the  very  break  of 
day,  to  issue  from  the  gates  and  posterns  of  the  city,  to  ex- 
amine and  wonder  at  tho  construction  of  the  lists,  pass  their 
criticisms  upon  the  purposes  of  the  peculiar  parts  of  the 
fabric,  and  occupy  places,  to  secure  them  for  the  spectacle. 
Shortly  after  arrived  a  large  band  of  those  soldiers  who  were 
called  the  Eoman  Immortals.  These  entered  without  cere- 
mony, and  placed  ;'hemsclves  on  either  hand  of  the  wooden 
barricade  which  fenced  the  Emperor's  seat.  Some  of  them 
took  even  a  greater  liberty ;  for,  affecting  to  be  pressed 
against  the  boundary,  there  were  individuals  who  approached 
the  partition  itself,  end  seemed  to  meditate  climbing  over  it, 
and  placing  themselves  on  the  same  side  with  the  Emperor. 
Some  old  domestic  slaves  of  the  household  now  showed 
themselves,  as  if  for  the  purpose  of  preserving  this  sacred 
circle  for  Alexius  and  his  court ;  and,  in  proportion  as  the 
Immortals  began  to  show  themselves  encroaching  and  tur- 
bulent, the  strength  of  the  defenders  of  the  prohibited  pre- 
cincts seemed  gradually  to  increase. 

There  was,  though  scarcely  to  be  observed,  besides  the 
grand  access  to  the  imperial  seat  from  without,  another  open- 
ing also  from  the  outside,  secured  by  a  very  strong  door,  by 
which  different  persons  received  admission  beneath  the  seats 
destined  for  the  imperial  party.  These  persons,  by  their 
length  of  limb,  breadth  of  shoulders,  by  the  fur  of  their 
cloaks,  and  especially  by  the  redoubted  battle-axes  which  all 
of  them  bore,  appeared  to  be  Varangians  ;  but,  although 
neither  dressed  in  their  usual  habit  of  pomp  nor  in  their 
more  effectual  garb  of  war,  still,  when  narrowly  examined, 
they  might  be  seen  to  possess  their  usual  offensive  weapons. 


334  WAVEBLET  NOVELS 

These  men,  entering  in  separate  and  straggling  parties,  might 
be  observed  to  join  the  slaves  of  the  interior  of  the  palace  in 
opposing  the  intrusion  of  the  Immortals  npon  the  seat  of 
the'Emperor  and  the  benches  around.  Two  or  three  Im- 
mortals, who  had  actually  made  good  their  frolic  and  climbed 
over  the  division,  were  flung  back  again,  very  unceremoni- 
onsly,  by  the  barbaric  strength  and  sinewy  arms  of  the 
Varangians. 

The  people  around  and  in  the  adjacent  galleries,  most  of 
whom  had  the  air  of  citizens  in  their  holyday  dresses,  com- 
mented a  good  deal  on  these  proceedings,  and  were  inclined 
strongly  to  make  part  with  the  Immortals.  ''  It  was  a  shame 
to  the  Emperor,"  they  said,  *'  to  encourage  these  British 
barbarians  to  interpose  themselves  by  violence  between  his 
person  and  the  Immortal  cohorts  of  the  city,  who  were  in 
some  sort  his  own  children.^' 

Stephanos,  the  gymnastic,  whose  bulky  strength  and 
stature  rendered  him  conspicuous  amid  this  party,  said,  with- 
out hesitation,  * '  If  there  are  two  people  here  who  will  join 
in  saying  that  the  Immortals  are  unjustly  deprived  of  their 
right  of  guarding  the  Emperor's  person,  here  is  the  hand 
that  shall  place  them  beside  the  imperial  chair." 

''  Not  so,"  quoth  a  centurion  of  the  Immortals,  whom  we 
have  already  introduced  to  our  readers  by  the  name  of  Har- 
pax — '^  not  so,  Stephanos  ;  that  happy  time  may  arrive,  but 
it  is  not  yet  come,  my  gem  of  the  circus.  Thou  knowest 
that  on  this  occasion  it  is  one  of  these  counts,  or  "Western 
Franks,  who  undertakes  the  combat ;  and  the  Varangians, 
who  call  these  people  their  enemies,  have  some  reason  to 
claim  a  precedency  in  guarding  the  lists,  which  it  might  not 
at  this  moment  be  convenient  to  dispute  with  them.  Why, 
man,  if  thou  wert  half  so  witty  as  thou  art  long,  thou  wouldst 
be  sensible  that  it  were  bad  woodmanship  to  raise  the  hal- 
loo upon  the  game  ere  it  had  been  driven  within  compass  cf 
the  nets." 

While  the  athlete  rolled  his  huge  gray  eyes  as  if  to  conjure 
out  the  sense  of  this  intimation,  his  little  friend  Lysimachus, 
the  artist,  putting  himself  to  pain  to  stand  upon  his  tiptoe 
and  look  intelligent,  said,  approaching  as  near  as  he  could  to 
Harpax's  ear,  '^Thou  mayst  trust  me,  gallant  centurion, 
that  this  man  of  mold  and  muscle  shall  neither  start  like  a 
babbling  hound  on  a  false  scent  nor  become  mute  and  inert 
when  the  general  signal  is  given.  But  tell  me,"  said  he 
speaking  very  low,  and  for  that  purpose  mounting  a  bench, 
which  brought  him  on  a   level  with   the  centurion's  ear. 


COUNT  BOBERT  OF  PABIS  335 

*'  would  it  not  have  been  better  that  a  strong  guard  of  the 
valiant  Immortals  had  been  placed  in  this  wooden  citadel, 
to  ensure  the  object  of  the  day  ? '' 

** Without  question,"  said  the  centurion,  ''it  was  so 
meant ;  but  these  strolling  Varangians  have  altered  their 
station  of  their  own  authority." 

''Were  it  not  well,"  said  Lysimachus,  "that you  who  are 
greatly  more  numerous  than  the  barbarians,  should  begin  a 
fray  before  more  of  these  strangers  arrive  ?" 

"  Content  ye,  friend,"  said  the  centurion,  coldly,  "  we 
know  our  time.  An  attack  commenced  too  early  would  be 
worse  than  thrown  away,  nor  would  an  opportunity  occur  of 
executing  our  project  in  the  fitting  time,  if  an  alarm  were 
prematurely  given  at  this  moment." 

So  saying,  he  shuffled  off  among  his  fellow-soldiers,  so  as 
to  avoid  suspicious  intercourse  with  such  persons  as  were 
only  concerned  with  the  civic  portion  of  the  conspirators. 

As  the  morning  advanced,  and  the  sun  took  a  higher  sta- 
tion in  the  horizon,  the  various  persons  whom  curiosity,  or 
some  more  decided  motive,  brought  to  see  the  proposed 
combat  were  seen  streaming  from  different  parts  of  the 
town,  and  rushing  to  occupy  such  accommodation  as  the 
circuit  round  the  lists  afforded  them.  In  their  road  to  the 
place  where  preparation  for  combat  was  made,  they  had  to 
ascend  a  sort  of  cape,  which,  in  the  form  of  a  small  hill, 
projected  into  the  Hellespont,  and  the  butt  of  which,  con- 
necting it  with  the  shore,  afforded  a  considerable  ascent, 
and,  of  course,* a  more  commanding  view  of  the  strait  be- 
tween Europe  and  Asia  than  either  the  immediate  vicinity 
of  the  city  or  the  still  lower  ground  upon  which  the  lists 
were  erected.  In  passing  this  height,  the  earlier  visitants 
of  the  lists  made  little  or  no  halt ;  but  after  a  time,  when  it 
became  obvious  that  those  who  had  hurried  forward  to  the 
place  of  combat  were  lingering  there  without  any  object  or 
occupation,  they  that  followed  them  in  the  same  route,  with 
natural  curiosity,  paid  a  tribute  to  the  landscape,  bestowing 
some  attention  on  its  beauty,  and  paused  to  see  what  augu- 
ries could  be  collected  from  the  water  which  were  likely  to 
have  any  concern  in  indicating  the  fate  of  the  events  that 
were  to  take  place.  Some  straggling  seamen  were  the  first 
who  remarked  that  a  squadron  of  the  Greek  small  craft 
(being  that  of  Tancred)  were  in  the  act  of  making  their  way 
from  Asia,  and  threatening  a  descent  upon  Constantinople. 

"  It  is  strange,"  said  a  person,  by  rank  the  captain  of  a 
galley,  "that  these  small  vessels,  which  were  ordered  to  re* 


336  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

turn  to  Constantinople  as  soon  as  they  disembarked  the 
Latins,  should  have  remained  so  long  at  Scutari,  and  should 
not  be  rowing  back  to  the  imperial  city  until  this  time,  on 
the  second  day  after  their  departure  from  thence/' 

'^  I  pray  to  Heaven,"  said  another  of  the  same  profession, 
''  that  these  seamen  may  come  alone.  It  seems  to  me  as  if 
their  ensign-staffs,  bowsprits,  and  topmasts  were  decorated 
with  the  same  ensigns,  or  nearly  the  same,  with  those  which 
the  Latins  displayed  upon  them  when,  by  the  Emperor's 
order,  they  were  transported  towards  Palestine ;  so  me- 
thinks  the  voyage  back  again  resembles  that  of  a  fleet  of 
merchant  vessels  who  have  been  prevented  from  discharging 
their  cargo  at  the  place  of  their  destination." 

''  There  is  little  good,"  said  one  of  the  politicians  whom 
we  formerly  noticed,  ^^  in  dealing  with  such  commodities, 
whether  they  are  imported  or  exported.  Yon  ample  banner 
which  streams  over  the  foremost  galley  intimates  the  pres- 
ence of  a  chieftain  of  no  small  rank  .among  the  counts, 
whether  it  be  for  valor  or  for  nobility." 

The  seafaring  leader  added,  with  the  voice  of  one  who 
hints  alarming  tidings,  '^  They  seem  to  have  got  to  a  point 
in  the  straits  as  high  as  will  enable  them  to  run  down  with 
the  tide,  and  clear  the  cape  which  we  stand  on,  although 
with  what  purpose  they  aim  to  land  so  close  beneath  the 
walls  of  the  city,  he  is  a  wiser  man  than  I  who  pretends  to 
determine." 

''Assuredly,"  returned  his  comrade,  ''  the  intention  is  not 
a  kind  one.  The  wealth  of  the  city  has  temptations  to  a 
poor  people,  who  only  value  the  iron  which  they  possess  as 
affording  them  the  means  of  procuring  the  gold  which  they 
covet." 

''Ay,  brother,"  answered  Demetrius  the  politician,  "  but 
see  you  not,  lying  at  anchor  within  this  bay  which  is  formed 
by  the  cape,  and  at  the  very  point  where  these  heretics  are 
likely  to  be  carried  by  the  tide,  six  strong  vessels,  having 
the  power  of  sending  forth,  not  merely  showers  of  darts  and 
arrows,  but  of  Grecian  fire,  as  it  is  called,  from  their  hollow 
decks  ?  If  these  Frank  gentry  continue  directing  their 
course  upon  the  imperial  city,  being,  as  they  are, 

Propago 
Contemptrix  Supermini  sane,  saevseque  avidissima  ca3dis, 
Et  violenta, 

we  shall  speedily  see  a  combat  better  worth  witnessing  than 
that  announced  by  the  great  trumpet  of  the  Varangians.    If 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  837 

you  love  me,  let  us  sit  down  here  for  a  moment,  and  see 
how  this  matter  is  to  end." 

'^An  excellent  motion,  my  ingenious  friend,"  said  Las- 
caris,  which  was  the  name  of  the  other  citizen  ;  '^  but,  be- 
think you,  shall  we  not  be  in  danger  from  the  missiles  with 
which  the  audacious  Latins  will  not  fail  to  return  the  Greek 
fire,  if,  according  to  your  conjecture,  it  shall  be  poured 
upon  them  by  the  imperial  squadron  ?  " 

"  That  is  not  ill  argued,  my  friend,"  said  Demetrius ; 
"  but  know  that  you  have  to  do  with  a  man  who  has  been  in 
such  extremities  before  now  ;  and  if  such  a  discharge  should 
open  from  the  sea,  I  would  propose  to  you  to  step  back  some 
fifty  yards  inland,  and  thus  to  interpose  the  very  crest  of  the 
cape  between  us  and  the  discharge  of  missiles  ;  a  mere  child 
might  thus  learn  to  face  them  without  any  alarm." 

''You  are  a  wise  man,  neighbor,"  said  Lascaris,  *'and 
possess  such  a  mixture  of  valor  and  knowledge  as  becomes 
a  man  whom  a  friend  might  be  supposed  safely  to  risk  his 
life  with.  There  be  those,  for  instance,  who  cannot  show 
you  the  slightest  glimpse  of  what  is  going  on  without  bring- 
ing you  within  peril  of  your  life  ;  whereas  you,  my  worthy 
friend  Demetrius,  between  your  accurate'  knowledge  of  mil- 
itary affairs  and  ^our  regard  for  your  friend,  are  sure  to 
show  him  all  that  is  to  be  seen  without  the  least  risk  to  a 
person  who  is  naturally  unwilling  to  think  of  exposing  him- 
self to  injury.  But,  Holy  Virgin  !  what  is  the  meaning  ot 
that  red  flag  which  the  Greek  admiral  has  this  instant 
hoisted?" 

"Why,  you  see,  neighbor,"  answered  Demetrius,  "yon- 
der Western  heretic  continues  to  advance  without  minding 
the  various  signs  which  our  admiral  has  made  to  him  to 
desist,  and  now  he  hoists  the  bloody  colors,  as  if  a  man 
should  clench  his  fist  and  say,  'If  you  persevere  in  your 
uncivil  intention,  I  will  do  so  and  so.' " 

"By  St.  Sophia,"  said  Lascaris,  "and  that  is  giving  him 
fair  warning.  But  what  is  it  the  imperial  admiral  is  about 
to  do?" 

"Run — run,  friend  Lascaris,"  said  Demetrius,  "or  you 
will  see  more  of  that  than  perchance  you  have. any  curiosity 
for." 

Accordingly,  to  add  the  strength  of  example  to  precept, 
Demetrius  himself  girt  up  his  loins,  and  retreated  with  the 
most  edifying  speed  to  the  opposite  side  of  the  ridge,  accom- 
panied by  the  greater  part  of  the  crowd,  who  had  tarried 
there  to  witness  the  contest  which  the  newsmonger  prom- 

22 


338  WAVERLET  NOVELS 

ised,  and  were  determined  to  take  his  word  for  their  own 
safety.  The  sound  and  sight  which  had  alarmed  Demetrius 
was  the  discharge  of  a  large  portion  of  Greek  fire,  which 
perhaps  may  be  best  compared  to  one  of  those  immense 
Oongreve  rockets  of  the  present  day,  which  takes  on  its 
shoulders  a  small  grapnel  or  anchor,  and  proceeds  groaning 
through  the  air,  like  a  fiend  overburdened  by  the  mandate 
of  some  inexorable  magician,  and  of  which  the  operation 
was  so  terrifying,  that  the  crews  of  the  vessels  attacked  by 
this  strange  weapon  frequently  forsook  every  means  of  de- 
fense and  run  themselves  ashore.  One  of  the  principal  in- 
gredients of  this  dreadful  fire  was  supposed  to  be  naphtha,  or 
the  bitumen  which  is  collected  on  the  banks  of  the  Dead 
Sea,  and  which,  when  in  a  state  of  ignition,  could  only  be 
extinguished  by  a  very  singular  mixture,  and  which  it  was 
not  likely  to  come  in  contact  with.  It  produced  a  thick 
smoke  and  loud  explosion,  and  was  capable,  says  Gibbon,  of 
communicating  its  flames  with  equal  vehemence  in  descent 
or  lateral  progress.  *  In  sieges,  it  was  poured  from  the  ram- 
parts, or  launched,  like  our  bombs,  in  red-hot  balls  of  stone 
or  iron,  or  it  was  darted  in  flax  twisted  round  arrows  and  in 
javelins.  It  was  considered  as  a  state  secret  of  the  greatest 
importance  ;  and  for  wellnigh  four  centuries  it  was  unknown 
to  the  Mohammedans.  But  at  length  the  composition  was 
discovered  by  the  Saracens,  and  used  by  them  for  repelling 
the  crusaders,  and  overpowering  the  Greeks,  upon  whose 
side  it  had  at  one  time  been  the  most  formidable  implement 
of  defense.  Some  exaggeration  we  must  allow  for  a  bar- 
barous period ;  but  there  seems  no  doubt  that  the  general 
description  of  the  crusader  Joinville  should  be  admitted  as 
correct.  "  It  came  flying  through  the  air,"  says  that  good 
knight,  "like  a  winged  dragon,  about  the  thickness  of  a 
hogshead,  with  the  report  of  thunder  and  the  speed  of 
lightning,  and  the  darkness  of  the  night  was  dispelled  by 
this  horrible  illumination." 

Not  only  the  bold  Demetrius  and  his  pupil  Lascaris,  but 
all  the  crowd  whom  they  influenced,  fled  manfully  when  the 
commodore  of  the  Greeks  fired  the  first  discharge  ;  and  as 
the  other  vessels  in  the  squadron  followed  his  example,  the 
heavens  were  filled  with  the  unusual  and  outrageous  noise, 
while  the  smoke  was  so  thick  as  to  darken  the  very  air.  As 
the  fugitives  passed  the  crest  of  the  hill,  they  saw  the  sea- 
man  whom  we  formerly  mentioned  as  a  spectator  snugly 

♦  For  a  full  account  of  the  Greek  fire,  see  Gibbon,  chapter  lii. 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  889 

reclining  under  cover  of  a  dry  ditch,  where  he  managed  so 
as  to  secure  himself  as  far  as  possible  from  any  accident. 
He  could  not,  however,  omit  breaking  his  jest  on  the  poli- 
ticians. 

''What,  ho!^*  he  cried,  ''my  good  friends,"  without 
raising  himself  above  the  counterscarp  of  his  ditch,  ''  will 
you  not  remain  upon  your  station  long  enough  to  finish  that 
hopeful  lecture  upon  battle  by  sea  and  land  which  you  had 
so  happy  an  opportunity  of  commencing  ?  Believe  me,  the 
noise  is  more  alarming  than  hurtful ;  the  fire  is  all  pointed 
in  a  direction  opposite  to  yours,  and  if  one  of  those  dragons 
which  you  see  does  happen  to  fly  landward  instead  of  sea- 
ward, it  is  but  the  mistake  of  some  cabin-boy,  who  has  used 
his  linstock  with  more  willingness  than  ability." 

Demetrius  and  Lascaris  just  heard  enough  of  the  naval 
heroes  harangue  to  acquaint  them  with  the  new  danger  with 
which  they  might  be  assailed  by  the  possible  misdirection  of 
the  weapons,  and,  rushing  down  towards  the  lists  at  the 
head  of  a  crowd  half  desperate  with  fear,  they  hastily  prop- 
agated the  appalling  news  that  the  Latins  were  coming 
back  from  Asia  with  the  purpose  of  landing  in  arms,  pillag- 
ing, and  burning  the  city. 

The  uproar,  in  the  mean  time,  of  this  unexpected  occur- 
rence, was  such  as  altogether  to  vindicate,  in  public  opinion, 
the  reported  cause,  however  exaggerated.  The  thunder  of 
the  Greek  fire  came  successively,  one  hard  upon  the  other, 
and  each  in  his  turn  spread  a  blot  of  black  smoke  upon  the 
face  of  the  landscape,  which,  thickened  by  so  many  suc- 
cessive clouds,  seemed  at  last,  like  that  raised  by  a  sustained 
fire  of  modern  artillery,  to  overshadow  the  whole  horizon. 

The  small  squadron  of  Tancred  were  completely  hid  from 
view  in  the  surging  volumes  of  darkness  which  the  breath 
of  the  weapons  of  the  enemy  had  spread  around  him  ;  and 
it  seemed  by  a  red  light,  which  began  to  show  itself  among 
the  thickest  of  the  veil  of  darkness,  that  one  of  the  flotilla 
at  least  had  caught  fire.  Yet  the  Latins  resisted,  with  an 
obstinacy  worthy  of  their  own  courage  and  the  fame  of  their 
celebrated  leader.  Some  advantage  they  had,  on  account  of 
their  small  size  and  their  lowness  in  the  water,  as  well  as  the 
clouded  state  of  the  atmosphere,  which  rendered  them  diffi- 
cult marks  for  the  fire  of  the  Greeks. 

To  increase  these  advantages,  Tancred,  as  well  by  boats 
as  by  the  kind  of  rude  signals  made  use  of  at  the  period, 
dispersed  orders  to  his  fleet  that  each  bark,  disregarding  the 
fate  of  the  others,  should  press  forward  individually,  and 


840  WAVEBLET  NOVELS 

that  the  men  from  each  should  be  on  shore  wheresoever  and 
howsoever  they  could  effect  that  maneuver.  Tancred  him- 
self set  a  noble  example :  he  was  on  board  a  stout  vessel, 
fenced  in  some  degree  against  the  effect  of  the  Greek  fire 
by  being  in  a  great  measure  covered  with  raw  hides,  which 
hides  had  also  been  recently  steeped  in  water.  This  vessel 
contained  upwards  of  a  hundred  valiant  warriors,  several  of 
them  of  knightly  order,  who  had  all  night  toiled  at  the 
humble  labors  of  the  oar,  and  now  in  the  morning  applied 
their  chivalrous  hands  to  the  arblast  and  to  the  bow,  which 
were  in  general  accounted  the  weapons  of  persons  of  a 
lower  rank.  Thus  armed  and  thus  manned.  Prince  Tan- 
cred bestowed  upon  his  bark  the  full  velocity  which  wind, 
and  tide,  and  oar  could  enable  her  to  obtain,  and  placing 
her  in  the  situation  to  profit  by  them  as  much  as  his  mari- 
time skill  could  direct,  he  drove  with  the  speed  of  light- 
ning among  the  vessels  of  Lemnos,  plying  on  either  side 
bows,  cross-bows,  javelins,  and  military  missiles  of  every 
kind,  with  the  greater  advantage  that  the  Greeks,  trusting 
to  their  artificial  fire,  had  omitted  arming  themselves  with 
other  weapons ;  so  that  when  the  valiant  crusader  bore 
down  on  them  with  so  much  fury,  repaying  the  terrors  of 
their  fire  with  a  storm  of  bolts  and  arrows  no  less  formi- 
dable, they  began  to  feel  that  their  own  advantage  was  much 
less  than  they  had  supposed,  and  that,  like  most  other 
dangers,  the  maritime  fire  of  the  Greeks,  when  undaunt- 
edly confronted,  lost  at  least  one-half  of  its  terrors.  The 
Grecian  sailors,  too,  when  they  observed  the  vessels  ap- 
proach so  near,  filled  with  the  steel-clad  Latins,  began  to 
shrink  from  a  contest  to  be  maintained  hand-to-hand  with 
so  terrible  an  enemy. 

By  degrees,  smoke  began  to  issue  from  the  sides  of  the 
great  Grecian  argosy,  and  the  voice  of  Tancred  announced 
to  his  soldiers  that  the  Grecittn  admiral's  vessel  had  taken 
fire,  owing  to  negligence  in  the  management  of  the  means 
of  destruction  she  possessed,  and  that  all  they  had  now  to 
do  was  to  maintain  such  a  distance  as  to  avoid  sharing  her 
fate.  Sparkles  and  flashes  of  flame  were  next  seen  leaping  from 
place  to  place  on  board  of  the  great  hulk,  as  if  the  element 
had  had  the  sense  and  purpose  of  spreading  wider  the  con- 
sternation, and  disabling  the  few  who  still  paid  attention 
to  the  commands  of  their  admiral  and  endeavored  to  ex- 
tinguish the  fire.  The  consciousness  of  the  combustible 
nature  of  the  freight  began  to  add  despair  to  terror  ;  from 
the  boltsprit,  the  rigging,  the  yards,  the  sides,  and  every 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  341 

part  of  the  vessel,  the  unfortunate  crew  were  seen  dropping 
themselves,  to  exchange  for  the  most  part  a  watery  death 
for  one  by  the  more  dreadful  agency  of  fire.  The  crew  of 
Tancred's  bark,  ceasing,  by  that  generous  prince's  com- 
mands, to  offer  any  additional  annoyance  to  an  enemy  who 
was  at  once  threatened  by  the  perils  of  the  ocean  and  of 
conflagration,  ran  their  vessel  ashore  in  a  smooth  part  of 
the  bay,  and,  jumping  into  the  shallow  sea,  made  the  land 
without  difficulty,  many  of  their  steeds  being,  by  the 
exertions  of  the  owners  and  the  docility  of  the  animals, 
brought  ashore  at  the  same  time  with  their  masters.  Their 
commander  lost  no  time  in  forming  their  serried  ranks  into 
a  phalanx  of  lancers,  few  indeed  at  first,  but  perpetually 
increasing  as  ship  after  ship  of  the  little  flotilla  ran  ashore, 
or,  having  more  deliberately  moored  their  barks,  landed 
their  men  and  joined  their  companions. 

The  cloud  which  had  been  raised  by  the  conflict  was  now 
driven  to  leeward  before  the  wind,  and  the  strait  exhibited 
only  the  relics  of  the  combat.  Here  tossed  upon  the  billows 
the  scattered  and  broken  remains  of  one  or  two  of  the  Latin 
vessels  which  had  been  burned  at  the  commencement  of  the 
combat,  though  their  crews,  by  the  exertions  of  their  com- 
rades, had  in  general  been  saved.  Lower  down  were  seen 
the  remaining  five  vessels  of  the  Lemnos  squadron,  holding 
a  disorderly  and  difficult  retreat,  with  the  purpose  of  gain- 
ing the  harbor  of  Constantinople.  In  the  place  so  late  the 
scene  of  combat  lay  moored  the  hulk  of  the  Grecian  admiral, 
burned  to  the  water's  edge,  and  still  sending  forth  a  black 
smoke  from  its  scathed  beams  and  planks.  The  flotilla  of 
Tancred,  busied  in  discharging  its  troops,  lay  irregularly 
scattered  alon^  the  bay,  the  men  making  ashore  as  they 
could,  and  taking  their  course  to  join  the  standard  of  their 
leader.  Various  black  substances  floated  on  the  surface  of 
the  water,  nearer  or  more  distant  to  the  shore  ;  some  proved 
to  be  the  wreck  of  the  vessels  which  had  been  destroyed, 
and  others,  more  ominous  still,  the  lifeless  bodies  of  mariners 
who  had  fallen  in  the  conflict. 

The  standard  had  been  borne  ashore  by  the  Prince's 
favorite  page,  Ernest  of  Apulia,  so  soon  as  the  keel  of  Tan- 
cred's  galley  had  grazed  upon  the  sand.  It  was  then  pitched 
on  the  top  of  that  elevated  cape  between  Constantinople  and 
the  lists  where  Lascaris,  Demetrius,  and  other  gossips  had 
held  their  station  at  the  commencement  of  the  engagement, 
but  from  which  all  had  fled,  between  the  mingled  dread  of 
the  Greek  fire  and  the  missiles  of  the  Latin  crusaders. 


CHAPTER  XXX 

Sheathed  in  complete  armor,  and  supporting  with  hia 
right  hand  the  standard  of  his  fathers,  Tancred  remained 
with  his  handful  of  warriors  like  so  many  statues  of  steel, 
expecting  some  sort  of  attack  from  the  Grecian  party  which 
had  occupied  the  lists,  or  from  the  numbers  whom  the  city 
gates  began  now  to  pour  forth — soldiers  some  of  them,  and 
others  citizens,  many  of  whom  were  arrayed  as  if  for  conflict. 
These  persons,  alarmed  by  the  various  accounts  which  were 
given  of  the  combatants  and  the  progress  of  the  fight,  rushed 
towards  the  standard  of  Prince  Tancred,  with  the  intention 
of  beating  it  to  the  earth,  and  dispersing  the  guards  who 
owed  it  homage  and  defense.  But  if  the  reader  shall  have 
happened  to  have  ridden  at  any  time  through  a  pastoral 
country,  with  a  dog  of  a  noble  race  following  him,  he  must 
have  remarked,  in  the  deference  ultimately  paid  to  the  high- 
bred animal  by  the  shepherd's  cur  as  he  crosses  the  lonely 
glen,  of  which  the  latter  conceives  himself  the  lord  and 
guardian,  something  very  similar  to  the  demeanor  of  the 
incensed  Greeks  when  they  approached  near  to  the  little 
band  of  Franks.  At  the  first  symptom  of  the  intrusion  of 
a  stranger,  the  dog  of  the  shepherd  starts  from  his  slum- 
bers, and  rushes  towards  the  noble  intruder  with  a  clamorous 
declaration  of  war ;  but  when  the  diminution  of  distance 
between  them  shows  to  the  aggressor  the  size  and  strength  of 
his  opponent,  he  becomes  like  a  cruiser  who,  in  a  chase,  has, 
to  his  surprise  and  alarm,  found  two  tier  of  guns  opposed 
to  him  instead  of  one.  He  halts,  suspends  his  clamorous 
yelping,  and,  in  fine,  ingloriously  retreats  to  his  master, 
with  all  the  dishonorable  marks  of  positively  declining  the 
combat.  It  was  in  this  manner  that  the  troops  of  the  noisy 
Greeks,  with  much  hallooing  and  many  a  boastful  shout, 
hastened  both  from  the  town  and  from  the  lists,  with  the 
apparent  intention  of  sweeping  from  the  field  the  few  com- 
panions of  Tancred.  As  they  advanced,  however,  within 
the  power  of  remarking  the  calm  and  regular  order  of  those 
men  who  had  landed  and  arranged  themselves  under  this 
noble  chieftain's  banner,  their  minds  were  altogether  changed 
as  to  the  resolution  of  instant  combat ;  their  advance  be* 

S42 


COUNT  BOBERT  OF  PABIS  343 

came  an  uncertain  and  staggering  gait ;  their  heads  were 
more  frequently  turned  back  to  the  point  from  which  they 
came  than  towards  the  enemy  ;  and  their  desire  to  provoke 
an  instant  scuffle  vanished  totally  when  there  did  not  appear 
the  least  symptom  that  their  opponents  cared  about  the 
matter. 

It  added  to  the  extreme  confidence  with  which  the  Latins 
kept  their  ground,  that  they  were  receiving  frequent, 
though  small,  reinforcements  from  their  comrades,  who 
were  landing  by  detachments  all  along  the  beach  ;  and  that, 
in  the  course  of  a  short  hour,  their  amount  had  been  raised, 
on  horseback  and  foot,  to  a  number,  allowing  for  a  few 
casualties,  not  much  less  than  that  which  set  sail  from 
Scutari. 

Another  reason  why  the  Latins  remained  unassailed  was 
certainly  the  indisposition  of  the  two  principal  armed  parties 
on  shore  to  enter  into  a  quarrel  with  them.  The  guarc^s  of 
every  kind  who  were  faithful  to  the  Emperor,  and  more 
especially  the  Varangians,  had  their  orders  to  remain  firm 
at  their  posts,  some  in  the  lists  and  others  at  various  places 
of  rendezvous  in  Constantinople,  where  their  presence  was 
necessary  to  prevent  the  effects  of  the  sudden  insurrection 
which  Alexius  knew  to  be  meditated  against  him.  These, 
therefore,  made  no  hostile  demonstration  towards  the  band 
of  Latins,  nor  was  it  the  purpose  of  the  Emperor  they  should 
do  so. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  greater  part  of  the  Immortal 
Guards,  and  those  citizens  who  were  prepared  to  play  a  part 
in  the  conspiracy,  had  been  impressed  by  the  agents  of  the 
deceased  Agelastes  with  the  opinion  that  this  band  of  Latins, 
commanded  by  Tancred,  the  relative  of  Bohemond,  had 
been  despatched  by  the  latter  to  their  assistance.  These 
men,  therefore,  stood  still,  and  made  no  attempt  to  guide 
or  direct  the  popular  efforts  of  such  as  inclined  to  attack 
these  unexpected  visitors  ;  in  which  purpose,  therefore,  no 
very  great  party  were  united,  while  the  majority  were  will- 
ing enough  to  find  an  apology  for  remaining  quiet. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  Emperor,  from  his  Palace  of  Blac- 
quernal,  observed  what  passed  upon  the  straits,  and  beheld 
his  navy  from  Lemnos  totally  foiled  in  their  attempt,  by 
means  of  the  Greek  fire,  to  check  the  intended  passage  of 
Tancred  and  his  men.  He  had  no  sooner  seen  the  leading 
ship  of  this  squadron  begin  to  beacon  the  darkness  with  its 
own  fire  than  the  Emperor  formed  a  secret  resolution  to 
disown  the  unfortunate  admiral,  and  make  peace  with  the 


344  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

Latins,  if  that  should  be  absolutely  necessary,  by  sending 
them  his  head.  He  had  hardly,  therefore,  seen  the  flames 
burst  forth,  and  the  rest  of  the  vessels  retreat  from  their 
moorings,  than  in  his  own  mind  the  doom  of  the  unfortu- 
nate Phraortes,  for  such  was  the  name  of  the  admiral,  was 
signed  and  sealed. 

Achilles  Tatius,  at  the  same  instant,  determining  to  keep 
a  close  eye  upon  the  Emperor  at  this  important  crisis,  came 
precipitately  into  the  palace  with  an  appearance  of  great 
alarm. 

'*  My  lord — my  imperial  lord,  I  am  unhappy  to  be  the 
messenger  of  such  unlucky  news ;  but  the  Latins  have  in 
great  numbers  succeeded  in  crossing  the  strait  from  Scutari. 
The  Lemnos  squadron  endeavored  to  stop  them,  as  was  last 
night  determined  upon  in  the  imperial  council  of  war.  By 
a  heavy  discharge  of  the  Greek  fire  one  or  two  of  the  crusaders' 
vesspls  were  consumed,  but  by  far  the  greater  number  of 
them  pushed  on  their  course,  burned  the  leading  ship  of  the 
unfortunate  Phraortes,  and  it  is  strongly  reported  he  has 
himself  perished,  with  almost  all  his  men.  The  rest  have 
cut  their  cables  and  abandoned  the  defense  of  the  passage 
of  the  Hellespont." 

'^ And  you,  Achilles  Tatius,"  said  the  Emperor,  "with 
what  purpose  is  it  that  you  now  bring  me  this  melancholy 
news,  at  a  period  so  late  when  I  cannot  amend  the  conse- 
quences ?" 

"Under  favor,  most  gracious  Emperor," replied  the  con- 
spirator, not  without  coloring  and  stammering,  "  such  was 
not  my  intention  ;  I  had  hoped  to  submit  a  plan  by  which  I 
might  easily  have  prepared  the  way  for  correcting  this  little 
error." 

"Well,  your  plan,  sir  ?"  said  the  Emperor,  drily. 

"  With  your  Sacred  Majesty's  leave,"  said  the  Acolyte,  "  I 
would  myself  have  undertaken  instantly  to  lead  against  this 
Tancred  and  his  Italians  the  battle-axes  of  the  faithful 
Varangian  Guard,  who  will  make  no  more  account  of  the 
small  number  of  Franks  who  have  come  ashore  than  the 
farmer  holds  of  the  hordes  of  rats  and  mice,  and  such-like 
mischievous  vermin,  who  have  harbored  in  his  granaries." 

"And  what  mean  you,"  said  the  Emperor,  "  that  I  am  to 
do,  while  my  Anglo-Saxons  fight  for  my  sake  ?" 

"Your  Majesty,"  replied  Achilles,  not  exactly  satisfied 
with  the  dry  and  caustic  manner  in  which  the  Emperor  ad- 
dressed him,  "  may  put  yourself  at  the  head  of  the  Immor- 
tal cohorts  of  Constantinople  ;  and  I  am  your  security,  that 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  345 

yon  may  either  perfect  the  victory  over  the  Latins,  or  at 
least  redeem  the  most  distant  chance  of  a  defeat,  by  advanc- 
ing at  the  head  of  this  choice  body  of  domestic  troops,  should 
the  day  appear  doubtful/' 

'^  You  yourself,  Achilles  Tatius,"  returned  the  Emperor, 
'^  have  repeatedly  assured  us  that  these  Immortals  retain  a 
perverse  attachment  to  our  rebel  Ursel.  How  is  it,  then,  you 
would  have  us  entrust  our  defense  to  these  bands,  when  we 
have  engaged  our  valiant  Varangians  in  the  proposed  con- 
flict with  the  flower  of  the  Western  army  ?  Did  you  think 
of  this  risk,  sir  Follower  ?  " 

Achilles  Tatius,  much  alarmed  at  an  intimation  indicative 
of  his  purpose  being  known,  answered,  "  that  in  his  haste  he 
had  been  more  anxious  to  recommend  the  plan  which  should 
expose  his  own  person  to  the  greater  danger  than  that  per- 
haps which  was  most  attended  with  personal  safety  to  his 
imperial  master/' 

''  I  thank  you  for  so  doing,''  said  the  Emperor ;  '^  you 
have  anticipated  my  wishes,  though  it  is  not  in  my  power  at 
present  to  follow  the  advice  you  have  given  me.  I  would 
have  been  well  contented,  undoubtedly,  had  these  Latins 
measured  their  way  over  the  strait  again,  as  suggested  by 
last  night's  council ;  but  since  they  have  arrived,  and  stand 
embattled  on  our  shores,  it  is  better  that  we  pay  them  with 
money  and  with  spoil  than  with  the  lives  of  our  gallant  sub- 
jects. We  cannot,  after  all,  believe  that  they  come  with  any 
serious  intention  of  doing  us  injury  ;  it  is  but  the  insane 
desire  of  witnessing  feats  of  battle  and  single  combat,  which 
is  to  them  the  breath  of  their  nostrils,  that  can  have  impelled 
them  to  this  partial  counter-march.  I  impose  upon  you, 
Achilles  Tatius,  combining  the  Protospathaire  in  the  same 
commission  with  you,  the  duty  of  riding  up  to  yonder 
standard,  and  learning  of  their  chief,  called  the  Prince 
Tancred,  if  he  is  there  in  person,  the  purpose  of  his  return, 
and  the  cause  of  his  entering  into  debate  with  Phraortes  and 
the  Lemnos  squadron.  If  they  send  us  any  reasonable  ex- 
cuse, we  shall  not  be  averse  to  receive  it  at  their  hands  ;  for 
we  have  not  made  so  many  sacrifices  for  the  preservation  of 
peace,  to  break  forth  into  war,  if,  after  all,  so  great  an  evil 
can  be  avoided.  Thou  wilt  receive,  therefore,  with  a  candid 
and  complacent  mind,  such  apologies  as  they  may  incline  to 
bring  forward  ;  and  be  assured  that  the  sight  of  this  puppet- 
show  of  a  single  combat  will  be  enough  of  itself  to  banish 
every  other  consideration  from  the  reflection  of  these  giddy 
crusaders/' 


345  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

A  knock  was  at  this  moment  heard  at  the  door  of  the 
Emperor's  apartment ;  and  upon  the  word  being  given  to 
enter,  the  Protospathaire  made  his  appearance.  He  was 
arrayed  in  a  splendid  suit  of  ancient  Koman-fashioned  arm- 
or. The  want  of  a  visor  left  his  countenance  entirely 
visible,  which,  pale  and  anxious  as  it  was,  did  not  well  be- 
come the  martial  crest  and  dancing  plume  with  which  it 
was  decorated.  He  received  the  commission  already  men- 
tioned with  the  less  alacrity  because  the  Acolyte  was  added 
to  him  as  his  colleague  ;  for,  as  the  reader  may  have  observed, 
these  two  officers  were  of  separate  factions  in  the  army,  and 
on  indifferent  terms  with  each  other.  Neither  did  the 
Acolyte  consider  his  being  united  in  commission  with  the 
Protospathaire  as  a  mark  either  of  the  Emperor's  confidence 
or  of  his  own  safety.  He  was,  however,  in  the  mean  time  in 
the  Blacquernal,  where  the  slaves  of  the  interior  made  not 
the  least  hesitation,  when  ordered,  to  execute  any  officer  of 
the  court.  The  two  generals  had,  therefore,  no  other  alter- 
native than  that  which  is  allowed  to  two  greyhounds  who  are 
reluctantly  coupled  together.  The  hope  of  Achilles  Tatius 
was,  that  he  might  get  safely  through  his  mission  to  Tancred, 
after  which  he  thought  the  successful  explosion  of  the  con- 
spiracy might  take  place  and  have  its  course,  either  as  a  mat- 
ter desired  and  countenanced  by  those  Latins,  or  passed  over 
as  a  thing  in  which  they  took  no  interest  on  either  side. 

By  the  parting  order  of  the  Emperor,  they  were  to  mount 
on  horseback  at  the  sounding  of  the  great  Varangian  trum- 
pet, put  themselves  at  the  head  of  those  Anglo-Saxon  guards 
in  the  courtyard  of  their  barrack,  and  await  the  Emperor's 
further  orders. 

There  was  something  in  this  arrangement  which  pressed 
hard  on  the  conscience  of  Achilles  Tatius,  yet  he  was  at  a 
loss  to  justify  his  apprehensions  to  himself,  unless  from  a 
conscious  feeling  of  his  own  guilt.  He  felt,  however,  that 
in  being  detained,  under  pretense  of  an  honorable  mission, 
at  the  head  of  the  Varangians,  he  was  deprived  of  the  liberty 
of  disposing  of  himself,  by  which  he  had  hoped  to  commu- 
nicate with  the  Caesar  and  Hereward,  whom  he  reckoned  upon 
as  his  active  accomplices,  not  knowing  that  the  first  was  at 
this  moment  a  prisoner  in  the  Blacquernal,  where  Alexius 
had  arrested  him  in  the  apartments  of  the  Empress,  and  that 
the  second  was  the  most  important  support  of  Comnenus 
during  the  whole  of  that  eventful  day. 

When  the  gigantic  trumpet  of  the  Varangian  Guards  sent 
forth  its  deep  signal  through  the  city,  the  Protospathaire 


COUNT  BOBERT  OF  PABI8  847 

hurried  Achilles  along  with  him  to  the  rendezvous  of  the 
Varangians,  and  on  the  way  said  to  him,  in  an  easy  and 
indifferent  tone,  "  As  the  Emperor  is  in  the  field  in  person, 
you,  his  representative,  or  Follower,  will,  of  course,  transmit 
no  orders  to  the  bodyguard,  except  such  as  shall  receive  their 
origin  from  himself,  so  that  you  will  consider  your  authority 
as  this  day  suspended/' 

"  I  regret,"  said  Achilles,  "  that  there  should  have  seemed 
any  cause  for  such  precautions  ;  I  had  hoped  my  own  truth 
and  fidelity — but  I  am  obsequious  to  his  imperial  pleasure  in 
ail  things/' 

"  Such  are  his  orders,''  said  the  other  officer,  *'  and  you 
knew  under  what  penalty  obedience  is  enforced/' 

''If  I  did  not,"  said  Achilles,  ''the  composition  of  this 
body  of  guards  would  remind  me,  since  it  comprehends  not 
only  great  part  of  those  Varangians  who  are  the  immediate 
defenders  of  the  Emperor's  throne,  but  those  slaves  of  the 
interior  who  are  the  executioners  of  his  pleasure/' 

To  this  the  Protospathaire  returned  no  answer,  while  the 
more  closely  the  Acolyte  looked  upon  the  guard  which  at- 
tended, to  the  unusual  number  of  nearly  three  thousand 
men,  the  more  had  he  reason  to  believe  that  he  might  esteem 
himself  fortunate  if,  by  the  intervention  of  either  the  Caesar, 
Agelastes,  or  Hereward,  he  could  pass  to  the  conspirators  a 
signal  to  suspend  the  intended  explosion,  which  seemed  to 
be  provided  against  by  the  Emperor  with  unusual  caution. 
He  would  have  given  the  full  dream  of  empire,  with  which 
he  had  been  for  a  short  time  lulled  asleep,  to  have  seen  but  a 
glimpse  of  the  azure  plume  of  Nicephorus,  the  white  mantle 
of  the  philosopher,  or  even  a  glimmer  of  Hereward's  battle- 
ax.  No  such  objects  could  be  seen  anywhere,  and  not  a 
little  was  the  faithless  Follower  displeased  to  see  that,  which- 
ever way  he  turned  his  eyes,  those  of  the  Protospathaire,  but 
especially  of  the  trusty  domestic  officers  of  the  empire, 
seemed  to  follow  and  watch  their  occupation. 

Amidst  the  numerous  soldiers  whom  he  saw  on  all  sides, 
his  eye  did  not  recognize  a  single  man  with  whom  he  could 
exchange  a  friendly  or  confidential  glance,  and  he  stood  in 
all  that  agony  of  terror  which  is  rendered  the  more  discom- 
fiting because  the  traitor  is  conscious  that,  beset  by  various 
foes,  his  own  fears  are  the  most  likely  of  all  to  betray  him. 
Internally,  as  the  danger  seemed  to  increase,  and  as  his 
alarmed  imagination  attempted  to  discern  new  reasons  for  it, 
he  could  only  conclude  that  either  one  of  the  three  principal 
conspirators,  or  at  least  some  of  the  inferiors,  had  turned 


348  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

informers  ;  and  his  doubt  was,  whether  he  should  not  screen 
his  own  share  of  what  had  been  premeditated  by  flinging 
himself  at  the  feet  of  the  Emperor,  and  making  a  full  con- 
fession. But  still  the  fear  of  being  premature  in  having 
recourse  to  such  a  base  means  of  saving  himself,  joined  to 
the  absence  of  the  Emperor,  united  to  keep  within  his  lips  a 
secret  which  concerned  not  only  all  his  future  fortunes,  but 
life  itself.  He  was  in  the  mean  time,  therefore,  plunged  as 
it  were  in  a  sea  of  trouble  and  uncertainty,  while  the  specks 
of  land,  which  seemed  to  promise  him  refuge,  were  distant, 
dimly  seen,  and  extremely  difficult  of  attainment. 


CHAPTER  XXXI 

To-morrow — oh,  that's  sudden.    Spare  him — spare  him ; 
He's  not  prepared  to  die. 

Shakspeare. 

At  the  moment  when  Achilles  Tatius,  with  a  feeling  of  much 
insecurity,  awaited  the  unwinding  of  the  perilous  skein  of 
state  politics,  a  private  counsel  of  the  imperial  family  was 
held  in  the  hall  termed  the  temple  of  the  Muses,  repeatedly 
distinguished  as  the  apartment  in  which  the  Princess  Anna 
Comnena  was  wont  to  make  her  evening  recitations  to  those 
who  were  permitted  the  honor  of  hearing  prelections  of  her 
history.  The  council  consisted  of  the  Empress  Irene,  the 
Princess  herself  and  the  Emperor,  with  the  Patriarch  of  the 
Greek  Church,  as  a  sort  of  mediator  between  a  course  of 
severity  and  a  dangerous  degree  of  lenity. 

'^  Tell  not  me,  Irene, ^'  said  the  Emperor,  ''  of  the  fine 
things  attached  to  the  praise  of  mercy.  Here  have  I  sacrificed 
my  just  revenge  over  my  rival  Ursel,  and  what  good  do  I 
obtain  by  it  ?  Why,  the  old  obstinate  man,  instead  of  being 
tractable,  and  sensible  of  the  generosity  which  has  spared  his 
life  and  eyes,  can  be  with  difficulty  brought  to  exert  himself 
in  favor  of  the  prince  to  whom  he  owes  them.  I  nsed  to 
think  that  eyesight  and  the  breath  of  lifo  were  things  which 
one  would  preserve  at  any  sacrifice ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  I 
now  believe  men  value  them  like  mere  toys.  Talk  not  to 
me,  therefore,  of  the  gratitude  to  be  excited  by  saving  this 
ungrateful  cub ;  and  believe  me,  girl,^'  turning  to  Anna, 
*'  that  not  only  will  all  my  subjects,  should  I  follow  your  ad- 
vice, laugh  at  me  for  sparing  a  man  so  predetermined  to 
work  my  ruin,  but  even  thou  thyself  wilt  be  the  first  to  up- 
braid me  with  the  foolish  kindness  thou  art  now  so  anxious 
to  extort  from  me.^' 

"Your  imperial  pleasure,  then,''  said  the  Patriarch,  "is 
fixed  that  your  unfortunate  son-in-law  shall  suffer  death  for 
his  accession  to  this  conspiracy,  deluded  by  that  heathen 
villain  Agelastes  and  the  traitorous  Achilles  Tatius  ?  " 

"  Such  is  my  purpose,''  said  the  Emperor  ;  "  and  in 
evidence  that  I  mean  not  again  to  pass  over  a  sentence  of 


350  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

this  kind  with  a  seeming  execution  only,  as  in  the  case  of 
Ursel,  this  ungrateful  traitor  of  ours  shall  be  led  from  the 
top  of  the  staircase,  or  Ladder  of  Acheron,  as  it  is  called, 
through  the  large  chamber  named  the  Hall  of  Judgment,  at 
the  upper  end  of  which  are  arranged  the  apparatus  for  execu- 
tion, by  which  I  swear " 

"  Swear  not  at  all ! "  said  the  Patriarch.  "  I  forbid  thee, 
in  the  name  of  that  Heaven  whose  voice  speaks  in  my  person 
— though  unworthy — to  quench  the  smoking  flax,  or  destroy 
the  slight  hope  which  there  may  remain  that  you  may  finally 
be  persuaded  to  alter  your  purpose  respecting  your  mis- 
guided son-in-law,  within  the  space  allotted  to  him  to  sue  for 
your  mercy.  Remember,  I  pray  you,  the  remorse  of  Con- 
stantine." 

*'  What  means  your  reverence  ?'*  said  Irene. 

''A  trifle,'*  replied  the  Emperor,  "not  worthy  being 
quoted  from  such  a  mouth  as  the  Patriarch's,  being,  as  it 
probably  is,  a  relic  of  paganism." 

*' What  is  it  ?"  exclaimed  the  females  anxiously,  in  the 
hope  of  hearing  something  which  might  strengthen  their 
side  of  the  argument,  and  something  moved,  perhaps,  by 
curiosity,  a  motive  which  seldom  slumbers  in  a  female  bosom, 
even  when  the  stronger  passions  are  in  arms. 

"The  Patriarch  will  tell  you,"  answered  Alexius,  "since 
you  must  needs  know ;  though,  I  promise  you,  you  will  not 
receive  any  assistance  in  your  argument  from  a  silly 
legendary  tale." 

"Hear  it,  however,"  said  the  Patriarch  ;  *'for,  though  it 
is  a  tale  of  the  olden  time,  and  sometimes  supposed  to  refer 
to  the  period  when  heathenism  predominated,  it  is  no  less 
true  that  it  was  a  vow  made  and  registered  in  the  chancery 
of  the  rightful  Deity  by  an  emperor  of  Greece. 

"  What  I  am  now  to  relate  to  you,"  continued  he,  "  is,  in 
truth,  a  tale  not  only  of  a  Christian  emperor,  but  of  him 
who  made  the  whole  empire  Christian  ;  and  of  that  very 
Constantino  who  was  also  the  first  who  declared  Constanti- 
nople to  be  the  metropolis  of  the  empire.  This  hero, 
remarkable  alike  for  his  zeal  for  religion  and  for  his  warlike 
achievements,  was  crowned  by  Heaven  with  repeated  victory, 
and  with  all  manner  of  blessings,  save  that  unity  in  his 
family  which  wise  men  are  most  ambitious  to  possess.  Not 
only  was  the  blessing  of  concord  among  brethren  denied  to 
the  family  of  this  triumphant  emperor,  but  a  deserving  son 
of  mature  age,  who  had  been  supposed  to  aspire  to  share  the 
throne  with  his  father,  was  suddenly,  and  at  midnight,  called 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  351 

upon  to  enter  his  defense  against  a  capital  charge  of  treason. 
Yon  will  readily  excuse  my  referring  to  the  arts  by  which 
the  son  was  rendered  guilty  in  the  eyes  of  the  father.  Be  it 
enough  to  say,  that  the  unfortunate  young  man  fell  a  victim 
to  the  guilt  of  his  stepmother,  Fausta,  and  that  he  disdained 
to  exculpate  himself  from  a  charge  so  gross  and  so  erroneous. 
It  is  said  that  the  anger  of  the  Emperor  was  kept  up  against 
his  son  by  the  sycophants  who  called  upon  Constantine  to 
observe  that  the  culprit  disdained  even  to  supplicate  for 
mercy  or  vindicate  his  innocence  from  so  foul  a  charge. 

*'But  the  death-blow  had  no  sooner  struck  the  innocent 
youth  than  his  father  obtained  proof  of  the  rashness  with 
which  he  had  acted.  He  had  at  this  period  been  engaged 
in  constructing  the  subterranean  parts  of  the  Blacquernal 
Palace,  which  his  remorse  appointed  to  contain  a  record  of 
his  paternal  grief  and  contrition.  At  the  upper  part  of  the 
staircase,  called  the  Pit  of  Acheron,  he  caused  to  be  con- 
structed a  large  chamber,  still  called  the  Hall  of  Judgment, 
for  the  purpose  of  execution.  A  passage  through  an  archway 
in  the  upper  wall  leads  from  the  hall  to  the  place  of  misery, 
where  the  ax,  or  other  engine,  is  disposed  for  the  execution 
of  state  prisoners  of  consequence.  Over  this  archway  was 
placed  a  species  of  marble  altar,  surmounted  by  an  image  of 
the  unfortunate  Crispus  ;  the  materials  were  gold,  and  it 
bore  the  memorable  inscription,  To  my  son,  whom  I  rashly 
CONDEMNED,  AND  TOO  HASTILY  EXECUTED.  When  Construct- 
ing this  passage,  Constantine  made  a  vow  that  he  himself 
and  his  posterity,  being  reigning  emperors,  would  stand 
beside  the  statue  of  Crispus  at  the  time  when  any  individual 
of  their  family  should  be  led  to  execution,  and,  before  they 
suffered  him  to  pass  from  the  Hall  of  Judgment  to  the 
chamber  of  death,  that  they  should  themselves  be  personally 
convinced  of  the  truth  of  the  charge  under  which  he 
Buffered. 

'^  Time  rolled  on  ;  the  memory  of  Constantine  was  remem- 
bered almost  like  that  of  a  saint,  and  the  respect  paid  to  it 
threw  into  shadow  the  anecdote  of  his  son's  death.  The 
exigencies  of  the  state  rendered  it  difficult  to  keep  so  large 
a  sum  in  specie  invested  in  a  statue,  which  called  to  mind 
the  unpleasant  failings  of  so  great  a  man.  Your  Imperial 
Highness's  predecessors  applied  the  metal  which  formed  the 
statue  to  support  the  Turkish  wars  ;  and  the  remorse  and 
penance  of  Constantine  died  away  in  an  obscure  tradition  of 
the  church  or  of  the  palace.  Still,  however,  unless  your 
Imperial  Majesty  has  strong  reasons  to  the  contrary,   1 


352  WA  VERLEY  NO VELS 

should  give  it  as  my  opinion  that  you  will  hardly  achieve 
what  is  due  to  the  memory  of  the  greatest  of  your  predeces- 
sors unless  you  give  this  unfortunate  criminal,  being  so  near 
a  relation  of  your  own,  an  opportunity  of  pleading  his  cause 
before  passing  by  the  altar  of  refuge,  being  the  name  which 
is  commonly  given  to  the  monument  of  the  unfortunate 
Crispus,  son  of  Constantine,  although  now  deprived  both  of 
the  golden  letters  which  composed  the  inscription  and  the 
golden  image  which  represented  the  royal  sufferer." 

A  mournful  strain  of  music  was  now  heard  to  ascend  the 
stair  so  often  mentioned. 

^'  If  I  must  hear  the  Caesar  Nicephorus  Briennius  ere  he 
pass  the  altar  of  refuge,  there  must  be  no  loss  of  time,"  said 
the  Emperor  ;  '^  for  these  melancholy  sounds  announce  that 
he  has  already  approached  the  Hall  of  Judgment." 

Both  the  imperial  ladies  began  instantly,  with  the  utmost 
earnestness,  to  deprecate  the  execution  of  the  Caesar's  doom, 
and  to  conjure  Alexius,  as  he  hoped  for  quiet  in  his  house 
hold,  and  the  everlasting  gratitude  of  his  wife  and  daugh- 
ter, that  he  would  listen  to  their  entreaties  in  behalf  of  an 
unfortunate  man,  who  had  been  seduced  into  guilt,  but  not 
from  his  heart. 

'^ I  will  at  least  see  him,"  said  the  Emperor,  "and  the 
holy  vow  of  Constantine  shall  be  in  the  present  instance 
strictly  observed.  But  remember,  you  foolish  women,  that 
the  state  of  Crispus  and  the  present  Caesar  is  as  different  as 
guilt  from  innocence,  and  that  their  fates,  therefore,  may 
be  Justly  decided  upon  opposite  principles  and  with  opposite 
results.  But  I  will  confront  this  criminal  ;  and  you.  Patri- 
arch, may  be  present  to  render  what  help  is  in  your  power 
to  a  dying  man ;  for  you,  the  wife  and  mother  of  the  trai- 
tor, you  will,  methinks,  do  well  to  retire  to  the  church,  and 
pray  God  for  the  soul  of  the  deceased,  rather  than  disturb 
his  last  moments  with  unavailing  lamentations." 

"Alexius,"  said  the  Empress  Irene,  "I  beseech  you  to  be 
contented  ;  be  assured  that  we  will  not  leave  you  in  this 
dogged  humor  of  blood-shedding,  lest  you  make  such  mate- 
rials for  history  as  are  fitter  for  the  time  of  Nero  than  of 
Constantine." 

The  Emperor,  without  reply,  led  the  way  into  the  Hall  of 
Judgment,  where  a  much  stronger  light  than  usual  was 
already  shining  up  the  stair  of  Acheron,  from  which  were 
heard  to  sound,  by  sullen  and  intermitted  fits,  the  peniten- 
tial psalms  which  the  Greek  Church  has  appointed  to  be 
sung  at  executions.     Twenty  mute  slaves,  the  pale  color  of 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  353 

whose  turbans  gave  a  ghastly  look  to  the  withered  cast  of 
their  features  and  the  glaring  whiteness  of  their  eyeballs, 
ascended  two  by  two,  as  it  were  from  the  bowels  of  the 
earth,  each  of  them  bearing  in  one  hand  a  naked  saber  and 
in  the  other  a  lighted  torch.  After  these  came  the  unfor- 
tunate Nicephorus  ;  his  looks  were  those  of  man  half -dead 
from  the  terror  of  immediate  dissolution,  and  what  he  pos- 
sessed of  remaining  attention  was  turned  successively  to  two 
black-stoled  monks,  who  were  anxiously  repeating  religious 
passages  to  him  alternately  from  the  Greek  Scripture  and 
the  form  of  devotion  adopted  by  the  court  of  Constanti- 
nople. The  Caesar's  dress  also  corresponded  to  his  mourn- 
ful fortunes  :  his  legs  and  arms  were  bare,  and  a  simple 
white  tunic,  the  neck  of  which  was  already  open,  showed 
that  he  had  assumed  the  garments  which  were  to  serve  his 
last  turn.  A  tall  muscular  Nubian  slave,  who  considered 
himself  obviously  as  the  principal  person  in  the  procession, 
bore  on  his  shoulder  a  large  heavy  headsman^s  ax,  and,  like 
a  demon  waiting  on  a  sorcerer,  stalked  step  for  step  after 
his  victim.  The  rear  of  the  procession  was  closed  by  a  band 
of  four  priests,  each  of  whom  chanted  from  time  to  time  the 
devotional  psalm  which  was  thundered  forth  on  the  occa- 
sion ;  and  another  of  slaves,  armed  with  bows  and  quivers, 
and  with  lances,  to  resist  any  attempt  at  rescue,  if  such 
should  be  offered. 

It  would  have  required  a  harder  heart  than  that  of  the 
unlucky  princess  to  have  resisted  this  gloomy  apparatus  of 
fear  and  sorrow,  surrounding,  at  the  same  time  directed 
against,  a  beloved  object,  the  lover  of  her  youth,  and  the 
husband  of  her  bosom,  within  a  few  minutes  of  the  termina- 
tion of  his  mortal  career. 

As  the  mournful  train  approached  towards  the  altar  of 
refuge,  half-encircled  as  it  now  was  by  the  two  great  and 
expanded  arms  which  projected  from  the  wall,  the  Emperor, 
who  stood  directly  in  the  passage,  threw  upon  the  flame  of 
the  altar  some  chips  of  aromatic  wood,  steeped  in  spirit  of 
wine,  which,  leaping  at  once  into  a  blaze,  illuminated  the 
doleful  procession,  the  figure  of  the  principal  culprit,  and 
the  slaves,  who  had  most  of  them  extinguished  their  flam- 
beaux so  soon  as  they  had  served  the  purpose  of  lighting 
them  up  the  staircase. 

The  sudden  light  spread  from  the  altar  failed  not  to  make 
the  Emperor  and  the  Princesses  visible  to  the  mournful 
group  which  approached  through  the  hall.  All  halted — all 
were  silent.     It  was  a  meeting,  as  the  Princess  has  expressed 


354  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

herself  in  her  historical  work,  such  as  took  place  betwixt 
Ulysses  and  the  inhabitants  of  the  other  world,  who,  when 
they  tasted  of  the  blood  of  his  sacrifices,  recognized  him 
indeed,  but  with  empty  lamentations,  and  gestures  feeble 
and  shadowy.  The  hymn  of  contrition  sunk  also  into  silence; 
and  of  the  whole  group,  the  only  figure  rendered  more  dis- 
tinct was  the  gigantic  executioner,  whose  high  and  furrowed 
forehead,  as  well  as  the  broad  steel  of  his  ax,  caught  and 
reflected  back  the  bright  gleam  from  the  altar.  Alexius 
saw  the  necessity  of  breaking  the  silence  which  ensued,  lest 
it  should  give  the  intercessors  for  the  prisoner  an  opportunity 
of  renewing  their  entreaties. 

"  Nicephorus  Briennius,"  he  said,  with  a  voice  which, 
although  generally  interrupted  by  a  slight  hesitation,  which 
procured  him,  among  his  enemies,  the  nickname  of  the 
Stutterer,  yet,  upon  important  occasions  like  the  present, 
was  so  judiciously  tuned  and  balanced  in  its  sentences  that 
no  such  defect  was  at  all  visible — "  Nicephorus  Briennius,^' 
he  said,  ^'  late  Caesar,  the  lawful  doom  hath  been  spoken, 
that,  having  conspired  against  the  life  of  thy  rightful  sov- 
ereign and  affectionate  father,  Alexius  Comnenus,  thou  shalt 
suffer  the  appropriate  sentence,  by  having  thy  head  struck 
from  thy  body.  Here,  therefore,  at  the  last  altar  of  refuge, 
I  meet  thee,  according  to  the  vow  of  the  immortal  Constantine, 
for  the  purpose  of  demanding  whether  thou  hast  anything 
to  allege  why  this  doom  should  not  be  executed  ?  Even  at 
this  eleventh  hour  thy  tongue  is  unloosed  to  speak  with 
freedom  what  may  concern  thy  life.  All  is  prepared  in  this 
world  and  in  the  next.  Look  forward  beyond  yon  archway 
— the  block  is  fixed.  Look  behind  thee,  thou  see'st  the  ax 
already  sharpened.  Thy  place  for  good  or  evil  in  the  next 
world  is  already  determined  ;  time  flies — eternity  approaches. 
If  thou  hast  aught  to  say,  speak  it  freely  ;  if  nought,  confess 
the  justice  of  thy  sentence,  and  pass  on  to  death." 

The  Emperor  commenced  this  oration  with  those  looks 
described  by  his  daughter  as  so  piercing  that  they  dazzled 
like  lightning,  and  his  periods,  if  not  precisely  flowing  like 
burning  lava,  were  yet  the  accents  of  a  man  having  the 
power  of  absolute  command,  and  as  such  produced  an  effect 
not  only  on  the  criminal,  but  also  upon  the  Prince  himself, 
whose  watery  eyes  and  faltering  voice  acknowledged  his  sense 
and  feeling  of  the  fatal  import  of  the  present  moment. 

Housing  himself  to  the  conclusion  of  what  he  had  com- 
menced, the  Emperor  again  demanded  whether  the  prisoner 
had  anything  to  say  in  his  own  defense. 


**  *  I  have  been  tempted,'  he  said,  dropping  on  his  knees,  *  and  I  have  fallen.*  ** 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  365 

Kicephorus  was  not  one  of  those  hardened  criminals  who 
may  be  termed  the  very  prodigies  of  history,  from  the  cool- 
ness with  which  they  contemplate  the  consummation  of  their 
crimes,  whether  in  their  own  punishment  or  the  misfortunes 
of  others.  ''  I  have  been  tempted,^'  he  said,  dropping  to  his 
knees,  ' '  and  I  have  fallen.  I  have  nothing  to  allege  in 
excuse  of  my  folly  and  ingratitude  ;  but  I  stand  prepared  to 
die  to  expiate  my  guilt.^*  A  deep  sigh,  almost  amounting  to 
a  scream,  was  here  heard,  close  behind  the  Emperor,  and  its 
cause  assigned  by  the  sudden  exclamation  of  Irene — "  My 
lord — my  lord,  your  daughter  is  gone  ! "  And  in  fact  Anna 
Comnena  had  sunk  into  her  mother's  arms  without  either 
sense  or  motion.  The  father's  attention  was  instantly  called 
to  support  his  swooning  child,  while  the  unhappy  husband 
strove  with  the  guards  to  be  permitted  to  go  to  the  assistance 
of  his  wife.  '^  Give  me  but  five  minutes  of  that  time  which 
the  law  has  abridged  ;  let  my  efforts  but  assist  in  recalling 
her  to  a  life  w^hich  should  be  as  long  as  her  virtues  and  her 
talents  deserve ;  and  then  let  me  die  at  her  feet,  for  I  care 
not  to  go  an  inch  beyond." 

The  Emperor,  who  in  fact  had  been  more  astonished  at  the 
boldness  and  rashness  of  Nicephorus  than  alarmed  by  his 
power,  considered  him  as  a  man  rather  misled  than  mislead- 
ing others,  and  felt,  therefore,  the  full  effect  of  this  last 
interview.  He  was,  besides,  not  naturally  cruel,  where 
severities  were  to  be  enforced  under  his  own  eye. 

''  The  divine  and  immortal  Constantine,"  he  said,  ''  did 
not,  I  am  persuaded,  subject  his  descendants  to  this  severe 
trial  in  order  to  further  search  out  the  innocence  of  the 
criminals,  but  rather  to  give  to  those  who  came  after  him  an 
opportunity  of  generously  forgiving  a  crime  which  could  not 
without  pardon — the  express  pardon  of  the  prince — escape 
without  punishment.  I  rejoice  that  I  am  born  of  the  willow 
rather  than  of  the  oak,  and  I  acknowledge  my  weakness,  that 
not  even  the  safety  of  my  own  life,  or  resentment  of  this 
unhappy  man's  treasonable  machinations,  have  the  same 
effect  with  me  as  the  tears  of  my  wife  and  the  swooning  of 
my  daughter.  Rise  up,  Mcephorus  Briennius,  freely  par- 
doned, and  restored  even  to  the  rank  of  Caesar.  We  will 
direct  thy  pardon  to  be  made  out  by  the  great  Logothete, 
and  sealed  with  the  golden  bull.  For  four-and-twenty  hours 
thou  art  a  prisoner,  until  an  arrangement  is  made  for  pre- 
serving the  public  peace.  Meanwhile  thou  wilt  remain 
under  the  charge  of  the  Patriarch,  who  will  be  answerable 
toi  thy  forthcoming.     Daughter  and  wife,  you  must  now  go 


356  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

hence  to  your  own  apartment ;  a  future  time  will  come, 
during  which  you  may  have  enough  of  weeping  and  embracing, 
mourning  and  rejoicing.  Pray  Heaven  that  I,  who,  having 
been  trained  on  till  I  have  sacrificed  justice  and  true  policy 
to  uxorious  compassion  and  paternal  tenderness  of  heart, 
may  not  have  cause  at  last  for  grieving  in  good  earnest  for 
all  the  events  of  this  miscellaneous  drama." 

The  pardoned  Caesar,  who  endeavored  to  regulate  his  ideas 
according  to  this  unexpected  change,  found  it  as  difficult  to 
reconcile  himself  to  the  reality  of  his  situation  as  Ursel  to 
the  face  of  nature,  after  having  been  long  deprived  of  en- 
joying it ;  so  much  do  the  dizziness  and  confusion  of  ideas 
occasioned  by  moral  and  physical  causes  of  surprise  and 
terror  resemble  each  other  in  their  effects  on  the  under- 
standing. 

At  length  he  stammered  forth  a  request  that  he  might 
be  permitted  to  go  to  the  field  with  the  Emperor,  and 
divert,  by  the  interposition  of  his  own  body,  the  traitorous 
blows  which  some  desperate  man  might  aim  against  that  of 
his  own  prince,  in  a  day  which  was  too  likely  to  be  one  of 
danger  and  bloodshed. 

''  Hold  there  !  "  said  Alexius  Comnenus.  "  We  will  not 
begin  thy  newly-redeemed  life  by  renewed  doubts  of  thine 
allegiance  ;  yet  it  is  but  fitting  to  remind  thee  that  thou  art 
still  the  nominal  and  ostensible  head  of  those  who  expect  to 
take  a  part  in  this  day's  insurrection,  and  it  will  be  the 
safest  course  to  trust  its  pacification  to  others  than  to  thee. 
Go,  sir,  compare  notes  with  the  Patriarch,  and  merit  your 
pardon  by  confessing  to  him  any  traitorous  intentions  con- 
cerning this  foul  conspiracy  with  which  we  may  be  as  yet 
unacquainted.  Daughter  and  wife,  farewell !  I  must  now 
depart  for  the  lists,  where  I  have  to  speak  with  the  traitor 
Achilles  Tatius  and  the  heathenish  infidel  Agelastes,  if  he 
still  lives,  but  of  whose  providential  death  I  hear  a  confirmed 
rumor.'* 

'^  Yet  do  not  go,  my  dearest  father,"  said  the  Princess  ; 
"  but  let  me  rather  go  to  encourage  the  loyal  subjects  in  your 
behalf.  The  extreme  kindness  which  you  have  extended 
towards  my  guilty  husband  convinces  me  of  the  extent  of 
your  affection  towards  your  unworthy  daughter,  and  the 
greatness  of  the  sacrifice  which  you  have  made  to  her  almost 
childish  affection  for  an  ungrateful  man  who  put  your  life 
in  danger.  *' 

"  That  is  to  say,  daughter,*'  said  the  Emperor,  smiling, 
*'  that  the  pardon  of  your  husband  is  a  boon  which  has  lost 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  361 

its  merit  when  it  is  granted  ?  Take  my  advice,  Anna, 
and  think  otherwise :  wives  and  their  husbands  ought  in 
prudence  to  forget  their  offenses  towards  each  other  as  soon 
as  human  nature  will  permit  them.  Life  is  too  short,  and 
conjugal  tranquillity  too  uncertain  to  admit  of  dwelling  long 
upon  such  irritating  subjects.  To  your  apartments.  Prin- 
cesses, and  prepare  the  scarlet  buskins  and  the  embroidery 
which  is  displayed  on  the  cuffs  and  the  collars  of  the  Caesar's 
robe,  indicative  of  his  high  rank.  He  must  not  be  seen 
without  them  on  the  morrow.  Eeverend  father,  I  remind 
you  once  more  that  the  Caesar  is  in  your  personal  custody 
from  this  moment  until  to-morrow  at  the  same  hour.'' 

They  parted  ;  the  Emperor  repairing  to  put  himself  at  the 
head  of  his  Varangian  Guards  ;  the  Caesar,  under  the  super- 
intendence of  the  Patriarch,  withdrawing  into  the  interior 
of  the  Blacquernal  Palace,  where  Nicephorus  Briennius  was 
under  the  necessity  of  ^^unthreading  the  rude  eye  of  rebel- 
lion," and  throwing  such  lights  as  were  in  his  power  upon 
the  progress  of  the  conspiracy. 

"  Agelastes,"  he  said  ''Achilles  Tatius,  and Hereward the 
Varangian  were  the  persons  principally  entrusted  in  its  prog- 
ress. But  whether  they  had  been  all  true  to  their  engage- 
ments he  did  not  pretend  to  be  assured.'' 

In  the  female  apartments  there  was  a  violent  discussion 
betwixt  Anna  Comnena  and  her  mother.  The  Princess  had 
undergone  during  the  day  many  changes  of  sentiment  and 
feeling  ;  and  though  they  had  finally  united  themselves  into 
one  strong  interest  in  her  husband's  favor,  yet  no  sooner  was 
the  fear  of  his  punishment  removed  than  the  sense  of  his 
ungrateful  behavior  began  to  revive.  She  became  sensible 
also  that  a  woman  of  her  extraordinary  attainments,  who 
had  been  by  a  universal  course  of  flattery  disposed  to  entertain 
a  very  high  opinion  of  her  own  consequence,  made  rather 
a  poor  figure  when  she  had  been  the  passive  subject  of  a 
long  series  of  intrigues,  by  which  she  was  destined  to  be 
disposed  of  in  one  way  or  the  other,  according  to  the  hu- 
mor of  a  set  of  subordinate  conspirators,  who  never  so  much 
as  dreamed  of  regarding  her  as  a  being  capable  of  form- 
ing a  wish  in  her  own  behalf,  or  even  yielding  or  refus- 
ing a  consent.  Her  father's  authority  over  her,  and  right 
to  dispose  of  her,  was  less  questionable  ;  but  even  then  it 
was  something  derogatory  to  the  dignity  of  a  princess 
born  in  the  purple — an  authoress  besides,  and  giver  of 
immortality — to  be,  without  her  own  consent,  thrown,  as 
it  were,  at  the  head  now  of  one  suitor,  now  of  another,  how- 


358  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

ever  mean  or  disgusting,  whose  alliance  could  for  the 
time  benefit  the  Emperor.  The  consequence  of  these 
moody  reflections  was,  that  Anna  Comnena  deeply  toiled  in 
spirit  for  the  discovery  of  some  means  by  which  she  might 
assert  her  sullied  dignity,  and  various  were  the  expedients 
which  she  revolved. 


CHAPTER  XXXII 

But  now  the  hand  of  fate  is  on  the  curtain, 
And  brings  the  scene  to  light. 

Don  Sebastian, 

The  gigantic  trumpet  of  the  Varangians  sounded  its  loudest 
note  of  march,  and  the  squadrons  of  the  faithful  guards, 
sheathed  in  complete  mail,  and  inclosing  in  their  center 
the  person  of  their  imperial  master,  set  forth  upon  their 
procession  through  the  streets  of  Constantinople.  The 
form  of  Alexius,  glittering  in  his  splendid  armor,  seemed 
no  unmeet  central  point  for  the  force  of  an  empire  ;  and 
while  the  citizens  crowded  in  the  train  of  him  and  his 
escort,  there  might  be  seen  a  visible  difference  between 
those  who  came  with  the  premeditated  intention  of  tumult 
and  the  greater  part,  who,  like  the  multitude  of  every 
great  city,  thrust  each  other  and  shout  for  rapture  on 
account  of  any  cause  for  which  a  crowd  may  be  collected 
together.  The  hope  of  the  conspirators  was  lodged  chief- 
ly in  the  Immortal  Guards,  who  were  levied  principally 
for  the  defense  of  Constantinople,  partook  of  the  general 
prejudices  of  the  citizens,  and  had  been  particularly  in- 
fluenced by  those  in  favor  of  Ursel,  by  whom,  previous  to 
his  imprisonment,  they  had  themselves  been  commanded. 
The  conspirators  had  determined  that  those  of  this  body 
who  were  considered  as  most  discontented  should  early  in 
the  morning  take  possession  of  the  posts  in  the  lists  most 
favorable  for  their  purpose  of  assaulting  the  Emperor^s 
person.  But,  in  spite  of  all  efforts  short  of  actual  violence, 
for  which  the  time  did  not  seem  to  be  come,  they  found 
themselves  disappointed  in  this  purpose  by  parties  of  the 
Varangian  Guards,  planted  with  apparent  carelessness,  but, 
in  fact,  with  perfect  skill,  for  the  prevention  of  their  en- 
terprise. Somewhat  confounded  at  perceiving  that  a  design 
which  they  could  not  suppose  to  be  suspected  was,  never- 
theless, on  every  part  controlled  and  counter-checked,  the 
conspirators  began  to  look  for  the  principal  persons  of 
their  own  party,  on  whom  they  depended  for  orders  in 
this  emergency ;  but  lisither  the  Caesar  nor  Agelastes  was 


360  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

to  be  seen,  whether  in  the  lists  or  on  the  military  marcL 
from  Constantinople ;  and  though  Achilles  Tatius  rode  in. 
the  latter  assembly,  yet  it  might  be  clearly  observed  that 
he  was  rather  attending  upon  the  Protospathaire  than  as- 
suming that  independence  as  an  officer  which  he  loved  to 
effect. 

In  this  manner,  as  the  Emperor  with  his  glittering  bands 
approached  the  phalanx  of  Tancred  and  his  followers,  who 
were  drawn  up,  it  will  be  remembered,  upon  a  rising  cape 
between  the  city  and  the  lists,  the  main  body  of  the  imperial 
procession  deflected  in  £ome  degree  from  the  straight  road 
in  order  to  march  past  them  without  interruption ;  while 
the  Protospathaire  and  the  Acolyte  passed,  under  the  escort 
of  a  baiid  of  Varangians,  to  bear  the  Emperor's  inquiries  to 
Prince  Tancred  concerning  the  purpose  of  his  being  there  with 
his  band.  The  short  march  was  soon  performed ;  the  large 
trumpet  which  attended  the  two  officers  sounded  a  parley, 
and  Tancred  himself,  remarkable  for  that  personal  beauty 
which  Tasso  has  preferred  to  any  of  the  crusaders,  except 
Einaldo  d'Este,  the  creature  of  his  own  poetical  imagination, 
advanced  to  parley  with  them. 

'^  The  Emperor  of  Greece,^'  said  the  Protospathaire  to 
Tancred,  '^  requires  the  Prince  of  Otranto  to  show,  by  the 
two  high  officers  who  shall  deliver  him  this  message,  with 
what  purpose  he  has  returned,  contrary  to  his  oath,  to  the 
right  side  of  these  straits  ;  assuring  Prince  Tancred,  at  the 
same  time,  that  nothing  will  so  much  please  the  Emperor  as 
to  receive  an  answer  not  at  variance  with  his  treaty  with  the 
Duke  of  Bouillon,  and  the  oath  which  was  taken  by  the 
crusading  nobles  and  their  soldiers  ;  since  that  would  enable 
the  Emperor,  in  conformity  to  his  own  wishes,  by  his  kind 
reception  of  Prince  Tancred  and  his  troop,  to  show  how  high 
is  his  estimation  of  the  dignity  of  the  one  and  the  bravery  of 
both.     We  wait  an  answer." 

The  tone  of  the  message  had  nothing  in  it  very  alarming, 
and  its  substance  cost  Prince  Tancred  very  little  trouble  to 
answer.  "The  cause,"  he  said,  *'of  the  Prince  of  Otranto 
appearing  here  with  fifty  lances  is  this  cartel,  in  which  a 
combat  is  appointed  betwixt  Nicephorus  Briennius,  called 
the  Caasar,  a  high  member  of  this  empire,  and  a  worthy 
knight  of  great  fame,  the  partner  of  the  pilgrims  who  have 
taken  the  cross,  in  their  high  vow  to  rescue  Palestine  from 
the  infidels.  The  name  of  the  said  knight  is  the  redoubted 
Eobert  of  Paris.  It  becomes,  therefore,  an  obligation,  in^ 
dispensable  upon  the  holy  pilgrims  of  the  crusade,  to  send 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  861 

one  chief  of  their  number,  with  a  body  of  men-at-arms,  suffi- 
cient to  see,  as  is  usual,  fair  play  between  the  combatants. 
That  such  is  their  intention  may  be  seen  from  their  sending 
no  more  than  fifty  lances,  with  their  furniture  and  following  ; 
whereas  it  would  have  cost  them  no  trouble  to  have  detached 
ten  times  the  number,  had  they  nourished  any  purpose  of 
interfering  by  force,  or  disturbing  the  fair  combat  which  is 
about  to  take  place.  The  Prince  of  Otranto,  therefore,  and 
his  followers,  will  place  themselves  at  the  disposal  of  the 
imperial  court,  and  witness  the  proceedings  of  the  combat, 
with  the  most  perfect  confidence  that  the  rules  of  fair  battle 
will  be  punctually  observed." 

The  two  Grecian  officers  transmitted  this  reply  to  the 
Emperor,  who  heard  it  with  pleasure,  and,  immediately  pro- 
ceeding to  act  upon  the  principle  which  he  had  laid  down, 
of  maintaining  peace,  if  possible,  with  the  crusaders,  named 
Prince  Tancred  with  the  Protospathaire  as  field-marshals  of 
the  lists,  fully  empowered,  under  the  Emperor,  to  decide  all 
the  terms  of  the  combat,  and  to  have  recourse  to  Alexius 
himself  where  their  opinions  disagreed.  This  was  made 
known  to  the  assistants,  who  were  thus  prepared  for  the 
entry  into  the  lists  of  the  Grecian  officer  and  the  Italian 
prince  in  full  armor,  while  a  proclamation  announced  to  all 
the  spectators  their  solemn  office.  The  same  annunciation 
commanded  the  assistants  of  every  kind  to  clear  a  convenient 
part  of  the  seats  which  surrounded  the  lists  on  one  side,  that 
it  might  serve  for  the  accommodation  of  Prince  Tancred^s 
followers. 

Achilles  Tatius,  who  was  a  heedful  observer  of  all  these 
passages,  saw  with  alarm  that  by  the  last  collocation  the 
armed  Latins  were  interposed  between  the  Immortal  Guards 
and  the  discontented  citizens,  which  made  it  most  probable 
that  the  conspiracy  was  discovered,  and  that  Alexius  found 
he  had  a  good  right  to  reckon  upon  the  assistance  of  Tancred 
and  his  forces  in  the  task  of  suppressing  it.  This,  added  to 
the  cold  and  caustic  manner  in  which  the  Emperor,  com- 
municated his  commands  to  him,  made  the  Acolyte  of  opin- 
ion that  his  best  chance  of  escape  from  the  danger  in  which 
ho  was  now  placed  was,  that  the  whole  conspiracy  should 
fall  to  the  ground,  and  that  the  day  should  pass  without  the 
least  attempt  to  shake  the  throne  of  Alexius  Comnenus. 
Even  then  it  continued  highly  doubtful  whether  a  despot  so 
wily  and  so  suspicious  as  the  Emperor  would  think  it  suffi- 
cient to  rest  satisfied  with  the  private  knowledge  of  the 
undertaking  and  its  failure,  with  which  he  appeared  to  be 


862  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

possessed,  without  putting  into  exercise  the  bow-strings  and 
the  blinding-irons  of  the  mutes  of  the  interior.  There  was, 
however,  little  possibility  either  of  flight  or  of  resistance. 
The  least  attempt  to  withdraw  himself  from  the  neighbor- 
hood of  those  faithful  followers  of  the  Emperor,  personal 
foes  of  his  own,  by  whom  he  was  gradually  and  more  closely 
surrounded,  became  each  moment  more  perilous,  and  more 
certain  to  provoke  a  rupture  which  it  was  the  interest  of 
the  weaker  party  to  delay,  with  whatever  difficulty.  And 
while  the  soldiers  under  Achilles's  immediate  authority 
seemed  still  to  treat  him  as  their  superior  officer,  and  appeal 
to  him  for  the  word  of  command,  it  became  more  and  more 
evident  that  the  slightest  degree  of  suspicion  which  should 
be  excited  would  be  the  instant  signal  for  his  being  placed 
under  arrest.  With  a  trembling  heart,  therefore,  and  eyes, 
dimmed  by  the  powerful  idea  of  soon  parting  with  the  light 
of  day  and  all  that  it  made  visible,  the  Acolyte  saw  himself 
condemned  to  watch  the  turn  of  circumstances,  over  which 
he  could  have  no  influence,  and  to  content  himself  with 
waiting  the  result  of  a  drama,  in  which  his  own  life  was  con- 
cerned, although  the  piece  was  played  by  others.  Indeed, 
it  seemed  as  if  through  the  whole  assembly  some  signal  was 
waited  for,  which  no  one  was  in  readiness  to  give. 

The  discontented  citizens  and  soldiers  looked  in  vain  for 
Agelastes  and  the  Caesar ;  and  when  they  observed  the  con- 
dition of  Achilles  Tatius,  it  seemed  such  as  rather  to  express 
doubt  and  consternation  than  to  give  encouragement  to  the 
hopes  they  had  entertained.  Many  of  the  lower  classes,  how- 
ever, felt  too  secure  in  their  own  insignificance  to  fear  the 
personal  consequences  of  a  tumult,  and  were  desirous,  there- 
fore, to  provoke  the  disturbance,  which  seemed  hushing  itself 
to  sleep. 

A  hoarse  murmur,  which  attained  almost  the  importance 
of  a  shout,  exclaimed — *'  Justice — justice  !  Ursel — Ursel  ! 
The  rights  of  the  Immortal  Guards  ! "  etc.  At  this  the 
trumpet  of  the  Varangians  awoke,  and  its  tremendous  tones 
were  heard  to  peal  loudly  over  the  whole  assembly,  as  the 
voice  of  its  presiding  deity.  A  dead  silence  prevailed  in 
the  multitude,  and  the  voice  of  a  herald  announced,  in  the 
name  of  Alexius  Comnenus,  his  sovereign  will  and  pleasure. 

"  Citizens  of  the  Roman  empire,  your  complaints,  stirred 
up  by  factious  men,  have  reached  the  ear  of  your  Emperor ; 
you  shall  yourselves  be  witness  to  his  power  of  gratifying  his 
people.  At  your  request,  and  before  your  own  sight,  the 
visual  ray  which  hath  been  quenched  shall  be  reillumined  ; 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  363 

the  mind  whose  ejfforts  were  restricted  to  the  imperfect 
supply  of  individual  wants  shall  be  again  extended,  if  such 
is  the  owner's  will,  to  the  charge  of  an  ample  theme  or  divi- 
sion of  the  empire.  Political  Jealousy,  more  hard  to  receive 
conviction  than  the  blind  to  receive  sight,  shall  yield  itself 
conquered,  by  the  Emperor's  paternal  love  of  his  people  and 
his  desire  to  give  them  satisfaction.  Ursel,  the  darling  of 
your  wishes,  supposed  to  be  long  dead,  or  at  least  believed 
to  exist  in  blinded  seclusion,  is  restored  to  you  well  in  health, 
clear  in  eyesight,  and  possessed  of  every  faculty  necessary  to 
adorn  the  Emperor's  favor  or  merit  the  affection  of  the 
people." 

As  the  herald  thus  spoke,  a  figure,  which  had  hitherto 
stood  shrouded  behind  some  officers  of  the  interior,  now 
stepped  forth,  and  flinging  from  him  a  dusky  veil,  in  which 
he  was  wrapped,  appeared  in  a  dazzling  scarlet  garment,  of 
which  the  sleeves  and  buskins  displayed  those  ornaments 
which  expressed  a  rank  nearly  adjacent  to  that  of  the 
Emperor  himself.  He  held  in  his  hand  a  silver  truncheon, 
the  badge  of  delegated  command  over  the  Immortal  Guards, 
and,  kneeling  before  the  Emperor,  presented  it  to  his  hands, 
intimating  a  virtual  resignation  of  the  command  which  it 
implied.  The  whole  assembly  were  electrified  at  the  appear- 
ance of  a  person  long  supposed  either  dead  or  by  cruel 
means  rendered  incapable  of  public  trust.  Some  recognized 
the  man  whose  appearance  and  features  were  not  easily  for- 
got, and  gratulated  him  upon  his  most  unexpected  return 
to  the  service  of  his  country.  Others  stood  suspended  in 
amazement,  not  knowing  whether  to  trust  their  eyes,  while 
a  few  determined  malcontents  eagerly  pressed  upon  the 
assembly  an  allegation  that  the  person  presented  as  Ursel 
was  only  a  counterfeit,  and  the  whole  a  trick  of  the  Emperor. 

''  Speak  to  them,  noble  Ursel,"  said  the  Emperor.  ''  Tell 
them  that,  if  I  have  sinned  against  thee,  it  has  been  because 
I  was  deceived,  and  that  my  disposition  to  make  thee 
amends  is  as  ample  as  ever  w^as  my  purpose  of  doing  thee 
wrong." 

^'  Friends  and  countrymen,"  said  Ursel,  turning  himself  to 
the  assembly,  '^his  Imperial  Majesty  permits  me  to  offer  my 
assurance  that,  if  in  any  former  part  of  my  life  I  have  suffered 
at  his  hand,  it  is  more  than  wiped  out  by  the  feelings  of  a 
moment  so  glorious  as  this ;  and  that  I  am  well  satisfied, 
from  the  present  instant,  to  spend  what  remains  of  my  life 
in  the  service  of  the  most  generous  and  beneficent  of  sover- 
eigns, or,  with  his  permission,  to  bestow  it  in  preparing,  by 


364  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

devotional  exercises,  for  an  infinite  immortality  to  be  spent 
in  the  society  of  saints  and  angels.  Whichever  choice  I 
shall  make,  I  reckon  that  you,  my  beloved  countrymen,  who 
have  remembered  me  so  kindly  during  years  of  darkness  and 
captivity,  will  not  fail  to  afford  me  the  advantage  of  your 
prayers/' 

This  sudden  apparition  of  the  long-lost  Ursel  had  too 
much  of  that  which  elevates  and  surprises  not  to  captivate 
the  multitude,  and  they  sealed  their  reconciliation  with  three 
tremendous  shouts,  which  are  said  so  to  have  shaken  the  air 
that  birds,  incapable  of  sustaining  themselves,  sunk  down 
exhausted  out  of  their  native  element. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII 

"  What,  leave  the  combat  out !  "  exclaimed  the  knight. 
*' Yea  !  or  we  must  renounce  the  Stagyrite." 
**  So  large  a  crowd  the  stage  will  ne'er  contain." 
"  Then  build  a  new,  or  act  it  on  a  plain." 

Pope. 

The  sounds  of  the  gratulating  shout  had  expanded  over  the 
distant  shores  of  the  Bosphorus  by  mountain  and  forest,  and 
died  at  length  in  the  farthest  echoes,  when  the  people,  in 
the  silence  which  ensued,  appeared  to  ask  each  other  what 
next  scene  was  about  to  adorn  a  pause  so  solemn  and  a  stage 
so  august.  The  pause  would  probably  have  soon  given  place 
to  some  new  clamor,  for  a  multitude,  from  whatever  cause 
assembled,  seldom  remains  long  silent,  had  not  a  new  signal 
from  the  Varangian  trumpet  given  notice  of  a  fresh  purpose 
to  solicit  their  attention.  The  blast  had  something  in  its 
tone  spirit-stirring  and  yet  melancholy,  partaking  both  of 
the  character  of  a  point  of  war  and  of  the  doleful  sounds 
which  might  be  chosen  to  announce  an  execution  of  peculiar 
solemnity.  Its  notes  were  high  and  widely  extended,  and 
prolonged  and  long  dwelt  upon  it,  as  if  the  brazen  clamor 
had  been  waked  by  something  more  tremendous  than  the 
lungs  of  mere  mortals. 

The  multitude  appeared  to  acknowledge  these  awful 
sounds,  which  were  indeed  such  as  habitually  solicited  their 
attention  to  imperial  edicts  of  melancholy  import,  by  which 
rebellions  were  announced,  dooms  of  treason  discharged,  and 
other  tidings  of  a  great  and  affecting  import  intimated  to  the 
people  of  Constantinople.  When  the  trumpet  had  in  its 
turn  ceased,  with  its  thrilling  and  doleful  notes,  to  agitate 
the  immense  assembly,  the  voice  of  the  herald  again  ad- 
dressed them. 

It  announced  in  a  grave  and  affecting  strain,  that  it  some- 
times chanced  how  the  people  failed  in  their  duty  to  a  sover- 
eign, who  was  unto  them  as  a  father,  and  how  it  became  the 
painful  duty  of  the  prince  to  use  the  rod  of  correction  rather 
than  the  olive  scepter  of  mercy. 

*^ Fortunate,"  continued  the  herald,  "it  is  when  the  su- 
preme Deity,  having  taken  on  Himself  the  preservation  of  a 

365 


366  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

throne  in  beneficence  and  justice  resembling  His  own,  has 
also  assumed  the  most  painful  task  of  His  earthly  delegate, 
by  punishing  those  whom  His  unerring  judgment  acknowl- 
edges as  most  guilty,  and  leaving  to  His  substitute  the  more 
agreeable  task  of  pardoning  such  of  those  as  art  has  misled, 
and  treachery  hath  involved  in  its  snares.  Such  being  the 
case,  Greece  and  its  accompanying  themes  are  called  upon 
to  listen  and  learn,  that  a  villain,  named  Agelastes,  who 
had  insinuated  himself  into  the  favor  of  the  Emperor,  by 
affectation  of  deep  knowledge  and  severe  virtue,  had  formed 
a  treacherous  plan  for  the  murder  of  the  Emperor  Alexius 
Comnenus,  and  a  revolution  in  the  state.  This  person,  who, 
under  pretended  wisdom,  hid  the  doctrines  of  a  heretic  and 
the  vices  of  a  sensualist,  had  found  proselytes  to  his  doc- 
trines even  among  the  Emperor's  household,  and  those  per- 
sons who  were  most  bound  to  him,  and  down  to  the  lower 
order,  to  excite  the  last  of  whom  were  dispersed  a  multitude 
of  forged  rumors,  similar  to  those  concerning  UrseFs  death 
and  blindness,  of  which  your  own  eyes  have  witnessed  the 
falsehood." 

The  people,  who  had  hitherto  listened  in  silence,  upon 
this  appeal  broke  forth  in  a  clamorous  assent.  They  had 
scarcely  been  again  silent  ere  the  iron-voiced  herald  contin- 
ued his  proclamation. 

^*^Not  Korah,  Dathan,  and  Abiram,"  he  said,  ''had  more 
justly,  or  more  directly,  fallen  under  the  doom  of  an  offended 
Deity  than  this  villain  Agelastes.  The  steadfast  earth  gaped 
to  devour  the  apostate  sons  of  Israel,  but  the  termination  of 
this  wretched  man's  existence  has  been,  as  far  as  can  now  be 
known,  by  the  direct  means  of  an  evil  spirit,  whom  his  own 
arts  had  evoked  into  the  upper  air.  By  the  spirit,  as  would 
appear  by  the  testimony  of  a  noble  lady  and  other  females, 
who  witnessed  the  termination  of  his  life,  Agelastes  was 
strangled,  a  fate  well  becoming  his  odious  crimes.  Such  a 
death,  even  of  a  guilty  man,  must,  indeed,  be  most  painful 
to  the  humane  feelings  of  the  Emperor,  because  it  involves 
suffering  beyond  this  world.  But  the  awful  catastrophe 
carries  with  it  this  comfort,  that  it  absolves  the  Emperor 
from  the  necessity  of  carrying  any  farther  a  vengeance  which 
Heaven  itself  seems  to  have  limited  to  the  exemplary  pun- 
ishment of  the  principal  conspirator.  Some  changes  of 
offices  and  situations  shall  be  made,  for  the  sake  of  safety 
and  good  order  ;  but  the  secret  who  had  or  who  had  not 
been  concerned  in  this  awful  crime  shall  sleep  in  the  bosoms 
of  the  persons  themselves  implicated,  since  the  Emperor  is 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  367 

determined  to  dismiss  their  offense  from  his  memory,  as  the 
effect  of  a  transient  dehision.  Let  all,  therefore,  who  now 
hear  me,  whatever  consciousness  they  may  possess  of  a 
knowledge  of  what  was  this  day  intended,  return  to  their 
houses,  assured  that  their  own  thoughts  will  be  their  only 
punishment.  Let  them  rejoice  that  Almighty  goodness  has 
saved  them  from  the  meditations  of  their  own  hearts,  and, 
according  to  the  affecting  language  of  Scripture,  '  Let  them 
repent  and  sin  no  more,  lest  a  worse  thing  befall  them. ''' 

The  voice  of  the  herald  then  ceased,  and  was  again  an- 
swered by  the  shouts  of  the  audience.  These  were  unani- 
mous ;  for  circumstances  contributed  to  convince  the  mal- 
content party  that  they  stood  at  the  sovereign's  mercy,  and 
the  edict  that  they  heard  having  shown  his  acquaintance 
with  their  guilt,  it  lay  at  his  pleasure  to  let  loose  upon  them 
the  strength  of  the  Varangians,  while,  from  the  terms  on 
which  it  had  pleased  him  to  receive  Tancred,  it  was  probable 
that  the  Apulian  forces  were  also  at  his  disposal. 

The  voices,  therefore,  of  the  bulky  Stephanos,  of  Harpax 
the  centurion,  and  other  rebels,  both  of  the  camp  and  city, 
were  the  first  to  thunder  forth  their  gratitude  for  the  clem- 
ency of  the  Emperor,  and  their  thanks  to  Heaven  for  his 
preservation. 

The  audience,  reconciled  to  the  thoughts  of  the  discovered 
and  frustrated  conspiracy,  began  meantime,  according  to 
their  custom,  to  turn  themselves  to  the  consideration  of  the 
matter  which  had  more  avowedly  called  them  together,  and 
private  whispers,  swelling  by  degrees  into  murmurs,  began 
to  express  the  dissatisfaction  of  the  citizens  at  being  thus 
long  assembled,  without  receiving  any  communication  re- 
specting the  announced  purpose  of  their  meeting. 

Alexius  was  not  slow  to  perceive  the  tendency  of  their 
thoughts  ;  and,  on  a  signal  from  his  hand,  the  trumpets 
blew  a  point  of  war,  in  sounds  far  more  lively  than  those 
which  had  prefaced  the  imperial  edict.  "Kobert  Count  of 
Paris,"  then  said  a  herald,  "  art  thou  here  in  thy  place,  or 
by  knightly  proxy,  to  answer  the  challenge  brought  against 
thee  by  his  Imperial  Highness  Nicephorus  Briennius,  Caesar 
of  this  empire  ?  " 

The  Emperor  conceived  himself  to  have  equally  provided 
against  the  actual  appearance  at  this  call  of  either  of  the 
parties  named,  and  had  prepared  an  exhibition  of  another 
kind,  namely,  certain  cages,  tenanted  by  wild  animals, 
which,  being  now  loosened,  should  do  their  pleasure  with 
each  other  in  the  eyes  of  the  assembly.     His  astonishment 


368  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

and  confusion,  therefore,  were  great  when,  as  the  last  note 
of  the  proclamation  died  in  the  echo,  Count  Robert  of  Paris 
stood  forth,  armed  cap-a-pie,  his  mailed  charger  led  behind 
him  from  within  the  curtained  inclosure,  at  one  end  of  the 
lists,  as  if  ready  to  mount  at  the  signal  of  the  marshal. 

The  alarm  and  the  shame  that  were  visible  in  every  coun- 
tenance near  the  imperial  presence,  when  no  Cassar  came 
forth  in  like  fashion  to  confront  the  formidable  Frank,  were 
not  of  long  duration.  Hardly  had  the  style  and  title  of  the 
Count  of  Paris  been  duly  announced  by  the  heralds,  and  their 
second  summons  of  his  antagonist  uttered  in  due  form,  when 
a  person,  dressed  like  one  of  the  Varangian  Guards,  sprung 
into  the  lists,  and  announced  himself  as  ready  to  do  battle 
in  the  name  and  place  of  the  Caesar  Nicephorus  Briennius, 
and  for  the  honor  of  the  empire. 

Alexius,  with  the  utmost  joy,  beheld  this  unexpected 
assistance,  and  readily  gave  his  consent  to  the  bold  soldier 
who  stood  thus  forward  in  the  hour  of  utmost  need  to  take 
upon  himself  the  dangerous  office  of  champion.  He  the 
more  readily  acquiesced  as,  from  the  size  and  appearance  of 
the  soldier,  and  the  gallant  bearing  he  displayed,  he  had  no 
doubt  of  his  individual  person,  and  fully  confided  in  his 
valor. 

But  Prince  Tancred  interposed  his  opposition.  "The 
lists,"  he  said,  "  were  only  open  to  knights  and  nobles  ;  or, 
at  any  rate,  men  were  not  permitted  to  meet  therein  who 
were  not  of  some  equality  of  birth  and  blood  ;  nor  could 
he  remain  a  silent  witness  where  the  laws  of  chivalry  were 
in  such  respects  forgotten." 

"Let  Count  Robert  of  Paris,"  said  the  Varangian,  "look 
upon  my  countenance,  and  say  whether  he  has  not,  by 
promise,  removed  all  objection  to  our  contest  which  might 
be  founded  upon  an  inequality  of  condition,  and  let  him  be 
judge  himself  whether,  by  meeting  me  in  this  field,  he  will 
do  more  than  comply  with  a  compact  which  he  has  long 
since  become  bound  by." 

Count  Robert,  upon  this  appeal,  advanced  and  acknowl- 
edged, without  further  debate,  that,  notwithstanding  their 
difference  of  rank,  he  held  himself  bound  by  his  solemn 
word  to  give  this  valiant  soldier  a  meeting  in  the  field  ;  that 
he  regretted,  on  account  of  this  gallant  man^s  eminent  vir- 
tues, and  the  high  services  he  had  received  at  his  hands, 
that  they  should  now  stand  upon  terms  of  such  bloody  arbi- 
tration ;  but,  since  nothing  was  more  common  than  that  the 
fate  of  war  called  on  friends  to  meet  each  other  in  mortal 


COUNT  BOBEBT  OF  PABIS  369 

combat,  he  would  not  shrink  from  the  engagement  he  had 
pledged  himself  to  ;  nor  did  he  think  his  quality  in  the 
slightest  degree  infringed  or  diminished  by  meeting  in  bat- 
tle a  warrior  so  well  known  and  of  such  good  account  as 
Hereward,  the  brave  Varangian.  He  added,  that  ''  he  will- 
ingly admitted  that  the  combat  should  take  place  on  foot, 
and  with  the  battle-ax,  which  was  the  ordinary  weapon  of 
the  Varangian  guard." 

Here  ward  had  stood  still,  almost  like  a  statue,  while  this 
discourse  passed ;  but  when  the  Count  of  Paris  had  made 
this  speech,  he  inclined  himself  towards  him  with  a  graceful 
obeisance,  and  expressed  himself  honored  and  gratified  by 
the  manly  manner  in  which  the  Count  acquitted  himself, 
according  to  his  promise,  with  complete  honor  and  fidelity. 

"  What  we  are  to  do,*'  said  Count  Kobert,  with  a  sigh  of 
regret,  which  even  his  love  of  battle  could  not  prevent,  '^\et 
us  do  quickly :  the  heart  may  be  affected,  but  the  hand 
must  do  its  duty.'^ 

Hereward  assented,  with  the  additional  remark,  ''  Let  us 
then  lose  no  more  time,  which  is  already  flying  fast.''  And, 
grasping  his  ax,  he  stood  prepared  for  combat. 

^'  I  also  am  ready,''  said  Count  Eobert  of  Paris,  taking  the 
same  weapon  from  a  Varangian  soldier,  who  stood  by  the 
lists.  Both  were  immediately  upon  the  alert,  nor  did  further 
forms  or  circumstances  put  off  the  intended  duel. 

The  first  blows  were  given  and  parried  with  great  caution, 
and  Prince  Tancred  and  others  thought  that  on  the  part  of 
Count  Eobert  the  caution  was  much  greater  than  usual ; 
but,  in  combat  as  in  food,  the  appetite  increases  with  the 
exercise.  The  fiercer  passions  began,  as  usual,  to  awaken 
with  the  clash  of  arms  and  the  sense  of  deadly  blows,  some 
of  which  were  made  with  great  fury  on  either  side,  and  par- 
ried with  considerable  difficulty  and  not  so  completely  but 
what  blood  fiowed  on  both  their  parts.  The  Greeks  looked 
with  astonishment  on  a  single  combat  such  as  they  had 
seldom  witnessed,  and  held  their  breath  as  they  beheld  the 
furious  blows  dealt  by  either  warrior,  and  expected  with 
each  stroke  the  annihilation  of  one  or  other  of  the  com- 
batants. As  yet  their  strength  and  agility  seemed  somewhat 
equally  matched,  although  those  who  judged  with  more  pre- 
tension to  knowledge  were  of  opinion  that  Count  Robert 
spared  putting  forth  some  part  of  the  military  skill  for  which 
he  was  celebrated  ;  and  the  remark  was  generally  made  and 
allowed  that  he  had  surrendered  a  great  advantage  by  not 
insisting  upon  his  right  to  fight  upon  horseback.  On  the 
24 


370  WAVERLEY  JSUVELS 

other  hand,  it  was  the  general  opinion  that  the  gallant 
Varangian  omitted  to  take  advantage  of  one  or  two  oppor- 
tunities afforded  him  by  the  heat  of  Count  Robert's  temper, 
who  obviously  was  incensed  at  the  duration  of  the  combat. 

Accident  at  length  seemed  about  to  decide  what  had  been 
hitherto  an  equal  contest.  Count  Robert,  making  a  feint 
on  one  side  of  his  antagonist,  struck  him  on  the  other,  which 
was  uncovered,  with  the  edge  of  his  weapon,  so  that  the 
Varangian  reeled,  and  seemed  in  the  act  of  falling  to  the 
earth.  The  usual  sound  made  by  spectators  at  the  sight 
of  any  painful  or  unpleasant  circumstance,  by  drawing 
the  breath  between  the  teeth,  was  suddenly  heard  to  pass 
through  the  assembly,  while  a  female  voice  loud  and  eagerly 
exclaimed — "  Count  Robert  of  Paris,  forget  not  this  day  that 
thou  owest  a  life  to  Heaven  and  me.'*  The  Count  was  in  the 
act  of  again  seconding  his  blow,  with  what  effect  could  hardly 
be  judged,  when  this  cry  reached  his  ears,  and  apparently 
took  away  his  disposition  for  farther  combat. 

''  I  acknowledge  the  debt,'*  he  said,  sinking  his  battle- 
ax,  and  retreating  two  steps  from  his  antagonist,  who  stood 
in  astonishment,  scarcely  recovered  from  the  stunning  effect 
of  the  blow  by  which  he  was  so  nearly  prostrated.  He  sank 
the  blade  of  his  battle-ax  in  imitation  of  his  antagonist, 
and  seemed  to  wait  in  suspense  what  was  to  be  the  next 
process  of  the  combat.  "I  acknowledge  my  debt,'* said  the 
valiant  Count  of  Paris,  "  alike  to  Bertha  of  Britain  and  to  the 
Almighty,  who  has  preserved  me  from  the  crime  of  ungrate- 
ful blood-guiltiness.  You  have  seen  the  fight,  gentlemen,^' 
turning  to  Tancred  and  his  chivalry,  ''  and  can  testify,  on 
your  honor,  that  it  has  been  maintained  fairly  on  both  sides, 
and  without  advantage  on  either.  I  presume  my  honorable 
antagonist  has  by  this  time  satisfied  the  desire  which  brought 
me  under  his  challenge,  and  which  certainly  had  no  taste  in 
it  of  personal  or  private  quarrel.  On  my  part,  I  retain  to- 
wards him  such  a  sense  of  personal  obligation  as  would  ren- 
der my  continuing  this  combat,  unless  compelled  to  it  by 
self-defense,  a  shameful  and  sinful  action. ''  * 

Alexius  gladly  embraced  the  terms  of  truce,  which  he  was 
far  from  expecting,  and  threw  down  his  warder,  in  signal 
that  the  duel  was  ended.  Tancred,  though  somewhat  sur- 
prised, and  perhaps  even  scandalized,  that  a  private  soldier 
of  the  Emperor's  guard  should  have  so  long  resisted  the  ut- 
most efforts  of  so  approved  a  knight,  could  not  but  own  that 

*  See  Chronicle  of  Lalain.    Note  11. 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  371 

the  combat  had  been  fought  with  perfect  fairness  and 
equality,  and  decided  upon  terms  dishonorable  to  neither 
party.  The  Count's  character  being  well  known  and  es- 
tablished amongst  the  crusaders,  they  were  compelled  to 
believe  that  some  motive  of  a  most  potent  nature  formed  the 
principle  upon  which,  very  contrary  to  his  general  practise, 
he  had  proposed  a  cessation  of  the  combat  before  it  was 
brought  to  a  deadly,  or  at  least  to  a  decisive,  conclusion. 
The  edict  of  the  Emperor  upon  the  occasion,  therefore, 
passed  into  a  law,  acknowledged  by  the  assent  of  the  chiefs 
present,  and  especially  affirmed  and  gratulated  by  the  shouts 
of  the  assembled  spectators. 

But  perhaps  the  most  interesting  figure  in  the  assembly 
was  that  of  the  bold  Varangian,  arrived  so  suddenly  at  a  pro- 
motion of  military  renown  which  the  extreme  difficulty  he 
had  experienced  in  keeping  his  ground  against  Count  Robert 
had  prevented  him  from  anticipating,  although  his  modesty 
had  not  diminished  the  indomitable  courage  with  which  he 
maintained  the  contest.  He  stood  in  the  middle  of  the  lists, 
his  face  ruddy  with  the  exertion  of  the  combat,  and  not  less 
so  from  the  modest  consciousness  proper  to  the  plainness 
and  simplicity  of  his  character,  which  was  disconcerted  by 
finding  himself  the  central  point  of  the  gaze  of  the  multi- 
tude. 

^'  Speak  to  me,  my  soldier,'*  said  Alexius,  strongly  affected 
by  the  gratitude  which  he  felt  was  due  to  Hereward  upon  so 
singular  an  occasion — ''  speak  to  thine  Emperor  as  his  su- 
perior, for  such  thou  art  at  this  moment,  and  tell  him  if 
there  is  any  manner,  even  at  the  expense  of  half  his  king- 
dom, to  atone  for  his  own  life  saved,  and,  what  is  yet  dearer, 
for  the  honor  of  his  country,  which  thou  hast  so  manfully 
defended  and  preserved  ?  " 

^'  My  lord,"  answered  Hereward,  '^  your  Imperial  High- 
ness  values  my  poor  services  over  highly,  and  ought  to  at- 
tribute them  to  the  noble  Count  of  Paris — first,  for  his  con- 
descending to  accept  of  an  antagonist  so  mean  in  quality  as 
myself  ;  and  next,  in  generously  relinquishing  victory  when 
he  might  have  achieved  it  by  an  additional  blow  ;  for  I  here 
confess  before  your  Majesty,  my  brethren,  and  the  assem- 
bled Grecians,  that  my  power  of  protracting  the  combat  was 
ended  when  the  gallant  Count,  by  his  generosity,  put  a 
stop  to  it." 

"^Do  not  thyself  that  wrong,  brave  man,"  said  Count 
Robert ;  "  for  I  vow  to  Our  Lady  of  the  Broken  Lances  that 
the  combat  was  yet  within  the  undetermined  doom  of  Prov* 


372  WA  VEBLET  NO  VELS 

idence  when  the  pressure  of  my  own  feelings  rendered  me 
incapable  of  continuing  it,  to  the  necessary  harm,  perhaps 
to  the  mortal  damage,  of  an  antagonist  to  whom  I  owe  so 
much  kindness.  Choose,  therefore,  the  recompense  which 
the  generosity  of  thy  Emperor  offers  in  a  manner  so  just 
and  grateful,  atid  fear  not  lest  mortal  voice  pronounces  that 
reward  unmerited  which  Robert  of  Paris  shall  avouch  with 
his  sword  to  have  been  gallantly  won  upon  his  own  crest/' 

^^  You  are  too  great,  my  lord,  and  too  noble,''  answered 
the  Anglo-Saxon,  "to  be  gainsaid  by  such  as  I  am,  and  I 
must  not  awaken  new  strife  between  us  by  contesting  the 
circumstances  under  which  our  combat  so  suddenly  closed, 
nor  would  it  be  wise  or  prudent  in  me  further  to  contradict 
you.  My  noble  Emperor  generously  offers  me  the  right  of 
naming  what  he  calls  my  recompense  ;  but  let  not  his  gen- 
erosity be  dispraised,  although  it  is  from  you,  my  lord,  and 
not  from  his  Imperial  Highness,  that  I  am  to  ask  a  boon,  to 
me  the  dearest  to  which  my  voice  can  give  utterance." 

"And  that,"  said  the  Count,  "  has  reference  to  Bertha, 
the  faithful  attendant  of  my  wife  ?  " 

"  Even  so,"  said  Hereward  ;  "it  is  my  proposal  to  re- 
quest my  discharge  from  the  Varangian  Guard,  and  permis- 
sion to  share  in  your  lordship's  pious  and  honorable  vow 
for  the  recovery  of  Palestine,  with  liberty  to  fight  under 
your  honored  banner,  and  permission  from  time  to  time  to 
recommend  my  love-suit  to  Bertha,  the  attendant  of  the 
Countess  of  Paris,  in  the  hope  that  it  may  find  favor  in  the 
eyes  of  her  noble  lord  and  lady.  I  may  thus  finally  hope  to 
be  restored  to  a  country  which  I  have  never  ceased  to  love 
over  the  rest  of  the  world." 

"  Thy  service,  noble  soldier,"  said  the  Count,  "  shall  be 
as  acceptable  to  me  as  that  of  a  born  earl ;  nor  is  there  an 
opportunity  of  acquiring  honor  which  I  can  shape  for  thee 
to  which,  as  it  occurs,  I  will  not  gladly  prefer  thee.  I  will 
not  boast  of  what  interest  I  have  with  the  King  of  England, 
but  something  I  can  do  with  him,  and  it  shall  be  strained  to 
the  uttermost  to  settle  thee  in  thine  own  beloved  native 
country." 

The  Emperor  then  spoke.  "  Bear  witness,  heaven  and 
earth,  and  you  my  faithful  subjects,  and  you  my  gallant 
allies — above  all,  you  my  bold  and  true  Varangian  Guard, 
that  we  would  rather  have  lost  the  brightest  jewel  from  our 
imperial  crown  than  have  relinquished  the  service  of  this 
true  and  faithful  Anglo-Saxon.  But  since  go  he  must  and 
will,  it  shall  be  my  study  to  distinguish  him  by  such  marks 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  373 

of  beneficence  as  may  make  it  known  through  his  future 
life  that  he  is  the  person  to  whom  the  Emperor  Alexius 
Comnenus  acknowledged  a  debt  larger  than  his  empire 
could  discharge.  You,  my  Lord  Tancred,  and  your  prin- 
cipal leaders,  will  sup  with  us  this  evening,  and  to-morrow 
resume  your  honorable  and  religious  purpose  of  pilgrimage. 
We  trust  both  the  combatants  will  also  oblige  us  by  their 
presence.     Trumpets,  give  the  signal  for  dismission." 

The  trumpets  sounded  accordingly,  and  the  different 
classes  of  spectators,  armed  and  unarmed,  broke  up  into 
various  parties,  or  formed  into  their  military  ranks,  for  the 
purpose  of  their  return  to  the  city. 

The  screams  of  women,  suddenly  and  strangely  raised, 
were  the  first  thing  that  arrested  the  departure  of  the  mul- 
titude, when  those  who  glanced  their  eyes  back  saw  Sylvan, 
the  great  ourang-outang,  produce  himself  in  the  lists,  to 
their  surprise  and  astonishment.  The  women,  and  many  of 
the  men  who  were  present,  unaccustomed  to  the  ghastly 
look  and  savage  appearance  of  a  creature  so  extraordinary, 
raised  a  yell  of  terror  so  loud  that  it  discomposed  the  animal 
who  was  the  occasion  of  its  being  raised.  Sylvan,  in  the 
course  of  the  night,  having  escaped  over  the  garden-wall  of 
Agelastes,  and  clambered  over  the  rampart  of  the  city, 
found  no  difficulty  in  hiding  himself  in  the  lists  which  were 
in  the  act  of  being  raised,  having  found  a  lurking-place  in 
some  dark  corner  under  the  seats  of  the  spectators.  From 
this  he  was  probably  dislodged  by  the  tumult  of  the  dispers- 
ing multitude,  and  had  been  compelled,  therefore,  to  make 
an  appearance  in  public  when  he  least  desired  it,  not  unlike 
that  of  the  celebrated  Puliccinello,  at  the  conclusion  of  his 
own  drama,  when  he  enters  in  mortal  strife  with  the  Foul 
Fiend  himself — a  scene  which  scarcely  excites  more  terror 
among  the  juvenile  audience  than  did  the  unexpected  ap- 
parition of  Sylvan  among  the  spectators  of  the  duel.  Bows 
were  bent  and  javelins  pointed  by  the  braver  part  of  the 
soldiery  against  an  animal  of  an  appearance  so  ambiguous, 
and  whom  his  uncommon  size  and  grizzly  look  caused  most 
who  beheld  him  to  suppose  either  the  Devil  himself  or  the 
apparition  of  some  fiendish  deity  of  ancient  days  whom  the 
heathens  worshiped.  Sylvan  had  so  far  improved  such  op- 
portunities as  had  been  afforded  him  as  to  become  suffi- 
ciently aware  that  the  attitudes  assumed  by  so  many  mili- 
tary men  inferred  immediate  danger  to  his  person,  from 
which  he  hastened  to  shelter  himself  by  flying  to  the  pro- 
tection of  Hereward,  with  whom  he  had  been  in  some  de- 


3t4  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

gree  familiarized.  He  seized  him,  accordingly,  by  the  cloak, 
and,  by  the  absurd  and  alarmed  look  of  his  fantastic  features, 
and  a  certain  wild  and  gibbering  chatter,  endeavored  to  ex- 
press his  fear  and  to  ask  protection.  Hereward  understood 
the  terrified  creature,  and,  turning  to  the  Emperor's  throne, 
said  aloud — *'  Poor  frightened  being,  turn  thy  petition,  and 
gestures,  and  tones  to  a  quarter  which,  having  to-day  par- 
doned so  many  offenses  which  were  wilfully  and  maliciously 
schemed,  will  not  be,  I  am  sure,  obdurate  to  such  as  thou, 
in  thy  half-reasoning  capacity,  mayst  have  been  capable  of 
committing/* 

The  creature,  as  is  the  nature  of  its  tribe,  caught  from 
Hereward  himself  the  mode  of  applying  with  most  effect  his 
gestures  and  pitiable  supplication,  while  the  Emperor,  not- 
withstanding the  serious  scene  which  had  just  passed,  could 
not  help  laughing  at  the  touch  of  comedy  flung  into  it  by  this 
last  incident. 

"  My  trusty  Hereward,'' he  said,  '^  (aside — I  will  not  again 
call  him  Edward  if  I  can  help  it) — thou  art  the  refuge  of  the 
distressed,  whether  it  be  man  or  beast,  and  nothing  that 
sues  through  thy  intercession,  while  thou  remainest  in  our 
service,  shall  find  its  supplication  in  vain.  Do  thou,  good 
Hereward,"  for  the  name  was  now  pretty  well  established  in 
his  imperial  memory,  ''and  such  of  thy  companions  as  know 
the  habits  of  the  creature,  lead  him  back  to  his  old  quarters 
in  the  Blacquernal ;  and  that  done,  my  friend,  observe  that 
we  request  thy  company,  and  that  of  thy  faithful  mate  Bertha, 
to  partake  supper  at  our  court  with  our  wife  and  daughter, 
and  such  of  our  servants  and  allies  as  we  shall  request  to 
share  the  same  honor.  Be  assured  that,  while  thou  remain- 
est with  us,  there  is  no  point  of  dignity  which  shall  not  be 
willingly  paid  to  thee.  And  do  thou  approach,  Achilles 
Tatius,  as  much  favored  by  thine  emperor  as  before  this  day 
dawned.  What  charges  are  against  thee  have  been  only  whis- 
pered in  a  friendly  ear  which  remembers  them  not,  unless — 
which  Heaven  forefend  ! — their  remembrance  is  renewed  by 
-fresh  offenses." 

Achilles  Tatius  bowed  till  the  plume  of  his  helmet  mingled 
with  the  mane  of  his  fiery  horse,  but  held  it  wisest  to  for- 
bear any  answer  in  words,  leaving  his  crime  and  his  pardon 
to  stand  upon  those  general  terms  in  which  the  Emperor 
had  expressed  them. 

Once  more  the  mulitude  of  all  ranks  returned  on  their 
way  to  the  city,  nor  did  any  second  interruption  arrest  their 
march.     Sylvan,  accompanied  by   one  or  two  VarangianSj 


COUNT  EGBERT  OF  PARIS  875 

who  led  him  in  a  sort  of  captivity,  took  his  way  to  the 
vaults  of  the  Blacquernal,  which  were  in  fact  his  proper 
habitation. 

Upon  the  road  to  the  city,  Harpax,  the  notorious  corporal 
of  the  Immortal  Guards,  held  a  discourse  with  one  or  two 
of  his  own  soldiers,  and  of  the  citizens  who  had  been  members 
of  the  late  conspiracy. 

"  So,"  said  Stephanos,  the  prize-fighter,  ''a  fine  affair  we 
have  made  of  it,  to  suffer  ourselves  to  be  all  anticipated  and 
betrayed  by  a  thick-skulled  Varangian  ;  every  chance  turn- 
ing against  us  as  they  would  against  Corydon,  the  shoe- 
maker, if  he  were  to  defy  me  to  the  circus.  Ursel,  whose 
death  made  so  much  work,  turns  out  not  to  be  dead  after 
all ;  and,  what  is  worse,  he  lives  not  to  our  advantage.  This 
fellow  Hereward,  who  was  yesterday  no  better  than  myself 
— what  do  I  say  ?  better  !  he  was  a  great  deal  worse,  an  in- 
significant nobody  in  every  respect — is  now  crammed  with 
honors,  praises,  and  gifts,  till  he  well-nigh  returns  what  they 
have  given  him,  and  the  Caesar  and  the  Acolyte,  our  associ- 
ates, have  lost  the  Emperor's  love  and  confidence,  and  if  they 
are  suffered  to  survive,  it  must  be  like  the  tame  domestic 
poultry,  whom  we  pamper  with  food  one  day,  that  upon  the 
next  their  necks  may  be  twisted  for  spit  or  pot." 

*'  Stephanos,^'  replied  the  centurion,  ^'  thy  form  of  body 
fits  thee  well  for  the  palestra,  but  thy  mind  is  not  so  acutely 
formed  as  to  detect  that  which  is  real  from  that  which  is 
only  probable  in  the  political  world,  of  which  thou  art  now 
judging.  Considering  the  risk  incurred  by  lending  a  man's 
ear  to  a  conspiracy,  thou  oughtest  to  reckon  it  a  saving  in 
every  particular  where  he  escapes  with  his  life  and  character 
safe.  This  has  been  the  case  with  Achilles  Tatius  and  with 
the  Caesar.  They  have  remained  also  in  their  high  places  of 
trust  and  power,  and  may  be  confident  that  the  Emperor 
will  hardly  dare  to  remove  them  at  a  future  period,  since 
the  possession  of  the  full  knowledge  of  their  guilt  has  not 
emboldened  him  to  do  so.  Their  power,  thus  left  with  them, 
is  in  fact  ours  ;  nor  is  there  a  circumstance  to  be  supposed 
which  can  induce  them  to  betray  their  confederates  to  the 
government.  It  is  much  more  likely  that  they  will  remem- 
ber them  with  the  probability  of  renewing,  at  a  fitter  time, 
the  alliance  which  binds  them  together.  Cheer  up  thy  noble 
resolution,  therefore,  my  prince  of  the  circus,  and  think  that 
thou  shalt  still  retain  that  predominant  infiuence  which  the 
favorites  of  the  amphitheater  are  sure  to  possess  over  the 
citizens  of  Constantinople.'' 


376  WA VERLEY  NOVELS 

''  I  cannot  tell/'  answered  Stephanos  ;  "  but  it  gnaws  at 
my  heart  like  the  worm  that  dieth  not  to  see  this  beggarly 
foreigner  betray  the  noblest  blood  in  the  land,  not  to  men- 
tion the  best  athlete  in  the  palestra,  and  move  off  not  only 
without  punishment  for  his  treachery,  but  with  praise, 
honor,  and  preferment." 

''  True,"  said  Harpax  ;  "  but  observe,  my  friend,  that  he 
does  move  off  to  purpose.  He  leaves  the  land,  quits  the 
corps  in  which  he  might  claim  preferment  and  a  few  vain 
honors,  being  valued  at  what  such  trifles  amount  to.  Here- 
ward,  in  the  course  of  one  or  two  days,  shall  be  little  better 
than  a  disbanded  soldier,  subsisting  by  the  poor  bread  which 
he  can  obtain  as  a  follower  of  this  beggarly  count,  or  which 
he  is  rather  bound  to  dispute  with  the  infidel,  by  encounter- 
ing with  his  battle-ax  the  Turkish  sabers.  What  will  it 
avail  him  amidst  the  disasters,  the  slaughter,  and  the  famine 
of  Palestine  that  he  once  upon  a  time  was  admitted  to  supper 
with  the  Emperor  ?  We  know  Alexius  Comnenus  :  he  is 
willing  to  discharge,  at  the  highest  cost,  such  obligations  as 
are  incurred  to  men  like  this  Hereward  ;  and,  believe  me, 
I  think  that  I  see  the  wily  despot  shrug  his  shoulders  in 
derision  when  one  morning  he  is  saluted  with  the  news  of  a 
battle  in  Palestine  lost  by  the  crusaders,  in  which  his  old 
acquaintance  has  fallen  a  dead  man.  I  will  not  insult  thee 
by  telling  thee  how  easy  it  might  be  to  acquire  the  favor  of 
a  gentlewoman  in  awaiting  upon  a  lady  of  quality  ;  nor  do  I 
think  it  would  be  difficult,  should  that  be  the  object  of  the 
prize-fighter,  to  acquire  the  property  of  a  large  baboon  like 
Sylvan,  which  no  doubt  would  set  up  as  a  juggler  any  Frank 
who  had  meanness  of  spirit  to  propose  to  gain  his  bread  in 
such  a  capacity  from  the  alms  of  the  starving  chivalry  of 
Europe.  But  he  who  can  stoop  to  envy  the  lot  of  such  a 
person  ought  not  to  be  one  whose  chief  personal  distinctions 
are  sufficient  to  place  him  first  in  rank  over  all  the  favorites 
of  the  amphitheater. '^ 

There  was  something  in  this  sophistical  kind  of  reasoning 
which  was  but  half- satisfactory  to  the  obtuse  intellect  of 
the  prize-fighter,  to  whom  it  was  addressed,  although  the 
only  answer  which  he  attempted  was  couched  in  this  obser- 
vation— 

*'Ay,  but,  noble  centurion,  you  forget  that,  besides  empty 
honors,  this  Varangian  Hereward,  or  Edward,  whichever  is 
his  name,  is  promised  a  mighty  donative  of  gold." 

'^  Marry,  you  touch  me  there,"  said  the  centurion  ;  ''  and 
when  you  tell  me  that  the  promise  is  fulfilled,  I  will  will- 


COUNT  BOBERT  OF  PABIS  377 

fngly  agree  that  the  Anglo-Saxon  hath  gained  something  to 
be  envied  for ;  but  while  it  remains  in  the  shape  of  a  naked 
promise,  you  shall  pardon  me,  my  worthy  Stephanos,  if  I 
hold  it  of  no  more  account  than  the  mere  pledges  which  are 
distributed  among  ourselves  as  well  as  to  the  Varangians, 
promising  upon  future  occasions  mints  of  money,  which  we 
are  likely  to  receive  at  the  same  time  with  the  last  year's 
snow.  Keep  up  your  heart,  therefore,  noble  Stephanos, 
and  believe  not  that  your  affairs  are  worse  for  the  miscar- 
riage of  this  day  ;  and  let  not  thy  gallant  courage  sink,  but, 
remembering  those  principles  upon  which  it  was  called  into 
action,  believe  that  thy  objects  are  not  the  less  secure 
because  fate  has  removed  their  acquisition  to  a  more  distant 
day."  The  veteran  and  unbending  conspirator,  Harpax, 
thus  strengthened  for  some  future  renewal  of  their  enter- 
prise the  failing  spirits  of  Stephanos. 

After  this,  such  leaders  as  were  included  in  the  invitation 
given  by  the  Emperor  repaired  to  the  evening  meal,  and, 
from  the  general  content  and  complaisance  expressed  by 
Alexius  and  his  guests  of  every  description,  it  could  little 
have  been  supposed  that  the  day  just  passed  over  was  one 
which  had  inferred  a  purpose  so  dangerous  and  treacherous. 

The  absence  of  the  Countess  Brenhilda  during  this  event- 
ful day  created  no  small  surprise  to  the  Emperor  and  those 
in  his  immediate  confidence,  who  knew  her  enterprising 
spirit,  and  the  interest  she  must  have  felt  in  the  issue  of  the 
combat.  Bertha  had  made  an  early  communication  to  the 
Count  that  his  lady,  agitated  with  the  many  anxieties  of  the 
few  preceding  days,  was  unable  to  leave  her  apartment. 
The  valiant  knight,  therefore,  lost  no  time  in  acquainting 
his  faithful  countess  of  his  safety ;  and  afterwards  joining 
those  who  partook  of  the  banquet  at  the  palace,  he  bore 
himself  as  if  the  least  recollection  did  not  remain  on  his 
mind  of  the  perfidious  conduct  of  the  Emperor  at  the  con- 
clusion of  the  last  entertainment.  He  knew,  in  truth,  that 
the  knights  of  Prince  Tancred  not  only  maintained  a  strict 
watch  round  the  house  where  Brenhilda  remained,  but  also, 
that  they  preserved  a  severe  ward  in  the  neighborhood  of 
the  Blacquernal,  as  well  for  the  safety  of  their  heroic  leader 
as  for  that  of  Count  Robert,  the  respected  companion  of 
their  military  pilgrimage. 

It  was  the  general  principle  of  the  European  chivalry  that 
distrust  was  rarely  permitted  to  survive  open  quarrels,  and 
that  whatever  was  forgiven  was  dismissed  from  their  recol- 
lection, as  unlikely  to  recur  ;  but  on  the  present  occasion 


378  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

there  was  a  more  than  usual  assemblage  of  troops,  which 
the  occurrences  of  the  day  had  drawn  together,  so  that  the 
crusaders  were  called  upon  to  be  particularly  watchful. 

It  may  be  believed  that  the  evening  passed  over  without 
any  attempt  to  renew  the  ceremonial  in  the  council-chamber 
of  the  lions,  which  had  upon  a  former  occasion  terminated 
in  such  misunderstanding.  Indeed,  it  would  have  been 
lucky  if  the  explanation  between  the  mighty  Emperor  of 
Greece  and  the  chivalrous  knight  of  Paris  had  taken  place 
earlier ;  for  reflection  on  what  had  passed  had  convinced 
the  Emperor  that  the  Franks  were  not  a  people  to  be 
imposed  upon  by  pieces  of  clockwork  and  similar  trifles, 
and  that  what  they  did  not  understand  was  sure,  instead  of 
procuring  their  awe  or  admiration,  to  excite  their  anger  and 
defiance.  Nor  had  it  altogether  escaped  Count  Robert  that 
the  manners  of  the  Eastern  people  were  upon  a  different 
scale  from  those  to  which  he  had  been  accustomed ;  that 
they  neither  were  so  deeply  affected  by  the  spirit  of  chivalry 
nor,  in  his  own  language,  was  the  worship  of  the  Lady  of 
the  Broken  Lances  so  congenial  a  subject  of  adoration. 
This  notwithstanding.  Count  Robert  observed  that  Alexius 
Comnenus  was  a  wise  and  politic  prince ;  his  wisdom 
perhaps  too  much  allied  to  cunning,  but  yet  aiding  him  to 
maintain  with  great  address  that  empire  over  the  minds  of 
his  subjects  which  were  necessary  for  their  good,  and  for 
maintaining  his  own  authority.  He  therefore  resolved  to 
receive  with  equanimity  whatever  should  be  offered  by  the 
Emperor,  either  in  civility  or  in  the  way  of  jest,  and  not 
again  to  disturb  an  understanding  which  'might  be  of  advan- 
tage to  Christendom,  by  a  quarrel  founded  upon  miscon- 
ception of  terms  or  misapprehension  of  manners.  To  this 
prudent  resolution  the  Count  of  Paris  adhered  during  the 
whole  evening ;  with  some  difficulty,  however,  since  it  was 
somewhat  inconsistent  with  his  own  fiery  and  inquisitive 
temper,  which  was  equally  desirous  to  know  the  precise 
amount  of  whatever  was  addressed  to  him,  and  to  take 
umbrage  at  it,  should  it  appear  in  the  least  degree  offensive, 
whether  so  intended  or  not. 


CHAPTEK  XXXIV 

It  was  not  until  after  the  conquest  of  Jerusalem  that 
Count  Robert  of  Paris  returned  to  Constantinople,  and, 
with  his  wife,  and  such  proportion  of  his  followers  as  the 
sword  and  pestilence  had  left  after  that  bloody  warfare, 
resumed  his  course  to  his  native  kingdom.  Upon  reaching 
Italy,  the  first  care  of  the  noble  count  and  countess  was  to 
celebrate  in  princely  style  the  marriage  of  Hereward  and 
his  faithful  Bertha,  who  had  added  to  their  other  claims 
upon  their  master  and  mistress  those  acquired  by  Here- 
ward's  faithful  services  in  Palestine,  and  no  less  by  Bertha's 
affectionate  ministry  to  her  lady  in  Constantinople. 

As  to  the  fate  of  Alexius  Comnenus,  it  may  be  read  at 
large  in  the  history  of  his  daughter  Anna,  who  has  repre- 
sented him  as  the  hero  of  many  a  victory,  achieved,  says  the 
purple-born,  in  the  third  chapter  and  fifteenth  book  of  her 
history,  sometimes  by  his  arms  and  sometimes  by  his  pru- 
dence. "  His  boldness  alone  has  gained  some  battles  ;  at 
other  times  his  success  has  been  won  by  stratagem.  He  has 
erected  the  most  illustrious  of  his  trophies  by  confronting 
danger,  by  combating  like  a  simple  soldier,  and  throwing 
himself  bareheaded  into  the  thickest  of  the  foe.  But  there 
are  others,^'  continues  the  accomplished  lady,  ^*^  which  he 
gained  an  opportunity  of  erecting  by  assuming  the  appear- 
ance of  terror,  and  even  of  retreat.  In  a  word,  he  knew 
alike  how  to  triumph  either  in  flight  or  in  pursuit,  and 
remained  upright  even  before  those  enemies  who  appeared 
to  have  struck  him  down ;  resembling  the  mihtary  imple- 
ment termed  the  calthrop,  which  remains  always  upright 
in  whatever  direction  it  is  thrown  on  the  ground. '^ 

It  would  be  unjust  to  deprive  the  Princess  of  the  defense 
she  herself  makes  against  the  obvious  charge  of  partiality. 

*'  I  must  still  once  more  repel  the  reproach  which  some 
bring  against  me,  as  if  my  history  was  composed  merely 
according  to  the  dictates  of  the  natural  love  for  parents 
which  is  engraved  in  the  hearts  of  children.  In  truth,  it  is 
not  the  effect  of  that  affection  which  I  bear  to  mine,  but  it 
is  the  evidence  of  matter  of  fact,  which  obliges  me  to  speak 
as  I  have  done.     Is  it  not  possible  that  one  can  have  at  the 

379 


380  WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 

same  time  an  affection  for  the  memory  of  a  father  and  fo^ 
truth  ?  For  myself,  I  have  never  directed  my  attempt  to 
write  history  otherwise  than  for  the  ascertainment  of  the 
matter  of  fact.  With  this  purpose,  I  have  taken  for  my 
subject  the  history  of  a  worthy  man.  Is  it  just  that,  by  the 
single  accident  of  his  being  the  author  of  my  birth,  his 
quality  of  my  father  ought  to  form  a  prejudice  against  me 
which  would  ruin  my  credit  with  my  readers  ?  I  have 
given,  upon  other  occasions,  proofs  sufficiently  strong  of 
the  ardor  which  I  had  for  the  defense  of  my  father's  in- 
terests, which  those  that  know  me  can  never  doubt ;  but, 
on  the  present,  I  have  been  limited  by  the  inviolable  fidelity 
with  which  I  respect  the  truth,  which  I  should  have  felt 
conscience  to  have  veiled,  under  pretense  of  serving  the 
renown  of  my  father. ''  * 

This  much  we  have  deemed  it  our  duty  to  quote,  in  jus- 
tice to  the  fair  historian  ;  we  will  extract  also  her  descrip- 
tion of  the  Emperor's  death,  and  are  not  unwilling  to  allow 
that  the  character  assigned  to  the  Princess  by  our  ow^n 
Gibbon  has  in  it  a  great  deal  of  fairness  and  of  truth. 

Notwithstanding  her  repeated  protests  of  sacrificing  rather 
to  the  exact  and  absolute  truth  than  to  the  memory  of  her 
deceased  parent.  Gibbon  remarks  truly  that,  ''instead  of 
the  simplicity  of  style  and  narrative  which  wins  our  belief, 
an  elaborate  affectation  of  rhetoric  and  science  betrays  in 
every  page  the  vanity  of  a  female  author.  The  genuine 
character  of  Alexius  is  lost  in  a  vague  constellation  of  vir- 
tues ;  and  the  perpetual  strain  of  panegyric  and  apology 
awakens  our  jealousy  to  question  the  veracity  of  the  his- 
torian and  the  merit  of  the  hero.  "We  cannot,  however,  re- 
fuse her  judicious  and  important  remark,  that  the  disorders 
of  the  times  were  the  misfortune  and  the  glory  of  Alexius  ; 
and  that  every  calamity  which  can  afflict  a  declining  empire 
was  accumulated  on  his  reign  by  the  justice  of  Heaven  and 
the  vices  of  his  predecessors.^' 

The  Princess  accordingly  feels  the  utmost  assurance  that 
a  number  of  signs  which  appeared  in  heaven  and  on  earth 
were  interpreted  by  the  soothsayers  of  the  day  as  foreboding 
the  death  of  the  Emperor.  By  these  means,  Anna  Comnena 
assigned  to  her  father  those  indications  of  consequence 
which  ancient  historians  represent  as  necessary  intimations 
of  the  sympathy  of  nature  with  the  removal  of  great  char- 
acters  from  the  world ;  but  she   fails  not  to    inform   the 

*  Alexiad,  chap.  iii.  book  xv. 
f  Gibbon's  Roman  Empire^  vol.  ix.  p.  84. 


COUNT  BOBERT  OF  PABI8  381 

Christian  reader  that  her  father's  belief  attached  to  none  of 
these  prognostics,  and  that  even  on  the  following  remark- 
able occasion  he  maintained  his  incredulity  : — A  splendid 
statue,  supposed  generally  to  be  a  relic  of  paganism,  holding 
in  its  hand  a  golden  scepter,  and  standing  upon  a  base  of 
porphyry,  was  overturned  by  a  tempest,  and  was  generally 
believed  to  be  an  intimation  of  the  death  of  the  Emperor. 
This,  however,  he  generously  repelled.  Phidias,  he  said, 
and  other  great  sculptors  of  antiquity,  had  the  talent  of 
imitating  the  human  frame  with  surprising  accuracy  ;  but 
to  suppose  that  the  power  of  foretelling  future  events  was 
reposed  in  these  masterpieces  of  art  would  be  to  ascribe  to 
their  makers  the  faculties  reserved  by  the  Deity  for  himself, 
when  he  says,  ''It  is  I  who  kill  and  make  alive.*'  During 
his  latter  days,  the  Emperor  was  greatly  afflicted  with  the 
gout,  the  nature  of  which  has  exercised  the  wit  of  many 
persons  of  science  as  well  as  of  Anna  Comnena.  The  poor 
patient  was  so  much  exhausted  that,  when  the  Empress  was 
talking  of  most  eloquent  persons  who  should  assist  in  the 
composition  of  his  history,  he  said,  with  a  natural  contempt 
of  such  vanities,  ^'  The  passages  of  my  unhappy  life  call 
rather  for  tears  and  lamentation  than  for  the  praises  you 
speak  of." 

A  species  of  asthma  having  come  to  the  assistance  of  the 
gout,  the  remedies  of  the  physicians  became  as  vain  as  the 
intercession  of  the  monks  and  clergy,  as  well  as  the  alms 
which  were  indiscriminately  lavished.  Two  or  three  deep 
successive  swoons  gave  ominous  warning  of  the  approaching 
blow  ;  and  at  length  was  terminated  the  reign  and  life  of 
Alexius  Comnenus — a  prince  who,  with  all  the  faults  which 
may  be  imputed  to  him,  still  possesses  a  real  right,  from  the 
purity  of  his  general  intentions,  to  be  accounted  one  of  the 
best  sovereigns  of  the  Lower  Empire. 

For  some  time,  the  historian  forgot  her  pride  of  literary 
rank,  and,  like  an  ordinary  person,  burst  into  tears  and 
shrieks,  tore  her  hair,  and  defaced  her  countenance,  while  the 
Empress  Irene  cast  from  her  her  princely  habits,  cut  off  her 
hair,  changed  her  purple  buskins  for  black  mourning  shoes, 
and  her  daughter  Mary,  who  had  herself  been  a  widow, 
took  a  black  robe  from  one  of  her  own  wardrobes,  and  pre- 
sented it  to  her  mother.  "  Even  in  the  moment  when  she 
put  it  on,"  says  Anna  Comnena,  ''the  Emperor  gave  up  the 
ghost,  and  in  that  moment  the  sun  of  my  life  set." 

We  shall  not  pursue  her  lamentations  farther.  She  up- 
braids herself  that,  after  the  death  of  her  father,  that  light 


3S2  WAVERLEY  NOVELS 

of  the  world,  she  had  also  survived  Irene,  the  delight  alike 
of  the  East  and  of  the  West,  and  survived  her  husband  also. 
^'  I  am  indignant,"  she  said,  "that  my  soul,  suffering  under 
such  torrents  of  misfortune,  should  still  deign  to  animate 
my  body.  Have  I  not,"  said  she,  ''  been  more  hard  and  un- 
feeling than  the  rocks  themselves  ;  and  is  it  not  just  that 
one  who  could  survive  such  a  father  and  mother,  and  such 
a  husband,  should  be  subjected  to  the  influence  of  so  much 
calamity  ?  But  let  me  finish  this  history,  rather  than  any 
longer  fatigue  my  readers  with  my  unavailing  and  tragical 
lamentation." 

Having  thus  concluded  her  history,  she  adds  the  following 
two  lines  : — 

The  learned  Comnena  lays  her  pen  aside, 
What  time  her  subject  and  her  father  died.* 

These  quotations  will  probably  give  the  readers  as  much 
as  they  wish  to  know  of  the  real  character  of  this  imperial 
historian.  Fewer  words  will  suffice  to  dispose  of  the  other 
parties  who  have  been  selected  from  her  pages,  as  persons 
in  the  foregoing  drama. 


I 


There  is  very  little  doubt  that  the  Count  Eobert  of  Paris, 
whose  audacity  in  seating  himself  upon  the  throne  of  the 
Emperor  gives  a  peculiar  interest  to  his  character,  was  in 
fact  a  person  of  the  highest  rank  ;  being  no  other,  as  has 
been  conjectured  by  the  learned  Ducange,  than  an  ancestor 
of  the  house  of  Bourbon,  which  has  so  long  given  kings  to 
Erance.  He  was  a  successor,  it  has  been  conceived,  of  the 
Counts  of  Paris,  by  whom  the  city  was  valiantly  defended 
against  the  Normans,  and  an  ancestor  of  Hugh  Capet. 
There  are  several  hypotheses  upon  this  subject,  deriving  the 
well-known  Hugh  Capet,  first  from  the  family  of  Saxony  ; 
secondly,  from  St.  Arnoul,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Altex 
[Metz]  ;  third,  from  Nibilong ;  fourth,  from  the  Duke  of 
Bavaria  ;  and  fifth,  from  a  natural  son  of  the  Emperor 
Charlemagne.  Variously  placed,  but  in  each  of  these  con- 
tested pedigrees,  appears  this  Eobert,  surnamed  the  Strong, 
who  was  count  of  that  district  of  which  Paris  was  the 
capital,  most  peculiarly  styled  the  County,  or  Isle,  of  Erance. 
Anna  Comnena,  who  has  recorded  the  bold  usurpation  of  the 

*  A.^fev  OTTOU  /SiOTOio  'AAe'f  10?  6  Ko/u.inji'ds 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS  383 

Emperor's  seat  by  this  haughty  chieftain,  has  also  ac- 
quainted us  with  his  receiving  a  severe,  if  not  a  mortal, 
wound  at  the  battle  of  Dorylaeum,  owing  to  his  neglecting 
the  warlike  instructions  with  which  her  father  had  favored 
him  on  the  subject  of  the  Turkish  wars.  The  antiquary 
who  is  disposed  to  investigate  this  subject  may  consult  the 
iate  Lord  Ashburnham's  elaborate  Genealogy  of  the  Royal 
House  of  France  ;  also  a  note  of  Ducange's  on  the  Princess's 
history,  arguing  for  the  identity  of  her  **  Eobert  of  Paris, 
a  haughty  barbarian/'  with  the  *'  Eobert  called  the  Strong/' 
mentioned  as  an  ancestor  of  Hugh  Capet.  Gibbon,  vol.  xi. 
p.  49,  may  also  be  consulted.  The  French  antiquary  and 
the  English  historian  seem  alike  disposed  to  find  the  church 
called  in  the  tale  that  of  the  Lady  of  the  Broken  Lances  in 
that  dedicated  to  St.  Drausus,  or  Drosin,  of  Soissons,  who 
was  supposed  to  have  peculiar  influence  on  the  issue  of  com- 
bats, and  to  be  in  the  habit  of  determining  them  in  favor  of 
such  champions  as  spent  the  night  preceding  at  his  shrine. 

In  consideration  of  the  sex  of  one  of  the  parties  concerned, 
the  Author  has  selected  Our  Lady  of  the  Broken  Lances  as 
a  more  appropriate  patroness  than  St.  Drausus  himself  for 
the  amazons,  who  were  not  uncommon  in  that  age.  Gaita, 
for  example,  the  wife  of  Eobert  Guiscard,  a  redoubted  hero, 
and  the  parent  of  a  most  heroic  race  of  sons,  was  herself  an 
amazon,  fought  in  the  foremost  ranks  of  the  Normans,  and 
is  repeatedly  commemorated  by  our  imperial  historian,  Anna 
Gomnena. 

The  reader  can  easily  conceive  to  himself  that  Eobert  of 
Paris  distinguished  himself  among  his  brethren-at-arms  and 
fellow-crusaders.  His  fame  resounded  from  the  walls  of 
Antioch  ;  but,  at  the  battle  of  Dorylaeum,  he  was  so  des- 
perately wounded  as  to  be  disabled  from  taking  a  part  in 
the  grandest  scene  of  the  expedition.  His  heroic  countess, 
however,  enjoyed  the  great  satisfaction  of  mounting  the 
walls  of  Jerusalem,  and  in  so  far  discharging  her  own  vows 
and  those  of  her  husband.  This  was  the  more  fortunate,  as 
the  sentence  of  the  physicians  pronounced  that  the  wounds 
of  the  Count  had  been  inflicted  by  a  poisoned  weapon,  and 
that  complete  recovery  was  only  to  be  hoped  for  by  having 
recourse  to  his  native  air.  After  some  time  spent  in  the 
vain  hope  of  averting  by  patience  this  unpleasant  alternative. 
Count  Eobert  subjected  himself  to  necessity,  or  what  was 
represented  as  such,  and,  with  his  wife  and  the  faithful 
Hereward,  and  all  others  of  his  followers  who  had  been  like 
himself  disabled  from  combat,  took  the  way  to  Europe  by  sea. 


384  WAVEELEY  K0VEL8 

A  light  galley,  procured  at  a  high  rate,  conducted  them 
safely  to  Venice,  and  from  that  then  glorious  city  the  mod- 
erate portion  of  spoil  which  had  fallen  to  the  Count's  share 
among  the  conquerors  of  Palestine  served  to  convey  them  to 
his  own  dominions,  which,  more  fortunate  than  those  of 
most  of  his  fellow-pilgrims,  had  been  left  uninjured  by  their 
neighbors  during  the  time  of  their  proprietor's  absence  on 
the  Crusade.  The  report  that  the  Count  had  lost  his  health, 
and  the  power  of  continuing  his  homage  to  the  Lady  of  the 
Broken  Lances,  brought  upon  him  the  hostilities  of  one  or 
two  ambitious  or  envious  neighbors,  whose  covetousness  was, 
however,  sufficiently  repressed  by  the  brave  resistance  of  the 
Countess  and  the  resolute  Hereward.  Less  than  a  twelve- 
month was  required  to  restore  the  Count  of  Paris  to  his  full 
health,  and  to  render  him,  as  formerly,  the  assured  pro- 
tector of  his  own  vassals  and  the  subject  in  whom  the  pos- 
sessors of  the  French  throne  reposed  the  utmost  confidence. 
This  latter  capacity  enabled  Count  Eobert  to  discharge  his 
debt  towards  Hereward  in  a  manner  as  ample  as  he  could 
have  hoped  or  expected.  Being  now  respected  alike  for  his 
wisdom  and  his  sagacity,  as  much  as  he  always  was  for  his 
intrepidity  and  his  character  as  a  successful  crusader,  he  was 
repeatedly  employed  by  the  court  of  France  in  settling  the 
troublesome  and  intricate  affairs  in  which  the  Norman  pos- 
sessions of  the  English  crown  involved  the  rival  nations. 
William  Rufus  was  not  insensible  to  his  merit,  nor  blind  to 
the  importance  of  gaining  his  good-will ;  and  finding  out  his 
anxiety  that  Hereward  should  be  restored  to  the  land  of  his 
fathers,  he  took,  or  made,  an  opportunity,  by  the  forfeiture 
of  some  rebellious  noble,  of  conferring  upon  our  Varangian 
a  large  district  adjacent  to  the  New  Forest,  being  part  of  the 
scenes  w^hich  his  father  chiefly  frequented,  and  where  it  is 
said  the  descendants  of  the  valiant  squire  and  his  Bertha 
have  subsisted  for  many  a  long  year,  surviving  turns  of  time 
and  chance,  which  are  in  general  fatal  to  the  continuance  of 
more  distinguished  families. 


KOTES  TO  COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS 


Note  1. — Bohemond  op  Antioch,  p.  5. 

BodEMOND,  son  of  Robert  Guiscard,  the  Norman  conqueror  of  Apulia,  Calabria, 
and  oicily,  was,  at  the  time  when  the  first  crusade  began,  Count  of  Tarentum, 
Though  far  advanced  in  life,  he  eagerly  joined  the  expedition  of  the  Latins,  and 
became  Prince  of  Antioch.  For  details  of  his  adventures,  death,  and  extraor- 
dinary character,  see  Gibbon,  chaps.  Iviii.,  lix.,  and  Mills's  History  of  the 
Crusades,  vol.  i. 

Note  2.— Constantinople,  p.  9. 

The  impression  which  the  imperial  city  was  calculated  to  make  on  such  visitors 
as  the  crusaders  of  the  West  is  given  by  the  ancient  French  chronicler  Villehar- 
douin,  who  was  present  at  the  capture  of  1203. 

"  When  we  had  come,"  he  says,  "  within  three  leagues,  to  a  certain  abbey,  the*". 
We  could  plainly  survey  Constantinople.  There  the  ships  and  the  galleys  came  to 
anchor  ;  and  much  did  they  who  had  never  been  in  that  quarter  before  gaze  upoii 
the  city.  That  such  a  city  could  be  in  the  world  they  had  never  conceived,  and 
they  were  never  weary  of  staring  at  the  hifj-h  walls  and  towers  with  which  it  was 
entirely  encompassed,  the  rich  palaces  and  lofty  churches,  of  which  there  were 
so  many  that  no  one  could  have  believed  it,  if  he  had  not  seen  with  his  own  eyes 
that  city,  the  queen  of  all  cities.  And  know  that  there  was  not  so  bold  a  heart 
there,  that  it  did  not  feel  some  terror  at  the  strength  of  Constantinople."— Chap. 
Ixvi. 

Again,  "  And  now  many  of  those  of  the  host  went  to  see  Constantinople  within, 
and  the  rich  palaces  and  stately  churches  of  which  it  possesses  so  many,  and  the 
riches  of  the  place,  which  are  such  as  no  other  city  ever  equalled.  I  need  not 
epeak  of  the  sanctuaries,  which  are  as  many  as  are  in  all  the  world  beside." — 
Chap.  c. 

Note  3.— Varangian  Guard,  p.  13. 

Ducange  has  poured  forth  a  tide  of  learning  on  this  curious  subject,  which 
W^ill  be  found  in  his  notes  on  Villehardouin's  Constantinople  under  the  French 
Emperors.  Paris,  1657,  folio,  p.  296.  Gibbon's  History  may  also  be  consulted, 
vol.  X.  p.  221.  Villehardouin,  in  describing  the  siege  of  Constantinople,  1203,  says, 
"  Li  murs  fu  mult  garnis  d'Anglois  et  de  Danois ;  "  hence  the  dissertation  of 
Ducange  here  quoted,  and  several  articles  besides  in  his  Glossarium,  as  "•  Var- 
angi,"  " Warengangi,"  etc.  The  etymology  of  the  name*  is  left  uncertain, 
though  the  German /orfgrangrer,  t.e.  "■  forth-goer,"  ''wanderer,"  "exile,"  seems 
the  most  probable.  The  term  occurs  in  various  Italian  and  Sicilian  documents, 
anterior  to  the  establishment  of  the  Varangian  Guards  at  Constantinople,  and 
collected  by  Muratori :  as,  for  instance,  in  an  edict  of  one  of  the  Lombard  kings— 

"  Omnes  Warengangi,  qui  de  exteris  finibus  in  regni  nostri  finibus  advenerint, 
Beque  sub  scuto  potestatis  nostrse  subdiderint,  legibus  nostris  Longobardorum 
Vivere  debeant"  [vol.  i.  p.  48]  ;  and  in  another,  "  De  Warengangis  nobilibus, 
mediocribus,  et  rusticis  hominibus,  qui  usque  nunc  in  terra  vestra  fugiti  sunt, 
habeatis  eos.'''— Muratori,  vol.  ii.  p.  261. 

*  [Munch  De^  Norske  Folks  Historic,  i.  (1),  p.  288,  note  2,  derives  it  from  old 
Norse  var,  Anglo-Saxon  veer,  meaning  "  those  bound  together  by  an  oath."  It  is 
tvithout  doubt  connected  with  the  Old  Norse  verja.  Modern  Swedish  varja,  Ger- 
man vehren,  meaning  "  to  defend,"  "  protect."  The  name  does  not  indicate  any 
nationality,  but  is  in  Russian  and  Norse  annals  applied  equally  to  all  Scandi- 
navians who  went,  mostly  through  Russia,  to  Myklegaard  (the  Great  City),  as 
they  called  Constantinople,  to  serve  the  Greek  emperor.] 

25  885 


386  NOTES, 

With  regard  to  the  origin  of  the  Varangian  Guard,  the  most  distinct  testimony 
is  that  of  Ordericus  Vitalis,  who  says  :— 

When,  therefore,  the  English  had  lost  their  liberty,  they  turned  themselves  with 
zeal  to  discover  the  means  of  throwing  off  the  unaccustomed  yoke.  Some  fled  to 
Sueno,  King  of  the  Danes,  to  excite  him  to  the  recovery  of  the  inheritance  of  his 
grandfather,  Canute.  Not  a  few  fled  into  exile  in  other  regions,  either  from  the 
mere  desire  of  escaping  from  under  the  Norman  rule,  or  in  the  hope  of  acquiring 
wealth,  and  so  being  one  day  in  a  condition  to  renew  the  struggle  at  home.  Some 
of  these,  in  the  bloom  of  youth,  penetrated  into  a  far  distant  land,  and  offered 
themselves  to  the  military  service  of  the  Constantinopolitan  Emperor— that  wise 
prince,  against  whom  Robert  Guiscard,  Duke  of  Apulia,  had  then  raised  all  his 
forces.  .  .  .  The  English  exiles  were  favorably  received,  and  opposed  in  battle  to 
the  Normans,  for  whose  encounter  the  Greeks  themselves  were  too  weak. 
Alexius  began  to  build  a  town  for  the  English,  a  little  above  Constantinople,  at  a 
place  called  Chevetot,  but  the  trouble  of  the  Normans  from  Sicily  still  increas- 
mg,  he  soon  recalled  them  to  the  capital,  and  entrusted  the  principal  palace  with 
all  its  treasures  to  their  keeping.  This  was  the  method  in  which  the  Saxo" 
English  found  their  way  to  Ionia,  where  they  still  remain,  highly  valued  by  th» 
Emperor  and  the  people.— Book  iv. 

Note  4.— Immortals,  p.  55. 

The  'AOavaroi,  or  Immortals,  of  the  army  of  Constantinople  were  a  select  body, 
so  named  in  imitation  of  the  ancient  Persians.  They  were  first  embodied,  accord- 
ing to  Ducange,  by  Michael  Ducas. 

Note  5.— King  of  France,  p.  74. 

Ducange  pours  out  a  whole  ocean  of  authorities  to  show  that  the  king  of  France 
was  in  those  days  styled  rex,  by  way  of  eminence.  See  his  notes  on  TheAlexiad. 
Anna  Comnena  in  her  history  makes  Hugh  of  Vermandois  assume  to  himself  the 
titles  which  could  only,  in  the  most  enthusiastic  Frenchman's  opinion,  have  been 
claimed  by  his  elder  brother,  the  reigning  monarch. 

Note  6.— Labarum,  p.  118. 

Ducange,  fills  half  a  column  of  his  huge  page  with  the  mere  names  of  the  authors 
who  have  written  at  length  on  the  Labainim,  or  principal  standard  of  the  empire 
for  the  time  of  Constantine.  It  consisted  of  a  spear  of  silver,  or  plated  with  that 
metal,  having  suspended  from  a  cross  beam  below  the  spoke  a  small  square 
silken  banner  adorned  with  portraits  of  the  reigning  family,  and  over  these  the 
famous  monogram  which  expresses  at  once  the  figure  of  the  cross  and  the  initial 
letters  of  the  name  of  Christ.  The  bearer  of  the  Labarum  was  an  officer  of  high 
rank  down  to  the  last  days  of  the  Byzantine  government.— See  Gibbon,  chap.  xx. 

Ducange  seems  to  have  proved,  from  the  evidence  of  coins  and  triumphal  monu- 
ments, that  a  standard  of  the  form  of  the  Labarum  was  used  by  various  barbar- 
ous nations  long  before  it  was  adopted  by  their  Roman  conquerors,  and  he  is  of 
opinion  that  its  name  also  was  borrowed  from  either  Teutonic  Germany,  or  Celtic 
Gaul,  or  Sclavonic  Illyria.  It  is  certain  that  either  the  German  language  or  the 
Welsh  may  afford  at  this  day  a  perfectly  satisfactory  etymon,  lapheer  [lappen- 
Jieer]  in  the  former,  and  labhair  m  the  latter,  having  precisely  the  same  meaning 
— "  the  cloth  of  the  host." 

The  form  of  the  Labarum  may  still  be  recognized  in  the  banners  carried  in 
ecclesiastical  processions,  in  all  Roman  Catholic  countries. 

Note  7.— Gaita,  p.  127. 

This  amazon  makes  a  conspicuous  figure  in  Anna  Comnena's  account  of  her 
father's  campaigns  against  Robert  Guiscard.  On  one  occasion  (Alexiad,  lib.  iv. 
p.  93),  she  represents  her  as  thus  recalling  the  fugitive  soldiery  of  her  husband  to 
their  duty — '  H  fie  ye  Tatra  .  .  .  IlaAXa?  aWr),  kSlv  fir)  'K9r)vri  .  .  .  Kar  avTu>v  ixeyifTTtiv 
aa^ifxcTa  ifxiivrjv,  fxovovov  to  'On.r)piKOV  eiros  T^  iStq.  StaAcKTO)  Ae'yeiv  e(OKei  '  M^XP'  Troaov 
ffyev^ecrOe ;  CT^Te,  avepe^  eare.'  w?  Se  en  (^evyovra?  tovtovs  eiapa,  Sopv  fiaKoov 
evayKakta-afJievri,  oAov?  pvrfipa^  evSovaa  Kara  twv  <f)evy6vrtav  lerai. —  That  is,  exhorting 
them,  in  all  but  Homeric  language,  at  the  top  of  her  voice  ;  and  when  this  failed, 
brandishing  a  long  spear,  and  rushing  upon  the  fugitives  at  the  utmost  speed  of 
her  horse.    This  heroic  lady,  according  to  the  chronique  scandaleuse  of  those 


NOTES.  387 

days,  was  afterwards  deluded  by  some  cunning  overtures  of  the  Greek  Emperor, 
and  poisoned  her  husband  in  expectation  of  gaining  a  place  on  the  throne  of  Con- 
stantinople.   Ducange,  however,  rejects  the  story,  and  so  does  Gibbon. 

Note  8.— Count  of  Tholouse,  p.  166. 

Raymond  Count  of  Tholouse  and  St.  Giles,  Duke  of  Narbonne,  and  Marquis  of 
Provence,  an  aged  warrior  who  had  won  high  distinction  in  the  contests  against 
the  Saracens  in  Spain,  was  the  chief  leader  of  the  crusaders  from  the  South  of 
France.  His  title  of  St.  Giles  is  corrupted  by  Anna  Comnena  into  Sangeles,  by 
which  name  she  constantly  mentions  him  in  The  Alexiad. 

Note  9. — Crusaders'  Punishment,  p.  274. 

Persons  among  the  crusaders  found  guilty  of  certain  offences  did  penance  in  a 
dress  of  tar  and  feathers,  though  it  is  supposed  a  punishment  of  modern  invention. 

Note  10.— Latin  Quotations,  p.  286. 

The  lines  of  Juvenal  imitated  by  Johnson  in  his  London— 

All  sciences  a  fasting  Monsieur  knows ; 
And  bid  him  go  to  Hell— to  Hell  he  goes. 

"  Do  thou  cultivate  justice :  for  thee  and  for  others  there  remains  an  avenger.'* 
^Ovid,  Met. 

Note  11.— Chronicle  op  Lalain,  p.  370. 

In  the  Diary  of  Sir  Walter  Scott  (19th  February  1826)  he  writes  :— "  Being 
troubled  with  thick-coming  fancies,  and  a  slight  palpitation  of  the  heart,  I  have 
been  reading  the  Chronicle  of  the  Good  Knight  Messire  Jacques  de  Lalain— curi- 
ous, but  dull,  from  the  constant  repetition  of  the  same  species  of  combats  in  the 
same  style  and  phrase.  It  is  like  washing  bushels  of  sand  for  a  grain  of 
gold.  .  .  .  Still,  things  occur  to  one.  Something  might  be  made  out  of  ...  a 
tale  of  chivalry,  taken  from  the  passage  of  arms  which  Jacques  de  Lalain  main- 
tained for  the  first  day  of  every  month  for  a  twelvemonth."  And  in  a  footnote 
Mr.  Lockhart  says,  "  This  hint  was  taken  up  in  Count  Robert  of  Paris,'" 

A  brief  notice  of  the  heroic  knight-errant  referred  to  may,  therefore,  not  be 
considered  out  of  place  here. 

The  Chronique  du  Bon  Chevalier  Messire  Jacques  de  Lalain,  Frere  et  Compag- 
non  de  V  Ordre  de  la  Toison  d'Or,  attributed  to  Messire  Georges  Chastellain, 
forms  vol.  xxi.  of  the  Collection  des  Chroniques  Nationales  Frangaises,  published 
by  J.  A.  Buchon,  of  which  there  is  a  set  in  the  Abbotsford  Library.  In  a  previous 
edition  of  this  work,  published  at  Bruxelles,  1634,  small  4to,  it  is  called  "  Histoire," 
in  place  of  "  Chronique,"  and  has  a  small  portrait  of  the  JBon  Chevalier  with  the 
collar  of  the  Golden  Fleece,  carefully  engraved,  evidently  from  an  original 
miniature  painting.  It  may  be  added  that  this  work  was  translated  into  French 
verse,  and  amplified,  by  a  Flemish  knight,  Messire  Jean  d'Ennetieres,  Sieur  de 
Beaumetz.  It  was  published  at  Tournay  in  1633,  with  the  title,  Le  Chevalier  sans 
Reproche,  Jacques  de  Lalain ;  and  is  divided  into  sixteen  books,  with  an  en- 

f  raved  design  to  each.  Had  Sir  Walter  set  himself  to  read  this  version  he  might 
ave  well  described  it  as  insufferably  dull.  The  circumstance,  however,  that 
gi^  es  a  special  interest  to  this  work  is  the  portion  thac  relates  to  Scotland  in  the 
reign  of  James  the  Second. 

The  Nouvelle  Biographic  Generate  contains  a  long  article,  "  Lalain  ou  Lalaing 
(Jacques,  dit  Jacquet  de),  surnomm6  le  Bon  Chevalier,"  from  which  it  appears 
that  he  was  born  about  1422,  and  when  sixteen  years  of  age  was  sent  to  the  court 
of  Adolphus  Duke  of  Cleves  ;  he  afterwards  continued  to  signalize  himself  by  his 
exploits  as  the  representative  of  a  knight-errant.  His  biographer  remarks  that, 
on  the  first  point  of  view  of  his  historical  career,  "  Ce  personnage,  on  le  voit, 
n'offre  qu'un  int6ret  mediocre.  Mais  il  n'en  est  pas  de  meme  si  on  le  consid^re 
au  point  de  vue  des  moeurs  du  temps.  Jacques  de  Lalain  nous  oflEre  en  eff  et  la 
personification  d'un  type  aussi  curieux  qu'int§ressant.  II  fut  un  des  derniers 
repr6sentants  de  Tid^al  chevaleresque.  L'imagination  s'attache  avec  sympathie 
au  destin  de  ce  personnage,  exalt6  jusqu'ti  I'heroisme  par  la  foi  qui  Tauime." 


388  NOTES. 

The  chapters  in  the  French  Chronicle  that  relate  to  Scotland  are  very  curious 
but  are  too  long  to  be  quoted.  Jacques  de  Lalain,  hearing  of  the  prowess  of  Sir 
James  of  Douglas,  sent  a  letter  of  challenge  by  a  herald  to  Scotland,  dated  July 
1448.  The  reply,  accepting  the  challenge,  is  dated  at  Edinburgh,  24th  Septem- 
ber, 1448.  He  accordingly  arrived  in  Scotland  in  the  beginning  of  1449,  and  the 
tournament  took  place  during  the  time  of  Lent,  at  Stirling,  in  the  presence  of  the 
Scottish  king  and  the  nobility,  and  a  great  concourse  of  people.  To  quote  the 
words  of  a  well-known  historian  *— "  Two  Burgundians  of  the  noble  house  of 
Lalain,  and  a  third  styled  the  squire  Melyades,  challenged  two  of  the  Douglases, 
and  Halket,  to  fight  with  the  lance,  battle-ax,  sword,  and  dagger.  After  a  festi- 
val of  some  days,  the  combatants  entered  the  lists,  clothed  in  velvet,  and  pro- 
ceeded to  their  pavilions  to  arm  ;  the  Earl  of  Douglas  himself,  attended  by  not 
less  than  about  five  thousand  followers,  accompanying  the  Scottish  champions. 
After  having  been  solemnly  knighted  by  the  King,  the  parties  engaged;  the 
spears  were  soon  thrown  away  ;  one  of  the  Douglases  was  felled  by  a  battle-ax, 
and  the  combat  becoming  unequal,  the  King  threw  down  his  baton,  the  signal  of 
its  termination." 

At  a  chapter  of  the  order  of  the  Golden  Fleece,  the  4th  of  May,  1451,  Jacques  de 
Lalain  was  elected  a  knight  of  that  distinguished  order  ;  but  was  slain  by  a  can- 
Bon-ball  at  the  siege  of  the  Chateau  de  Poucques,  4th  July,  1453,  aged  thirty -two 
iLaing). 

«  ■ -— — w 

♦Finkwton's  History  [of  Scotland]^  voL  i.  p.  a07  [1797]. 


GLOSSARY 


OF 


WORDS,  PHRASES,  AND  ALLUSIONS 


A-bydos,  a  town  on  the 
Asiatic  side  of  the  Hel- 
lespont or  Dardanelles 

Abye,  to  pay  for,  atone  for 

Achitophel,  the  counsellor 
of  King  David 

Agamemnon,  commander 
of  the  Greeks  in  the 
Trojan  War 

Alexandrian  library,  the 
greatest  collection  of 
books  in  the  ancient 
Greek  world,  was  pre- 
served at  Alexandria  in 
Egypt,  and  burnt  in  640 
by  the  Arab  conqueror, 
Amr  ibn  al-As 

Aliquando  dormitat 
Homerus,  Homer  is 
caught  napping  some- 
times 

Air  erta  !  alV  erta,  etc. 
(p.  273),  Look  outl  look 
out!    Here's  booty! 

Altex  (p.  382),  evidently 
Metz,  of  which  see  Ar- 
nulf  was  bishop 

Ambidexter,  doublehand- 
ed;  double-dealing 

Androcles  and  the  Lion, 
the  story  of  the  Roman 
slave  who  removed  a 
thorn  from  the  paw  of  a 
wild  lion,  and  afterwards 
was  recognized  by  it 
when  cast  into  the  arena 
to  be  torn  to  pieces  by 
wild  animals 

Antoninus.  See  Marcus 
Aurelius  Antoninus 

Anubis,  a  god  of  the  an- 
cient Egyptians,  usually 
represented  with  a  jack- 
al's head 

Apelles,  the  most  cele- 
brated painter  of  ancient 
Greece,  lived  in  the  4th 
century 

Apis,  an  ancient  Egyptian 
deity,  worshipped  in  the 
form  of  a  bull 


Arblast,  a  cross-bow 

Argive,  Greek 

Argus's  tail,  eyes  of. 
After  the  death  of  Ar- 
gus, his  hundred  eyes 
were  placed  in  the  tail 
of  the  peacock 

Armipotent,  mighty  in 
arms,  an  epithet  of  Mars, 
the  Roman  god  of  war 

Astucious,  astute,  crafty 

Atmeidan,  a  circus,  exer- 
cise ring 

Attaint,  a  successful  hit, 
stroke 

Ballantynian  ordeal, 
printing.  Scott's  novels 
were  first  printed  by  the 
brothers  John  and 
James  Ballantyne 

Bel,  a  Babylonian  god, 
corresponding  to  the 
Canaanite  god  Baal 

Besant,  or  Byzant,  a  gold 
coin  =  10s.  to  20s 

Bevis  of  Hampton,  the 
hero  of  a  mediaeval  ro- 
mance 

Black  Douglas,  or  Good 
Sir  James  of  Douglas, 
the  loyal  supporter  of 
Robert  Bruce,  called 
Black  from  his  swarthy 
complexion 

Boeotia,  a  district  of  an- 
cient Greece,  the  inhab- 
itants of  which  were 
proverbial  for  their  rude 
and  unsociable  manners 

Bona  Dea,  peculiarly  the 
goddess  of  women 
amongst  the  ancient 
Romans 

Bradamante,  a  female 
warrior  in  Ariosto's  Or- 
lando Furioso 

Bruited,  noised  abroad 

Brutus,  elder,  the  hero 
who,  in  the  legendary 
history  of  Rome,  feigned 


idiocy  to  escape  the 
tyranny  of  Tarquia  the 
Proud 


Caccabulum,  a  small  cook 
ing-pot ;  (p.  253)  a  clean 
dish 

Caliph,  the  head  of  the 
Mohammedan  world, 
both  politically  and  re- 
ligiously 

Calthrop,  four  iron  spikes 
fixed  into  a  ball  in  such 
a  way  that,  when  any 
three  rest  on  the  ground, 
the  fourth  projects  up- 
wards ;  this  instrument 
was  put  down  where 
cavalry  were  expected 
to  charge 

Cap'd-pie,  from  head  to 
foot 

Cathedral  clock.  Strik- 
ing clocks  are  known  to 
have  existed  in  the  12th 
century ;  the  earliest 
forerunner  of  modern 
clocks  is  believed  to 
have  been  invented  in 
the  9th  century 

Cleonice,  the  Byzantine 
maiden  stabbed  by  mis- 
take by  Pausanias  the 
Spartan 

Clovis,  king  of  the  Franks, 
adopted  Christianity  in 
496 

Comus,  in  ancient  Greek 
mythology,  the  god  of 
revelry 

Constantinople,  was  in- 
augurated as  the  new 
capital  of  the  Roman 
Empire  in  330 

Contra  omnes  mortales, 
against  all  men 

Corps  de  garde,  the  guard 

Corynetes,  the  surname 
of  Periphetes,  a  robber 
of  Epidaurus  in  Greece, 


S90 


WAVERLEY  NOVELS 


who  slew  travelers  with 
an  iron  club 

Crown^  parsley.  See  Pars- 
ley crown 

Cunians,  or  Comans,  Turk- 
ish tribes  settled  in  what 
is  now  Moldavia  and 
southwest  Russia 

Cybele.,  the  great  mother, 
an  ancient  goddess  of 
Asia  Minor 

Cydnus,  a  river  in  the 
south  of  Asia  Minor 

Cytherea,  a  name  of  Aph- 
rodite, the  Greek  god- 
dess of  love  ;  Cytherean, 
dedicated  to  Aphrodite 
(Venus) 

Cytheros,  one  of  the 
Ionian  islands,  anciently 
sacred  to  Aphrodite 

Daidling-hit,  a  path  for 
dawdling,  sauntering  on 

Damascus,  Gate  of  (p.  16). 
See  Genie  and  the  prince 

Dan,  a  title  of  familiarity 
used  by  some  old  Eng- 
lish writers 

Davus  sum,  non  CEdipus,  I 
am  a  simple  man,  not  a 
guesser  or  riddles 

**  Did  I  hut  purpose,'''*  etc. 
(p.  x),  from  the  poem 
Henry  and  Emma 

Diogenes,  lantern  of.  See 
Lantern  of  Diogenes 

Diomedes,  king  of  the  Bis- 
tones,  used  to  feed  four 
savage  horses  with  the 
bodies  of  all  strangers 
he  caught  in  his  coun- 
try, until  he  was  slain 
by  Hercules 

Dionysius,  ear  of  (p.  207). 
See  Fortunes  Of  Mgelf  p. 

Doited,  stupid 

Dorylceum,  in  Phrygia, 
Asia  Minor ;  there  in 
1097  the  Crusaders  de- 
feated  the  Seljuk  Turks 
led  by  their  sultan  Soli- 
man 

Draco,  an  Athenian  law- 
giver of  the  7th  century 
B.C.,  whose  laws  were  of 
unusual  severity 

Drinc  hael,  drink  health 

Dromond,  a  large  trans- 
port vessel 

Ducange,  Charles  Du- 
fresne,  Sieur  du  Cange, 
an  erudite  French  schol- 
ar of  the  17th  century 

^n  brut,  in  the  rough,  un- 
polished 

En  champ  clos.  In  the 
lists,the  ground  enclosed 
for  a  tournament 


Etymon,  the  root  or  origi- 
nal form  of  a  word 

Eumenides,  the  Furies, 
monsters  of  terror,  in 
ancient  Greek  mythol- 
ogy 

Evoe,  evoe,  exclamations 
used  by  the  worshippers 
of  Bacchus 

Ex  preposito,  of  express 
purpose 

Faitour,  an  evil-doer, 
scoundrel 

Felucca,  a  narrow  open 
boat  with  two  lateen 
sails,  used  in  the  Medi- 
terranean 

Fetterbolt,  presumbly/ef- 
terlock,  a  shackle 

Fleurs-de-lis  semees,  scat- 
tered lilies,  a  heraldic 
term 

Fortganger  (in  Modem 
High  German  only  a 
philological,  not  an  ac- 
tual form),  from  fort- 
gang,  "  going  forth," 
"progress" 

Four  hours,  a  light  repast 
taken  between  dinner 
and  supper,  generally  at 
four  o'clock 

Franklin,  a  yeoman,  small 
landowner 

Gaed,  went 

Gaitling,  an  infant,  child 

Gambaud,  or  Gambade,  a 
leap,  spring 

Gay,  John,  English  poet, 
author  of  The  Beggar's 
Opera  (1728) 

Oenie  and  the  Prince,  (p, 
16),  an  allusion  to  The 
Arabian  Nights,  "  Nour- 
eddin  All  and  Bedreddin 


Goddess-born,  Achilles, 
son  of  the  goddess  Thetis 

Gossipred,  the  relationship 
of  sponsor  and  god-child 

"  Grammaticus,  rhetor,'''' 
etc.  (p.  288).  Gram- 
marian,  rhetorician,  geo- 
meter, painter,  manager 
of  a  wrestling-school, 
interpreter  of  omens, 
rope-dancer,  physician, 
sage,  he  knew  every- 
thing. A  hungry,  pal- 
try Greek,  he  will  go  to 
heaven  if  you  bid  him 
do  so 

Guseduh,  means  the 
geese's  puddle 

Gymnosophist,  an  ancient 
Hindu  philosopher  and 
ascetic 

Hero  and  Leander.  Lean- 
der  swam    every  night 


across  the  Hellespont, 
to  visit  Hero,  guided  by 
the  light  of  her  lamp, 
until,  the  lamp  being 
extinguished  one  stormy 
night,  Leander  pfrished 
in  the  waves 

Hiatus  valde  deflendi, 
gaps  to  be  greatly  de- 
plored 

Hussain,  Prince.  See 
Prince  Hussian's  tapes- 
try 

Ichor,  a  fluid  that  in  the 
gods  corresponded  to 
the  blood  of  human 
bodies 

Ides  of  March,  the  15th  of 
March 

Idumeans,  or  Idumceans, 
a  people  belonging  to  a 
district  in  the  south  of 
Palestine 

Infinitus  est  numerus  stuU 
torum,  the  number  of 
fools  is  infinite 

Isthmian  games,  one  of 
the  four  great  athletic 
festivals  of  ancient 
Greece,  were  held  every 
two  years  on  the  Isth- 
mus of  Corinth 

Joinville,  Sieur  de,  wrote 
a  Life  of  Louis  IX.,  who 
conducted  a  crusade  in 
1248-54 

Ken,  know 

Kittle  turn,  a  hard  sen- 
tence, diflflculty 

Lantern  of  Diogenes, 
(p.  214),  an  allusion  to 
the  cynical  philosopher 
Diogenes,  who,  being 
asked  why  he  went 
about  with  a  lighted 
lantern  in  broad  day- 
light, replied,  that  he 
was  seeking  for  an  hon- 
est man 

Lapheer,  correctly  a  com- 
pound of  the  Low  Ger- 
man lappen,  "  cloth," 
and  the  High  German 
heer,  "  a  host  " 

Lave,  the  remainder,  rest 

Lelies,  the  descriptive 
name  given  to  the  Arab 
shout  of  onset,  La  ilaha 
ilia  Hlah 

Lemnos,  an  island  in  the 
.iEgean  Sea,  about  40 
miles  from  the  Dardan- 
elles 

"  Les  Anglois,''''  etc.  (p.  66), 
the  English  and  Danes 
fought  much  with 
battle-axes 


GLOSS AEY 


Licet  exire,  permission  to 
leave  the  room 

Lingua  franca,  a  corrupt 
language  employed  as  a 
common  medium  of  In- 
tercourse 

Loretto,  Our  L  a  d  y''s 
house  of  (p.  207),  was, 
according  to  the  legend, 
transported  in  the  13th' 
century  from  Nazareth 
to  Dalmatia,  and  thence 
in  a  single  night  to  Italy 

Luster,  a  period  of  five 
years 

Lycurgus,  the  great  law- 

fiver     of   the     ancient 
partans 

Macaroni,  a  fop,  beau  of 
the  18th  century 

Manchester  railroad  (p. 
x).  The  Manchester  and 
Liverpool  Railway  was 
opened  in  1830,  the  year 
before  the  Introduction 
to  this  novel  was  written 

Manichceans  (p.  6),  ad- 
herents of  an  ancient 
religious  system,  only  in 
part  Christian,  wnich 
originated  in  Western 
Asia  in  the  3d  century. 
They  assisted  Alexius 
against  the  Normans  in 
1081 

Marcus  (Aurelius) 
Antoninus,  Roman  em- 
peror in  the  2d  century, 
renowned  as  a  noble- 
minded  heathen  philo- 
sopher 

Marphisa,  a  female  war- 
rior in  Ariosto's  Orlando 
Furioso 

Maud,  a  shepherd's  gray 
woolen  plaid 

Menelaus.     See    Homer's 

•    Iliad,  Bk.  xvii. 

Michael  Ducas,  emperor 
of  Constantinople  from 
1071  to  1078 

Militat  omnia  amans,'' 
etc.  (p.  221),  every  lover 
is  a  man-at-arms,  and 
even  Cupid  has  his  camp 

Mitylene,  or  Mytilene, 
also  called  Lesbos,  an 
island  off  the  west  coast 
of  Asia  Minor 

Mount  Pisgah,  the  moun- 
tain, east  of  the  Jordan, 
from  which  Moses 
viewed  the  Promised 
Land  of  Israel 

Muckle,  much 

Muratori  Lodovico  An- 
tonio, Italian  antiquary 
and  historian,  lived  1672 
to  1750.  He  published 
a  famous  collection  of 
Italian  chronicles  from 


the  5th  to  the  16th  cent- 
ury 
Musis      severioribus^      to 
graver  and  more  ardu- 
ous studies 

Naxos,  an  island  in  the 
^gean  Sea,  celebrated 
for  its  great  fertility 

Nibilong,  probably  the 
ancestor  of  the  Burgun- 
dian  tribe  of  the  Nibe- 
lungen  or  Niflungen 

Nicanor  (p.  27).  The 
Greek  word  *'  n  i  k  e  " 
means  "  victory  " 

Nicotian  weed,  tobacco 

Niddering,  or  nithing,  a 
worthless  person,  stamp- 
ing a  man  as  an  outcast 
and  utterly  vile 

Oboli,  or  obol,  a  coin  of 

ancient  Greece=l-2  d. 

Odin,  the  supreme  god 
of  the  ancient  Scandi- 
navians, Compare  The 
Pirate,  Note  30,  p.  462 

CEstrum,  torment,  prick 

Ofelli,  a  reference  to  an 
unpolished  but  upright 
countryman  in  Horace, 
Satires,  ii.  2 

Omnium  augustissimus, 
the  most  august  or  illus- 
trious of  all 

Order icus  Vitalis,  a  Nor- 
man historian  of  the  11th 
century 

Palestra,  or  palaestra,  the 
arena  where  boxing  and 
other  athletic 
were  carried  on 

Pancration,  an  athletic 
contest  which  involved 
both  wrestling  and  box- 
ing 

Panhypersebastos,  the 
most  august  of  the  au- 
gust 

Par  amours,  unlawfully, 
illicitly 

Parcel,  in  part,  partly 

Parsley  crown  (p.  16),  a 
prize  for  athletic  skill ; 
such  were  the  prizes 
given  at  the  Isthmian 
games 

Patroclus.  See  Homer's 
Iliad,  Bk.  xvii. 

Paulicians  (p.  6),  a  reli- 
gious sect  who  origi- 
nated in  Armenia  in  the 
7th  century  ;  their  doc- 
trines were  partly  Chris- 
tian, partly  Manichsean. 
They  assisted  Alexius 
against  the  Normans  in 
1081 

Pelides,  the  son  of  Peleus, 
i.  e.  Achilles  ;  his  mother 
was  the  goddess  Thetis 


PenthesUea,  queen  of  the 
Amazons,  who  fought 
against  the  Greeks  at 
Troy 

Periapt,  a  charm,  talis- 
man 

Perpending,  weighing, 
considering 

Phidias,  the  greatest 
sculptor  of  ancient 
Greece,  in  the  5th  cen- 
tury  B.  c. 

Phryne,  a  famous  courte- 
zan of  ancient  Greece, 
a  woman  of  marvelous 
beauty 

Pistrinum,  a  corn-mill 
worked  by  an  ass  o  r 
horse  ;  slaves  were  some- 
times harnessed  to  it  as 
a  mode  of  punishment 

Pitcairne,  Dr.,  a  cele- 
brated doctor  and  writer 
of  Latin  verse,  of  Edin- 
burgh (1752-1813) 

Porphyrogenita,  born  in 
the  purple,  i.  e.  of  im- 
perial birth 

Prcetor,  a  class  of  ancient 
Roman  magistrates 

Prcetorian  Bands,  the  im- 

gerial  guards  or  house- 
old     troops     of     the' 
ancient  Roman  Empire 

Praxiteles,  one  of  the 
greatest  sculptors  of  an- 
cient Greece,  lived  in  the 
4th  century  b.  c. 

Prefect,  or  prcefect,  the 
title  of  various  high 
officers  in  ancient  Rome 

Prerupt,  abrupt,  sudden 

Prince  and  genie  (p.  16). 
See  Genie  and  the  prince 

Prince  Houssain's  tapes' 
try.  See  Arabian  Nights, 
"  Prince  Ahmed  " 

Prior's  heroine  (p.  x), 
Emma  in  the  poem 
Henry  and  Emma 

Procopius,  the  principal  of 
the  Byzantine  historians, 
lived  during  the  6th  cen- 
tury 

Procrustes,  the  surname 
of  an  ancient  Greek  rob- 
ber, who  forced  his  vie- 
tim  to  lie  down  on  a  bed 
which  was  either  too 
short  or  too  long,  and 
then  stretched  or  cut 
him  until  his  body  ex- 
actly fitted 

Prometheus,  a  demi-god, 
according  to  one  legend, 
created  men  out  of  earth 
and  water 

"  Propago  contemptrix,''* 
etc.  (p.  336),  truly  a 
godless  generation,  very 
greedy  of  slaughter  and 
full    of   violence ;   mi* 


392 


WAVEBLEY  NOVELS 


quoted  from  Ovid,  Meta- 
morphoses, i.  160 

Propontis,  the  Sea  of  Mar- 
mora 

Protosebastos,   the  fifth 

gerson  in  rank  in  the 
astern  Roman  Empire, 
the  Emperor  being  the 
first,  the  Sebastocrator 
the  second,  the  Caesar 
the  third 

Pulcheria,  Empress,  sis- 
ter of  Theodosius,  whom 
she  succeeded  in  450 

Puliccinello,  or  Punchi- 
nello, a  puppet,  the  pro- 
totype of  Punch  ;  also  a 
typical  comic  character 
in  early  ItaUan  comedy 

Punctiuncula,  trifling 

points,  small  matters 

Questor,  a  class  of  ancient 
Roman  magistrates 

Quidnunc,  one  who  knows 
or  pretends  to  know  all 
the  news  of  the  day 

Quirites,  a  general  name 
for  the  citizens  o  f 
ancient  Rome 


'Regis  ad  exemplum,  after 
the  king's  example 

Bes  tuas  agas,  attend  to 
your  own  business 

Bohert  of  Apulia,  known 
more  commonly  as  Rob- 
ert Guiscard 

Bodomont,  a  commander 
in  the  Saracen  army  that 
fought  against  Charle- 
magne, in  Ariosto's  Or- 
lando Furioso 

Saale  (p.  133),  should  ob- 
viously be  Meuse,  along 
which  river  and  the 
Rhine  the  Franks  {see 
p.  162)  were  for  a  long 
period  settled.  Charle- 
magne was  a  Frank,  and 
was  born  at  Aix-la-Cha- 
pelle,  which  is  not  far 
distant  from  the  Meuse 

Sabine  vintage.  See  Hor- 
ace, Odes,  Bk.  I.  xx.  1 

Sae,  so 

St.  Anthony,  in  the  8d  cen- 
tury, spent  nearly 
twenty  years  as  a  soli- 
t  a  r  y  anchorite  in  a 
desert  in  Egypt 

St.  Arnoul,  or  Arnulf, 
bishop  of  Metz,  and 
founder  of  the  Carolin- 
gian  dynasty  of  the 
kings  of  France 

Sair  Lift,  a  sore  or  heavy 
burden, task 

Sanctum  sanctorum,  the 
most  private  of  all 
apartments 


Schaw,  or  show,  to  indi- 
cate, reveal,  show 

Scyrons,  the  inhabitants 
of  Scyro,  one  of  the 
^gean  islands,  notor- 
ous  for  their  piracies 

Sebastocrator,  the  second 
person  in  rank  in  the 
Greek  Empire.  See  p. 
217  ;  and,  for  the  history 
of  the  title,  and  its  rela- 
tion to  the  title  Caesar, 
Gibbon,  chap.  liii. 

Sebastos,  august 

Semee,  strewn,  sown 

Sequin,  a  gold  coin  worth 
about  9s.  6d. 

Sestos,  a  town  on  the 
European  side  of  t  h  e 
Hellespont   or   Dardan- 

Sibyl.    See  Tivoli 

Sicarius,  a  stabber,  assas- 
sin 

Stadia,  a  Greek  measure 
of  distance =200  yards 

Stummed  (wine),  unfer- 
mented 

Sub  crimine  falsi,  under 
the  penalty  of  being  es- 
teemed faithless 

Susurrus,  whisper,  rumor 

Sylvan,  a  faun,  woodland 
diety,  creature  of  the 
woods 

Tales  of  the  Genii,  or  the 
delightful  Lessons  of 
Horam,  the  Son  of  As- 
mar,  by  Sir  Charles 
Morell  (James  Ridley), 
1765 

Tanquam  deus  ex  ma- 
china,  like  a  god  step- 
ping down  from  the 
(theatrical)  car  (or  other 
contrivance) 

Taprobana,  some  island  or 
country  in  the  south- 
east of  Asia ;  sometimes 
identified  with  Ceylon 

Taranis,  the  supreme  god 
of  the  Druids,  the  priests 
of  the  ancient  Britons 

Tasso  has  preferred  (p. 
360).  Tancred  is  t  h  e 
hero  of  the  Gerusa- 
lemme  Liberata  of  the 
Italian  poet  Tasso 

Tecbir,  the  Arab  shout  of 
onset 

Thalestris,  queen  of  the 
Amazons  in  the  time  of 
Alexander  the  Great 

Theme,  a  province  or  divi- 
sion of  the  Byzantine 
empire 

Thetis,  son  of,  Achilles 

Tivoli,  the  modern  Tibur, 
not  many  miles  from 
Rome ;  there,  beside  a 
waterfall,  stood  a  temple 


*^o  the  ancient  prophet- 
ess,  the  Sibyl 

Tov  ifjiov  Kaio-apa,  my  em- 
peror, my  beloved 

Topped  his  part  (p.  173), 
done  his  part  with  zeal 
and  success.  Gay's  lines 
(Squire  and  Cur)  exactly 
hit  off  Agelastes— ''  That 
politician  tops  his  part 
Who  readily  can  lie  with 
art" 

Tranchefer,  cleaver  of 
iron,  the  name  of  Count 
Robert's  sword 

Trimalchio'' s  banquet, 
described  in  the  frag- 
mentary Satiroe  of  the 
Roman  writer  Petronius 
Arbiter 

Trincido,  the  jester  in 
Shakespeare's  Tempest 

''''Tu  cole  justiciam,'''  etc. 
(p.  288),  Do  thou  culti- 
vate justice,  there  will 
come  an  avenger  for 
thee  and  for  others 

Ultimus   atque     optimus, 

the  last  and  best 
Ultimus    labor,  the    last 

work. 
Ultramontane,        beyond 

the  mountains— that  is, 

north  of  the  Alps 

Varangian,  the  name  of  a 
class  of  Norse  adven- 
turers or  soldiers.  There 
is  no  language  known  by 
this  name.  The  Varan- 
gians spoke  Old  Norse. 
Saxon,  or  rather  Anglo- 
Saxon  is  intended  on  p. 
44.  See  further  footnote, 
p.  389. 

Vavasour,  a  principal  vas- 
sal, great  lord 

"  Veiller  y  vont,"  etc.  (p. 
xxvi),  thither  come  to 
keep  vigil  such  pilgrims 
as  desire  to  engage  in 
single  combat 

Vere  Sapiens,  the  truly 
wise  man 

Vicit  Leo  ex  tribu  Judce, 
the  Lion  of  the  tribe  of 
Judah  {i.  e.  Christ)  hath 
conquered 

Villehardouin,  Geoffroi, 
de,  a  French  chronicler 
of  the  12th  century 

Vulnerary,  relating  to 
wounds 

Waes  hael,  Kaisar,  etc. 
(p.  43),  Good  health  to 
thee,  gracious  and 
mighty  emperor.  For 
mirrig  read  mirige,  and 
for  machtigh,  r  e  a  c\ 
miehtig  or  mihtig 

Water  (up  the),  valley 


GLOSSARY 


803 


Wtndlestraw^  a  stalk  of 


Xantippe,  the  shrewish 
wife  of  the  philosopher 
Socrates 

Forfej,  ^ikike  of  his  refQ>t- 


mation  of  the  army  (p. 
25).  Frederick  Augus- 
tus, second  son  o  f 
George  III,,  was  com- 
mander-in-chief of  the 
English  army  from  1798 
to    1S09,    and    effected 


many  useful  reforms 
Zoe  kai  psyche,  life   and 

soul 
Zoroaster  the  founder  of 

the  ancient  religion   of 

the     fir  e- worshipping 


INDEX 


Achilles  Tatius,  joins  Hereward,  23; 
discourses  to  him  on  court  favor,  25 ; 
his  dispute  with  the  Protospathaire, 
27  ;  takes  Hereward  to  court,  33,  39 ; 
sounds  his  loyalty,  85  ;  his  interview 
with  Agelastes,  109 ;  conspires  with 
him,  206 ;  is  told  of  Count  Robert's 
escape,  234;  suspected  by  the  Em- 
peror, 344;  his  uncomfortable  feelings, 
361  ;  pardoned,  374 
Agatha.  See  Bertha 
Agelastes,  Michael,  the  philosopher,  41  ; 
his  account  of  the  Normans,  78 ;  in- 
terview with  Hereward,  104 ;  with 
Achilles  Tatius,  109;  encounters  Count 
Robert  and  Brenhilda,  132 ;  his  legend 
of  the  enchanted  princess  of  Zuli- 
chium,  135  ;  his  retreat,  146  ;  receives 
the  Empress  and  Anna  Comnena,  153  ; 
talks  of  the  wild  animals,  161 ;  coun- 
sels the  Emperor,  167,  179 ;  his  con- 
tempt for  Alexius,  174  ;  conspires  with 
Achilles  Tatius,  206 ;  his  ambitious 
dreams,  209 ;  ominous  quotation  to 
the  Emperor,  286  ;  his  interview  with 
Brenhilda,  293  ;  strangled,  297 
Alexandria,  library  of,  78,  390 
Alexiad,  quotations  from,  xxv,  380,  382, 

388 
Alexius  Comnenus,  Gibbon  on,  xxvii ; 
his  accession,  4 ;  character,  5  ;  recep- 
tion of  Hereward,  43  ;  holds  a  coun- 
cil, 90 ;  takes  homage  from  the  cru- 
saders, 117 ;  his  throne  occupied  by 
Count  Robert,  121 ;  consults  Agelastes, 
167, 179 ;  his  ideas  of  Agelastes,  173  ; 
insulted  by  Count  Robert,  176 ;  pre- 
sides at  the  banquet,  181 ;  discusses 
the  conspiracy,  255 ;  replies  to  Age- 
lastes's  quotation,  2!i86  ;  confesses  to 
the  Patriarch,  288  ;  visits  Ursel,  299  ; 
forgiven  by  him,  327 ;  interview  with 
Achilles  Tatius,  344 ;  at  the  imperial 
family  council,  349  ;  pardons  Niceph- 
orus,  355  ;  presents  Ursel  to  the  peo- 
ple, 362 ;  his  address  to  them,  363 ; 
offers  to  reward  Hereward,  371  ;  his 
subsequent  history,  379 
Androcles  and  the  lion,  199,  390 
Anglo-Saxons,  80  ;  Foresters,  241 
Anna  Comnena,  her  literary  reception, 
39  ;  reads  the  "  Retreat  of  Laodicea," 
52;  gives  a  ring  to  Hereward,  63; 
visits  Agelastes,  153 ;  converses  with 
Count  Robert,  159,  162 ;  her  indigna- 
tion at  Nicephorus,  859 ;  taken  to  Ur- 


S95 


sel's  dungeon,  299 ;   coquettes  with 

Hereward,  305 ;  entreated  to  pardon 
Nicephorus,  307 ;  led  into  Ursel's 
Chamber,  323  ;  at  the  imperial  family 
council,  349  ;  her  galling  reflections, 
357  ;  her  partiality  as  a  historian,  379 

Aspramonte,  knight  of,  244 

Astarte,  Anna  Comnena's  attendant,  41 ; 
comes  in  quest  of  her,  305 

Author's  Introduction,  ix 

Baldwin,  Count,  xxvi,  123 

Bertha,  alluded  to  by  Agelastes,  108; 
in  attendance  upon  Brenhilda,  166 ;  in 
the  philosopher's  gardens,  219  ;  meets 
Hereward,  238 ;  her  history,  241 ;  car- 
ries a  message  to  the  crusaders'  camp, 
271  ;  before  the  crusaders'  council, 
276 ;  arrests  Count  Robert's  hand,  370 ; 
marriage  of,  379 

Black  Douglas,  xvii,  390 

Blacquernal  Palace,  Constantinople,  35; 
dungeons  of,  37.  188,  301 ;  view  from, 
324  ;  Hall  of  Judgment,  351 

Bohemond  of  Antioch,  5,  75,  386  ;  visits 
Constantinople,  111  ;  reproaches 
Count  Robert.  122,  177;  warns  him, 
1?'8, 181 ;  his  crafty  counsel,  279 

Bosphorus,  98,  325 

Brenhilda,  Countess,  wooing  of,  129  ; 
falls  in  with  Agelastes,  132  ;  displays 
feminine  weakness,  140 ;  slays  Toxar- 
tis,  145;  at  Agelastes's  retreat,  117; 
annoyed  by  Nicephorus,  160  ;  inter- 
view with  him,  221  ;  challenges  hira, 
227 ;  her  connection  with  Bertha,  245 ; 
interview  with  Agelastes,  293 

Broken  Lances,  Our  Lady  of,  125 

Byzantium.    See  Constantinople 

C^sAR,  the.    See  Nicephorus  Briennius 
Castle  Dangerous,  the  novel,  xxv 
Cervantes,  Don  Quixote,  quoted,  xi 
Cleishbotham,  Jedediah,  his  Introduc- 
tion to  Tales  of  my  Landlord,  Fourth 
Series,  ix 
Cleishbotham,  Mrs.,  xv 
Comnena,     Comnenus.      See    Alexius 

Comnenus,  Anna  Comnena 
Constantine,  Emperor,  2 ;  and  the  death 

of  his  son,  350 
Constantinople,  its  site,  2,  324  •  Golden 
Gate  of,  8 ;   described   by  villehar* 
douin,  386.    See  also  Blacquernal  Pal« 
ace,  Bosphorus,  Golden  Horn 
Corynetes,  21,  891 


396 


wav:ebley  novels 


Count  Robert  of  Paris,  the  novel,  xxv 

Crispus,  son  of  Constantino,  350 

Cross,  Greek  and  Latin,  95 

Crusaders,  Anna  Comnena  on,  xxv; 
approach  of,  72,  96 ;  appearance  of,  to 
Greeks,  77 ;  pay  homage  to  Alexius, 
117 ;  their  camp  at  Scutari,  272 ;  rein 
back  their  horses,  281 ;  punishment 
among,  388 

Cybele,  temple  of,  101 

Daughter  of  the  Arch,  34 
Demetrius,  the    politician,  14 ;    shuns 

Here  ward,  265  ;  beside  the  lists,  336  ; 
Diogenes,  and  his  lantern,  214,  391 
Diogenes,  slave  of  Agelastes,  99, 147, 210, 

212 
Diomedes,  21,  391 

Dionysius  of  Syracuse,  "  ear"  of,  207 
Dogs,  343 

Don  Quixote,  quoted,  xi 
Dorylaeum,  383,  391 
Douban,  the   physician,  316  ;   obtains 

Ursel's  forgiveness  of  the  Emperor, 

Douglas,  Black,  xvii,  890 
Ducange,  cited,  xxvi,  383,  886,  887 
Durazzo,  92 

Ederic,  the  Forester,  241 
Edric,  Hereward's  squire,  252 
Edward,  brother  of  Hereward,  60,  244 
Engelred,  Saxon  chief,  241 
Ernest,  the  Apulian  page,  273 

Follower,  the.    See  Achilles  Tatius 

France,  King  of,  387 

Franks,  duels  amongst,  28  ;  haughti- 
ness of,  120 ;  Count  Eobert's  account 
of,  162.    See  also  Crusaders 

Gaita,  wife  of  Robert  Guiscard,  127, 888 

Gander,  river,  xix 

Gandercleuch,  xvi 

Gibbon,  Decline  and  Fall,  quoted,  xxvii, 

12,  380  ;  cited,  838,  387 
Glossary,  390 
Godfrey  of  Bouillon,  75 ;  pays  homage 

to  Alexius,  119, 127 ;  receives  Bertha's 

message,  276 
Golden  Horn,  Constantinople,  84,  325 
Grand  Domestic,  91 
Grecian  empire,  at  accession  of  Alexius, 

4 ;  weakness  of  90, 115 
Greek  fire,  838 
Guiscard.    See  Robert  Guiscard 

Harp  AX,  the  centurion,  7;  beside  the 
lists,  333 ;  encourages  Stephanos,  375 

Hautlieu,  Artavan  de,  137 

Hereward,  the  Varangian,  9 ;  attempted 
assassination  of  ,22 ;  joined  by  Achilles 
Tatius,  23  ;  taken  to  court,  25,  33,  39  ; 
before  the  Emperor,  43 ;  his  agitation 
at  Anna  Comnena's  recital,  61 ;  his 
account  of  the  Anglo-Saxons,  80  ; 
sounded  by  Achilles  Tatius,  85  ;  tells 
of  the  crusaders'  approach,  97 ;  dogged 
by  Diogenes,  99 ;  interview  with  Age- 
lastes, 104 ;  is  reminded  of  Bertha,  108  ; 
challenges  Count  Robert,  164  ;  strug- 
gles with  him  in  the  dungeon,  201  , 


compared   with   him,  213 ;    in  Ag© 

lastes's  gardens,  218  ;  advises  Count 
Robert,  229  ;  reports  his  escape,  233  ; 
meets  Bertha,  238 ;  account  of  their 
youth,  241  ;,  informs  Alexius  of  the 
plot,  255;  hears  the  proclamation, 
267;  sends  a  message  to  Godfrey  of 
Bouillon,  271  ;  appealed  to  by  Anna 
Comnena,  305  ;  fights  with  Count  Rob- 
ert, 368  ;  declines  to  be  rewarded,  372 ; 
follows  Count  Robert,  371  ;  marriage 
of,  379  ;  settled  in  England,  384 

Hero  and  Leander,  162,  391 

Hugh  Capet,  descent  of,  382 

Hugh  of  Vermandois,  74 ;  shipwrecked, 
116 

Immortals,  bands  of,  55,  58 ;  beside  the 
lists,  333  ;  note  on,  387 

Introduction,  Cleishbotham's,  ix  ;  Lock- 
hart's,  XXV 

Irene,  Empress,  40 ;  visits  Agelastes, 
152 ;  hears  of  the  plot,  256 ;  entreats 
Anna  to  forgive  Nicephorus,  307  ;  at 
the  imperial  family  council,  849 

Ismail,  the  Moslem,  17 

Isthmain  games,  16,  891 

Jezdegerd,  the  Arab,  69 

Labarum,  118,  387 

Lalain,  Jacques  de,  388 

Laodicea,  Retreat  of,  46 ;    Anna  Com- 

nena's  account  of,  52 
Lascaris,  Greek  sea-captain,  336 
Latin  quotations,  translated,  388 
Leander,  Hero  and,  162,  391 
Lions  of  Solomon,  91 ;   one  broken  by 

Count  Robert  of  Paris,  178 
Lockhart,  J.  G.,  his  Preface  to  Count 

Robert  of  Paris,  xxv 
Logothete,  91 

Loretto,  Our  Lady's  house  of,  207,  392 
Lysimachus,  the  architect,  15  ;  listening 

to  the  proclamation,  266 ;  beside  the 

hsts,  335 

Manchester  railroad,  x,  892  • 
Manichaeans,  6,  392 
Marcian,  Count  Robert's  esquire,  167 
Mirglip,  the  Persian,  tale  of,  2 
Muratori,  quoted,  387 

NicANOR.    See  ProtospathaJre 

Nicephorus  Briennius,  xxvii ;  is  absent 
from  Anna  Comnena's  reception,  40  ; 
described,  69  ;  brings  news  of  the 
crusaders,  72;  visits  Agelastes,  152; 
annoys  Brenhilda,  160  ;  his  design 
against  Brenhilda,  211,  221  ;  chal- 
lenged by  her,  227;  craves  Anna's  for- 
giveness, 310  ;  led  forth  to  execution, 
352  ;  pardoned,  355 

Normans,  account  of,  by  Agelastes,  78 ; 
relations  to  Anglo-Saxons,  80 ;  Anna 
Comnena's  erroneous  views  of,  162. 
See  also  Robert  Guiscard 

Norsemen,  12 

Odix,  betrothal  of,  240 
Ordericus  Vitalis,  quoted,  387 


INDEX 


397 


Osmund,  Varangian  soldier,  272,  281 
Ourang-outang.    See  Sylvan 

Paris,  Count  and  Countess  of.  See 
Robert  and  Brenhilda 

Patriarch,  41 ;  his  zeal  for  the  Greek 
cross,  95 ;  receives  the  Emperor's  con- 
fession, 288  ;  at  the  imperial  family 
council,  349  ;  his  story  of  Constantino 
and  Crispus,  350 

Pattieson,  Paul,  xiii 

Pattieson,  Peter,  x 

Paulicians,  6,  392 

Peter  the  Hermit,  5,  279 

Phraortes,  Greek  admiral,  344 

Pinkerton,  quoted,  389 

Polydore,  273 

Prior,  Matthew,  quoted,  x 

Procrustes,  21,  393 

Protosebastos,  117,  393 

Protospathaire,  27  ;  commissioned  with 
Achilles  Tatius,  346  ;  his  embassy  to 
Tancred,  360 

Puliccinello,  or  Punchinello,  373,  393 

Raymond,  Count  of  Tholouse,  127,  388 

Robbers,  ancient,  21 

Robert,  Count  of  Paris,  usurps  the  Em- 
peror's throne,  xxvi,  121  ;  reproached 
by  Bohemond,  122,  177 ;  how  he  won 
Brenhilda,  130  ;  falls  in  with  Agelastes, 
132  ;  drives  off  the  Scythians,  145  ;  at 
Agelastes's  retreat,  147  ;  converses 
with  Anna  Comnena,  159,  162 ;  chal- 
lenged by  Hereward,  164  ;  in  the  Pal- 
ace of  Blacquernal,  166 ;  enters  the 
Emperor's  presence  backwards,  176  ; 
destrovs  the  Lions  of  Solomon,  177  ; 
warned  by  Bohemond,  178, 181 ;  in  the 
dungeon,  184 ;  addressed  by  Ursel, 
186  ;'  kills  the  tiger,  188  ;  joins  Ursel, 
190  ;  his  fight  with  Sylvan,  191  ; 
dresses  its  wound,  199  :  slays  Sebastes, 
201  ;  struggles  with  Hereward,  201  ; 
compared  with  him,  203  ;  in  the  phil- 
osopher's gardens,  218 ;  hidden  away 
by  Hereward,  231  ;  fights  with  him, 
368  ;  accepts  him  as  a  follower,  372  ; 
identification  of,  383 ;  returns  to 
France,  383 

Robert,  Duke  of  Normandy,  78 

Robert  Guiscard,  41,  75 


8AALE,  river,  133, 393 


Scott,  Sir  Walter,  JourruA  of,  quoted, 

388 

Scutari,  273 

Scyrons,  21,  893 

Scythians,  attack  Brenhilda,  144 

Sebastes  of  Mitylene,  19 ;  slain  by  Count 
Robert,  201 

Sebastocrator,  69,  393 

Slaves,  Nubian,  91 

Stephanos,  the  wrestler,  15 ;  listens  to 
the  proclamation,  266 ;  beside  the 
lists,  336  ;  his  discontent,  375 

Sylvan,  the  ourang-outang,  in  the  dun- 
geon, 194 ;  pursues  Bertha,  238 ;  stran- 
gles Agelastes,  297 ;  appears  in  ttie 
lists,  373 

Tales  of  my  Landlord,  Introduction  to 

Fourth  Series,  ix 
Tancred  of  Otranto,  278 ;  sea-fight  of, 

339  ;  replies  to  the  Emperor's  envoy, 

360  ;  at  the  combat,  368 
Tatius.    See  Achilles  Tatius 
Theodosius  the  Great,  8 
Tiger,  the,  188 
Tivoli,  146,  393 
Toxartis,  the  Scythian,  145 
Tranchefer,  Count  Robert's  sword,  156 

Ursel,  Zedekias,  addresses  Count  Rob- 
ert, 181  ;  joined  by  Count  Robert,  190  ; 
account  of  him,  268,  316  ;  visited  by 
the  Emperor,  303  ,•  attended  by  Dou- 
ban,  316  ;  recovers  the  use  of  sight, 
322  ;  turns  giddy,  326 ;  presented  to 
the  people,  362 

Varanes,  the  Arab,  66 

Varangian  Guard,  11 ;  at  Laodicea,  55, 
67  ;  how  affected  by  crusaders'  ap- 
proach, 97  ;  enter  the  lists,  334  ;  mean- 
ing of  the  word,  386,  394 

Vermandois,  Hugh  of.  See  Hugh  of 
Vermandois 

Vexhelia,  293 

Villehardouin,  his  description  of  Con- 
stantinople, 386 

Violante,  Anna  Comnena's  attendant, 
41 ;  comes  in  quest  of  her,  305 

Waltheoff,  the  Saxon,  241 

York,  Duke  of,  25,  394 

ZosiMUS     See  Patriarch 
Zulichium,  Princess  of,  136 


pr^t 


m.Mmmiik;Mimm^^iimf:msi 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW 


AN  INITIAL  FINE  OF  25  CENTS 

WILL  BE  ASSESSED  FOR  FAILURE  TO  RETURN 
THIS  BOOK  ON  THE  DATE  DUE.  THE  PENALTY 
WILL  INCREASE  TO  SO  CENTS  ON  THE  FOURTH 
DAY  AND  TO  $1.00  ON  THE  SEVENTH  DAY 
OVERDUE. 


NOV  '4    li^ib 


4f»  im5  94 


Tt^r;  ,J\J':^: 


HHCtlVED 


^m. 


/Dw-SOKlv 


JAN  25 '69 -4  PM 


LOAN  DEPT. 


A^'fi    419700  0 


■it  > 


RECCSVED 


p^:v^mi-^-mi  vo^gpNi 


3YJM55MM 


»  r^*K^*    *-^*-*-— , 


KEceiv 


EDtB^ 


NUV  -^  1  ^^^^ 


"Ip^ 


<ARCUlAt>Otl  PF'^' 


3Sftp'g4m 


REC'D  LD 


Allfi20'B4-5PM 


P£0  21^84 


LD  21~100m-7,'39(402s) 


GENERAL  LIBRARY  -  U.C.  BERKELEY 


I 


BDDD72D7bD 


15129083 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


4|A 


m:r^: 

jw^(' 

;' 

y-^ 


